Poor sleep can leave romantic partners feeling unappreciated

UC Berkeley study finds sleep deprivation impacts gratitude

2013-01-19

(Press-News.org) Spouses and other romantic partners often complain about feeling unappreciated, and a new study from the University of California, Berkeley, suggests poor sleep may play a hidden role.

A UC Berkeley study looking into how sleep habits impact gratitude found that sleep deprivation can leave couples "too tired to say thanks" and can make one or the other partner feel taken for granted.

"Poor sleep may make us more selfish as we prioritize our own needs over our partner's," said Amie Gordon, a UC Berkeley psychologist and lead investigator of the study, which she conducted with UC Berkeley psychologist Serena Chen. Gordon will present her findings this Saturday (Jan. 19) at the annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychologists in New Orleans.

The results shed new light on the emotional interdependence of sleep partners, offering compelling evidence that a bad night's sleep leaves people less attuned to their partner's moods and sensitivities. For many couples, nighttime can turn into a battleground due to loud snoring, sheet-tugging or one partner tapping on a laptop while the other tosses and turns.

"You may have slept like a baby, but if your partner didn't, you'll probably both end up grouchy," Gordon said.

A sixth year Ph.D. student who focuses on the psychology of close relationships, Gordon noted that many people claim to be too busy to sleep, even priding themselves on how few hours of slumber they can get by on. The observation inspired her, in part, to study how a lack of zzzs might be affecting love lives.

More than 60 couples, with ages ranging from 18 to 56, participated in each of Gordon's studies. In one experiment, participants kept a diary of their sleep patterns and how a good or bad night's rest affected their appreciation of their significant other.

In another experiment, they were videotaped engaged in problem-solving tasks. Those who had slept badly the night before showed less appreciation for their partner. Overall, the results showed poor sleepers had a harder time counting their blessings and valuing their partners.

How to remedy that? "Make sure to say to say 'thanks' when your partner does something nice," suggested Gordon. "Let them know you appreciate them."

### END

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Surprising connections between our well-being and giving, getting, and gratitude

2013-01-19

January 19, 2013 – New Orleans – We all know that getting a good night's sleep is good for our general health and well-being. But new research is highlighting a more surprising benefit of good sleep: more feelings of gratitude for relationships. "A plethora of research highlights the importance of getting a good night's sleep for physical and psychological well-being, yet in our society, people still seem to take pride in needing, and getting, little sleep," says Amie Gordon of the University of California, Berkeley. "And in the past, research has shown that gratitude ...

When mom is the CEO at home, workplace ambitions take a back seat

2013-01-19

It's often said that women can have it all – motherhood and a successful career. But a new study from the University of California, Berkeley, suggests that women who rule the household have less energy for or interest in being a rising star in the workplace. While household decision-making power was highly valued by both men and women who participated in the UC Berkeley study, women reported that running the home made them less likely to pursue promotions and other career advancement steps at the office. This was not the case for men, whose work goals were unchanged by ...

Charting new routes for women at work: Looking to the home and classroom

2013-01-19

January 18, 2013 – New Orleans – When mom is the boss at home, she may have a harder time being the boss at work. New research suggests that women, but not men, become less interested in pursuing workplace power when they view that they are in control of decision-making in the home. This shift in thinking affects career choices without women even being aware. "Women don't know that they are backing off from workplace power because of how they are thinking about their role at home," says Melissa Williams of Emory University. "As a result, women may make decisions such ...

Study provides new insights on drought predictions in East Africa

2013-01-19

With more than 40 million people living under exceptional drought conditions in East Africa, the ability to make accurate predictions of drought has never been more important. In the aftermath of widespread famine and a humanitarian crisis caused by the 2010-2011 drought in the Horn of Africa—possibly the worst drought in 60 years— researchers are striving to determine whether drying trends will continue. While it is clear that El Niño can affect precipitation in this region of East Africa, very little is known about the drivers of long-term shifts in rainfall. However, ...

NORC at the University of Chicago releases presidential election survey

2013-01-19

1/18/2013, Bethesda, MD. – Today, the independent research organization NORC at the University of Chicago released the new report, 2012 NORC Presidential Election Study: American's Views on Entitlement Reform and Health Care. Results from this survey suggest that substantial majorities of the American public prefer the status quo on most provisions in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and on entitlements such as Social Security and Medicare. However, most Americans are not in favor of the status quo on partisanship and prefer that their own representatives work with others ...

Complex spinal surgeries with 2 attending physicians, instead of 1, benefit patients

2013-01-19

Two heads are better than one, as the saying goes – and a new study by a duo at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) demonstrates how having two attending surgeons in the operating room during spinal surgeries can benefit patients in multiple ways. Most spinal surgeries in the United States are performed by teams led by a single attending surgeon – one top-level doctor who has completed medical school, residency and other specialized training. In 2007, two spinal surgeons in the Departments of Neurological Surgery and Orthopedic Surgery joined forces and ...

Climate change's effects on temperate rain forests surprisingly complex

2013-01-19

Longer, warmer growing seasons associated with a changing climate are altering growing conditions in temperate rain forests, but not all plant species will be negatively affected, according to research conducted by the U.S. Forest Service's Pacific Northwest Research Station. Research featured in the January 2013 issue of Science Findings—a monthly publication of the station—reveals a complex range of forest plant responses to a warming climate. "Although the overall potential for growth increases as the climate warms, we found that plant species differ in their ability ...

Penn physicists help show math behind growth of 'coffee rings'

$Penn physicists help show math behind growth of coffee rings$

2013-01-19

VIDEO: Last year, a team of University of Pennsylvania physicists showed how to undo the "coffee-ring effect, " a commonplace occurrence when drops of liquid with suspended particles dry, leaving a ring-shaped... Click here for more information. PHILADELPHIA — Last year, a team of University of Pennsylvania physicists showed how to undo the "coffee-ring effect," a commonplace occurrence when drops of liquid with suspended particles dry, leaving a ring-shaped stain ...

They hunt, they kill, they cheat: Single-celled algae shed light on social lives of microbes

2013-01-19

Humans do it, chimpanzees do it, cuckoos do it – cheating to score a free ride is a well-documented behavior by many animals, even plants. But microscopically small, single-celled algae? Yes, they do it too, biologists with the University of Arizona's department of ecology and evolutionary biology have discovered. "There are cheaters out there that we didn't know of," said William Driscoll, lead author of a research report on the topic who studied an environmentally devastating toxic alga that is invading U.S. waters as part of his doctoral research in the lab of Jeremiah ...

Penn Vet study reveals a promising new target for Parkinson's disease therapies

2013-01-19

PHILADELPHIA — With a new insight into a model of Parkinson's disease, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine have identified a novel target for mitigating some of the disease's toll on the brain. Narayan G. Avadhani, Harriet Ellison Woodward Professor of Biochemistry and chair of the Department of Animal Biology at Penn Vet, was the senior author on the research. Other department members contributing to the work included Prachi Bajpai, Michelle C. Sangar, Shilpee Singh, Weigang Tang, Seema Bansal and Ji-Kang Fang. Co-authors from ...

Poor sleep can leave romantic partners feeling unappreciated

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: