Brussels — How well did you sleep last night? The answer could determine whether the darker side of your personality comes out at work the next day, researchers say.
A team from Vrije University Belgium asked 103 working adults in Belgium and Argentina to complete a pair of surveys each day over a 10-day period – in the morning (to gauge sleep quality and duration the night before) and in the late afternoon (to rate how they felt throughout the day).
The afternoon survey helped gauged the participants’ levels of “the dark triad states”: narcissism (desiring admiration), Machiavellianism (using others for personal gain, for example) and psychopathy (such as a lack of remorse).
Findings show “negative associations” between sleep quality/quantity and each of the dark triad states. The researchers say that the results suggest sleep-deficient employees are more prone to exhibit these dark traits.
The traits can fluctuate in day-to-day work life, and recognizing the factors that bring them about could help prevent them from developing into more persistent behavior patterns, said lead study author Evy Kuijpers, a postdoctoral researcher at Vrije.
Kuijpers and her fellow researchers recommend that employers promote healthy sleep habits and foster a positive work culture.
The study was published in the Journal of Organizational Behavior.
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Original article published by Safety+Health an NSC publication