Before Calling it Quits, Get Some Sleep
Is there a lack of gratitude in your relationship? A new study suggests that you and your partner may just be short on sleep. Apparently losing sleep also makes your shorter on words and generally less conscientious No huge surprise there, but perhaps we should put that knowledge into practice by getting a few more hours of sleep before we get into a relationship argument.
Via the Huffington Post:
Sleep deprivation is tied to a whole host of health effects, from increased anxiety, to decreased bone mineral density, to consuming more calories. And apparently, it could also take a toll on your relationship.
A new study from researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, found that sleep deprivation could have an effect on our expressions of gratitude — in turn straining relationships by making people feel like they are being taken for granted.
“Poor sleep may make us more selfish as we prioritize our own needs over our partner’s,” study researcher Amie Gordon, a psychologist at the university, said in a statement. The findings were presented at a meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychologists; because they have yet to be published in a peer-reviewed journal, they should be considered preliminary.
The study was split up into three parts, and included more than 60 study participants whose ages ranged from 18 to 56. For the first part, study participants were asked to list five things they were grateful for as their previous night’s sleep quality was analyzed by the researchers. People who hadn’t gotten a good night’s rest felt less grateful after listing the five things, compared with people who had had a good rest.
What do you think—has poor sleep ever negatively affected your relationships? If so, what happened? Let us know in the comments below!
Feeling rejected by your partner? Psychic Hern ext. 5239 can tell you what’s going on.
