Sleeping on Your Social Life: Exploring How Sleep Impacts Our Social Life

Study after study has shown how sleep impacts cognitive capabilities. And because social activities rely on many parts of the brain, it’s not exactly a leap to imagine sleep’s impact on your social life. So to determine the effect sleep habits have on Americans in both their personal and professional lives, we surveyed over 1,000 people.

What respondents eventually revealed may surprise you and even align with your own social problems or successes. Keep reading to see what might be causing everything from poor networking skills to a lack of enthusiasm for socializing.

Satisfied and Social Sleepers

Simply put, people who get the recommended hours of sleep are more socially satisfied. So much so, in fact, that those who felt satisfied with their sleep habits were nearly 10 percentage points more likely to describe themselves as extroverts as opposed to introverts.

Satisfied sleepers were also more likely to feel comfortable being around people. In fact, studies reveal those with insomnia are likely to have social anxiety disorder (SAD). So while a good night’s sleep may not be a cure-all for social anxiety, it is clearly helping some respondents alleviate symptoms. Satisfied sleepers additionally reported an increased willingness to start conversations, as well as talk to multiple people at gatherings. Both of these efforts can lead to a treasure trove of networking possibilities, so make sure to get extra sleep the night before a social event.

Keeping Up With Friends

Exhaustion shifted priorities for respondents: 55 percent said it actually caused their social life to be put on the back burner. Why socialize when you could catch up on some much-needed rest? Or more specifically, how can you socialize when poor sleep makes waking hours less primed for successful socialization? The data backed this, as well: More than a third of dissatisfied sleepers hung out with their friends less than once per week.

Socially stressful emotions resulting from a lack of sleep also carried over into the workplace. Dissatisfied sleepers were much more likely than satisfied sleepers to put little-to-no effort into socializing at work. Our data even revealed that dissatisfied sleepers were less likely to be asked to hang out by co-workers, as well as more likely to feel emotionally rejected by their colleagues. Socializing with co-workers has been shown to improve morale, and performance at work, among other things. Even if you’re not in the market for new friendships, the vitality of your career may benefit from a more focused social effort.

Problem Sleep and Problem-Solving

Speaking of work, camaraderie and teamwork also improved for respondents who slept well. Of those reporting sleep satisfaction, only 27.5 percent had problems making decisions, compared to 34.1 percent of those who were dissatisfied with their sleep. Tired respondents also admitted to struggling with problem-solving more often than well-rested participants. However, a good night’s rest might be able to help solve problems, as there is mounting science behind “sleeping on it” to make tough decisions or find difficult solutions.

Extroverted personalities, however, made life harder for their co-workers. Extroverted employees were more likely to argue with co-workers and even their supervisors. While you don’t have to be best friends with your colleagues, you should make an effort to connect in a positive way and have effective co-worker relationships with your peers. You never know whose workplace expertise you may need to lean on, especially after a bad night’s sleep!

Social Snoozing

While socializing technically involves spending time with other people, modern America socializes in another way: through social media. In fact, nearly half of respondents considered social media a way to be, well, social. And another 28.9 percent preferred this method of socializing.

We found that self-described introverts were more likely to socialize digitally, with an increased likelihood of online behaviors like browsing content and viewing their friends’ posts. What they were less likely to do, however, was engage via likes and comments compared to our extroverted respondents. Perhaps hitting that “like” button could be a healthy next step in overcoming certain social interactions.

Sleep’s Effect on Social Life

Although being the most popular co-worker, student, parent, or supervisor may not be the most important thing to you, your sleep should be a priority either way. With our data revealing a significant connection between improved social behavior and better sleep, it has us viewing American social lives in an entirely new light. What if social anxiety, isolation, and missed networking opportunities could all be improved with the world’s most enjoyable and free solution: sleep?

In response to our study, eachnight editor Andrea Strand said, “Regardless of if you’re an introvert or extrovert, socializing can be more enjoyable after you consistently get a good night’s sleep. When you prioritize shut-eye, other things may start falling into place.”

At eachnight, we’ve made sleep our priority from day one. Not only can you look for the most crucial sleep components (such as the best mattress), but you can browse real and honest reviews. Whether you’re looking for sleep accessories to customize your current mattress, or looking to buy a new memory foam bed, you’ll be able to find the sleep remedy that’s right for you and then get back to socializing, working, or, really, any activity.

Methodology

For this project, we surveyed 1,011 people who had to be either employed or self-employed. Respondents who were unemployed or retired were automatically disqualified. Respondents had to answer questions about their sleep habits, personality, and professional and personal social life.

Respondents ranged in age from 23 to 58 with an average age of 37 and a standard deviation of 9. Fifty-six percent of respondents identified as women, and 44 percent identified as men. For short, open-ended questions, outliers were removed. To ensure that all respondents took our survey seriously, they were required to identify and correctly answer an attention-check question.

Limitations

These data rely on self-reporting by the respondents and are only exploratory. Issues with self-reported responses include but aren’t limited to exaggeration, selective memory, telescoping, attribution, and bias. All values are based on estimations.

Fair Use Statement

Want to contribute to the sleep and socialization conversation? You’re welcome to share the data behind this study for noncommercial purposes, as long as you link back to this page and our authors receive proper credit.