Lack of sleep linked to selfishness
Studies have already shown that lack of sleep is linked to chronic and mental illnesses. American scientists have now, in a series of experiments, shown that a lack of sleep can be harmful not only to a person who sleeps little, but also to his environment. In fact, too little sleep makes us less generous, says a paper published last week in the journal PLOS Biology.
"This is the first study to unequivocally show that sleep loss can reduce individuals' willingness to help others," he says Russell Foster, director of the Institute of Sleep and Circadian Neuroscience at the University of Oxford in England, for The Guardian.
Tired participants less willing to help
In one experiment, scientists brought twenty adults into the laboratory for two nights. One night they slept normally while the next they were awake, he describes Science News.
The morning after a sleepless night, each participant filled out a questionnaire about how likely they were to help people in different scenarios, such as giving up a seat on the tram to an elderly person or picking up a colleague from work. More than 75 percent of the participants rated their desire to help others as less after a sleepless night, compared to the night before.
Tired participants were less willing to help family and friends, as well as strangers, writes The Guardian. A brain scan revealed reduced activity in the part of the brain associated with social behavior.
The quality of sleep is also important
In another experiment, more than 100 participants kept a sleep diary for four nights and answered questions about how willing they were to help others the next day, writes Science News. It turned out that the worse they slept, the less interested they were in helping others. Through these surveys, it was also discovered that the quality of sleep has a greater effect on selfishness than the number of hours of sleep, writes CNN.
And finally, the scientists analyzed more than three million charitable donations, given between 2001 and 2016. They found that donations dropped by about 10 percent after the clocks were moved forward to daylight saving time. Even just one hour of sleep loss was enough to influence the decision to help others.
Possible wider consequences for society
It's possible that some variable other than sleep caused the change in generosity, Science News comments. Still, because the scientists used several different methodologies, it gives a more comprehensive story about how inefficient sleep affects decisions in the domain of helping others, he thinks. David Dickinson, a behavioral economist at Appalachian State University.
The authors of the study believe that a society struggling with a lack of sleep could face wider consequences. "These findings have huge implications for all levels of society, and especially for people who work at night," Foster told The Guardian. "Doctors, nurses and police are often chronically fatigued, and the findings suggest that their willingness to help in difficult and demanding circumstances may be compromised," Telegram reports.
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