Not getting enough sleep not only negatively affects your health and work productivity, but it can also taint your perception of the people around you and make you less accepting of others, according to the British newspaper "The Daily Mail."
At the beginning of the study, none of the participants reported any sleep issues, excessive caffeine use, or vision problems that might affect their perception of others. However, the researchers asked all participants to stay awake for one night, and they tracked their eye movement and interactions with others the next morning using an eye-tracking program.
On the following night, the researchers allowed the participants to sleep for 8 hours, and they also tracked their eyes and perceptions the next morning. The team found that those who were sleep-deprived experienced a 6 to 10 percent decrease in their acceptance of and interaction with others.
When asked to evaluate the faces around them, the participants who had not slept were more harsh in their assessments compared to those who had enough sleep, being more likely to perceive others as either untrustworthy or unattractive in appearance.
The research team fears that this could lead to increased isolation and antisocial behavior, as people are less likely to interact with those they find less attractive or trustworthy. The researchers acknowledged that their study focused only on young individuals, emphasizing the need to expand their research to include other age groups. The new study has been published in the scientific journal "Nature."
