People Can "misbehave" When Their Work Routinely Prevents Them From Getting Enough Sleep

People can "misbehave" when their work routinely prevents them from getting enough sleep

Larks and owls tend to exhibit unethical and deviant behavior if forced to work outside their natural circadian rhythms.

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Larks and owls tend to exhibit unethical and deviant behavior if forced to work outside their natural circadian rhythms.

Speaking at the UK's Hay Festival and talking about circadian rhythms, journalist and science writer Linda Geddes called for more flexible jobs to accommodate different chronotypes. As you know, the most common are two chronotypes: "larks" (reach the peak of energy and activity in the morning) and "owls (reach the peak of energy in the evening).

Research has shown that reasoning ability peaks in the middle of the morning, problem-solving is best around noon, and everyone's alertness increases in the afternoon. However, early risers experience these peaks and valleys earlier and owls experience later.

“Therein lies the problem, because research shows that if your manager is a morning person and you are a night owl, they will rate your performance worse. Skylark managers tend to view owl workers as less competent, unable to start work until 10 a.m. And if you’re a night owl and have to start working early, you’ll have to limit your sleep,”says Geddes.

Citing a study published in the journal Psychological Science, Geddes argues that employees who don't get enough sleep are more likely to engage in unethical and deviant behavior. They are more likely to be rude, more likely to intimidate colleagues or forge documents. And it's not just about owls, she said, larks tend to behave in the same way, but only in the evening, so ideally it would be worth introducing flexible working hours.

Another study also found that workers who slept less than six hours a night were more likely to behave in a similar manner, with the researchers finding a link between sleep deprivation and glucose levels in the area of ​​the cerebral cortex responsible for self-control.

Geddes believes flexibility would help equalize opportunities, increase productivity, and improve employee health. She also advises spending more time in natural light, and using dim and dim light in the evening to help the body listen to natural sleep signals. She also cites an experiment in the United States that showed that workers who were exposed to more sunlight in the morning and afternoon slept better at night, taking only 18 minutes on average to fall asleep, while others took 45 minutes.