A man spends, on average, 45 seconds in the public bathroom, while a woman spends 79. Obviously, the extra 34 seconds because women require more maintenance then men. But it is also because men do not tend to wash their hands when they're through as much as women do.

Not to say women are innocent either. Studies have shown that 90% of women wash their hands in a public bathroom when another person is present in the bathroom, but less than 20% wash their hands when they are alone. Therefore, social behaviour and self-consciousness create more of a concern to both men and women in the bathroom then personal hygiene.

Women in bathroom stalls will often use stalls next to each other, and talk while urinating, but will never make eye contact. They usually respect one another's privacy, while still remaining social. However, men in a stalls adjacent to one another will barely recognize that there is another person present.

Men, ever gone to a public bathroom, and found you couldn't get started? Yes, believe it or not, you are not the only one. Most males have trouble in the presence of other males. Next to a stranger in a stall, a man will take, on average, 5 more seconds to begin urinating then if he is alone. The muscles that release urine from the urethra seize up, making it difficult to urinate when personal space is violated. The farther away the intruder is, the easier it is to urinate.

Sources: The Science of Everyday Life by Jay Ingram, 1989.

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