A recent Dutch study found that men and women tend to use different methods to locate their cars in shopping mall parking lots.
Dutch researchers found that men often rely on distance to find their way back to their cars while women tend to rely on landmarks. The study found that 38% of women referred to landmarks compared to 15% of men. About one-quarter of men found their cars based on distance, while only 1% of women did.
Most men and women surveyed said they often used two different ways to remember where they left their cars. Besides estimating distance and looking for landmarks, these methods include parking close to the mall entrance, retracing their path through the lot, or parking in a favorite spot.
