Women are cleverer than men, according to a recent report.

By Laura Roberts
Published: ۷:۰۰AM GMT ۲۴ Feb ۲۰۱۰

The conclusion was drawn following a five month online contest between the sexes conducted in nine languages and based on the popular board game Trivial Pursuit.

During the competition more than ۱۵ million questions were asked and although the balance of power shifted consistently from the start of the competition in October last year the female of the species narrowly clinched victory.

Related Articles
Girls will take up ۷۰ per cent of university places, says new study
Macho behaviour means higher insurance premiums
James Bond prefers brunettes, research says
Handful of Twitter users do all the tweeting
Nice guys get the girls

Women answered ۴,۰۸۸,۱۳۹ questions correctly, compared to the ۴,۰۷۷,۵۹۶ right answers given by men.

It would take an individual more than ۳,۵۰۰ non-stop days or ۹ years, ۲۱۵ days, ۸ hours and ۲۴ minutes to answer the same number of questions when playing the board game which was first launched in ۱۹۸۲.

While the question category is selected by the roll of the die in the board game online players were able to select the question area that appealed to their "inner genius".

The most popular overall category was Entertainment, followed by Science & Nature, Sports and Leisure, History, Arts & Literature, Geography and finally People & Places.

Women were strongest when answering questions from Entertainment. They answered twice as many from the category, traditionally characterised as pink, as men with ۵۶.۸ per cent of answers given correctly.

Their next favourite question area was Science & Nature of which ۵۴.۴ per cent of answers were right. People & Places presented the greatest challenge with just ۴۱.۷ per cent of questions provided with the right answer.

The best categories for the men were Science & Nature (۵۷ per cent accuracy), Entertainment (۵۶.۷ per cent). They answered twice as many questions on Sports & Leisure as women with a ۵۴.۸ per cent success rate. Their weakest subject areas were Geography and People & Places with only ۴۹.۹ per cent of questions answered correctly for each.

"The online Trivial Pursuit Battle of the Sexes experiment invited people worldwide to compete for the ultimate bragging rights - to be a member of the smartest team," said Katreena Lines, Global Senior Marketing Manager. "The online experience invited everyone to show off their inner genius, by answering ۱, ۱۰ or ۱۰۰ questions a day, in support of their team. Our congratulations to the women who fought hard for the win."

Last Friday men were briefly in the lead before being beaten in the final stages by women.

The next battle planned is between the generations - between the under ۳۰s and the over the ۳۰s. It will begin in mid-March ۲۰۱۰ at http://www.trivialpursuitexperiment.com 

telegraph