Why does not getting enough sleep make you selfish?

Not getting a good night’s sleep can certainly leave you feeling grumpy and groggy, but can it also make you selfish? Sleep experts at the University of California, Berkeley certainly seem to think so, and apparently even losing just one hour of sleep is enough to make you less generous towards others and that includes friends and family. 

The team conducted a number experiments which were published in the open-access journal. Over 100 participants were asked to fill out sleep diaries over four days - including how long they slept and if their sleep was interrupted then answer an ‘altruism questionnaire’ with questions like: “would you help if a stranger stopped to ask for directions while you were in a rush to get to work”.

What were the results? What impact could this have? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions!

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A podcast written and realised by Amber Minogue.

In partnership with upday UK.

First broadcast: 06/09/2022

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