Are you a morning person or a night owl? Chantelle Pattemore investigates the science behind our sleep habits.
For years, there’s been an ongoing debate about whether it’s better to be a ‘morning lark’ who wakes early, full of energy, or a ‘night owl’ who prefers to sleep in and is more switched on later in the day. This natural preference for when to wake and sleep is known as your ‘chronotype’. But why do chronotypes vary between people, and how are they established in the first place?
Rhythms of the night
Chronotypes are determined by the body’s circadian rhythm, explains Kevin Morgan, Emeritus Professor of Psychology at Loughborough University. ‘Within a 24-hour cycle, your sleep occupies a given phase – and that phase can be advanced or delayed within those 24 hours,’ he says. Those with an ‘advanced’ phase are early birds, while individuals with a ‘delayed’ phase stay up and then sleep in later.
Where our ‘phase’ rests within the circadian cycle comes down to a few factors, says Dr Ross Purple, a neuroscientist at the University of Bristol. ‘Our chronotype is influenced by a combination of genetics and our environment, which includes our routines and light exposure,’ he shares. ‘It also naturally shifts with age, with a peak preference for later bedtimes and get-up times in adolescence and shift towards earlier timings in older adults.’
You might be reading this thinking, ‘Hang on, I don’t like to get up before 7am, but I am definitely in bed by midnight – so what does that make me?’ And you wouldn’t be alone. The majority of us are neither a morning lark nor a night owl, but somewhere in between – a ‘middling moorhen’, if you will. ‘Most people are ‘intermediate’ types and generally more flexible in their sleep/wake timing, exhibiting certain characteristics of both larks and owls,’ states Dr Purple.
Benefits of each bird
Research shows that our chronotype may influence more than just our sleep schedule. ‘Morning larks tend to be most alert and active during the early part of the day [and] have a more regular sleep pattern because their rhythms are more entrained to natural daylight,’ explains Dr Purple. On the other hand, night owls ‘are usually most alert, creative and productive during the evening and nighttime hours. However, they may also have more irregular sleep patterns.’
Early risers may also be more conscientious, agreeable and proactive, and have greater overall life satisfaction, according to th
