There’s an old Seinfeld routine, about how public speaking was determined to be the top fear of people, higher than even death (which was ranked #2).
“People would rather be in the casket, than deliver the eulogy” he quipped.
Well, new research by Scottish psychologist Stuart Brody suggests public speaking needn’t be so stressful:
He studied nearly 50 men and women who recorded their sexual activities for two weeks and analyzed its impact on their blood pressure levels when under acute stress, such as when giving a speech.
Brody discovered that the volunteers who had sexual intercourse were the least stressed and had blood pressure levels that returned to normal more quickly than people who engaged in other types of sex.
But people who had abstained from sex had the highest blood pressure response to stress…
“The effects are not attributable simply to the short-term relief afforded by orgasm but rather, endure for at least a week,” Brody told New Scientist magazine said on Wednesday.
He believes that the release of the so-called “pair bonding” hormone oxytocin might explain the calming effect.
In response, we expect all major scientific organizations to make it easier to bring spouses along to conferences — so as to increase the quality of the speakers’ performances.
Hat tip: Kevin, MD.