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A Study Suggests the Less You Sleep, the Less People Like You
You probably don’t really care if your friends look tired because you love them just as they are. You might worry about their health, but it’s unlikely it will significantly affect how much you want to spend time with them. However, when you don’t really know someone, their appearance plays a huge role in whether you’ll interact with them or not. So if they look very sleepy, you might feel like you’d rather avoid them.
We at Bright Side found a study that confirmed people don’t really like seeing sleepy faces. Here’s what the research said.
Sleepy people seem less attractive and less healthy.
25 participants of the study were photographed twice: once after sleeping for 8 hours for 2 days and again after sleeping for just 4 hours for 2 days. 122 strangers then had to look at these photos and rate how much they would like to socialize with the person depicted in them. They also rated the participants’ attractiveness, health, sleepiness, and trustworthiness.
The study found that people were less likely to socialize with those who hadn’t had enough sleep and they also saw them as less attractive, less healthy, and sleepier. However, short sleep had no effect on whether a person was seen as trustworthy or not.
When you’re tired, you’re worse at communicating.
People often associate attractiveness with positive characteristics, like how well you can get along with others, for example. So when they see a tired-looking face with dark circles under the eyes or swollen eyelids, they might see the sleepy person as less sociable and in turn, won’t be as eager to interact with them.
Sleep-deprived people actually confirm that they’re less sociable and optimistic, worse at understanding and expressing emotions, and less empathetic.
Sleepiness also tells people you’re unhealthy.
Unhealthy people are often tired, and problems with sleep can also go hand in hand with mental health issues. Even if a tired person is perfectly healthy, their appearance after sleeping very few hours might leave a negative impression on others.
A sleepy face doesn’t look healthy and humans tend to avoid diseases. That’s why someone might subconsciously be less interested in having contact with a sleep-deprived person.
Do you prefer to spend time with well-rested people or does it not matter to you that much? Do you ever notice how people react to you when you haven’t had enough sleep? Please share your thoughts in the comments!
Preview photo credit 0000001/Reporter, Instagram/East News
