Category: Sleep

Training this personality trait could improve your sleep.

Optimists tend to sleep better, research finds.

People with positive personalities have a 70 percent lower chance of suffering from insomnia or sleep disorders.

Optimists are typically hopeful about the future and tend to believe that goodness pervades reality.

This may help them when sleeping as being positive helps reduce ruminative thoughts about stressful events that tend to keep insomniacs awake.

The research suggests that receiving training in optimism could improve people’s sleep.

Mr Jakob Weitzer, the study’s first author, said:

“Other studies have shown that optimists take more exercise, smoke less and eat a healthier diet.

On top of that, they have better strategies for coping with problems and experience less stress in challenging situations.

All these factors could contribute to better quality sleep.”

This study included over 1,000 people in Austria who were asked about their personality, lifestyle and sleep patterns.

People who are optimistic tend to agree strongly with statements like, “I’m always optimistic about my future” and strongly disagree with statements like, “I hardly expect things to go my way.”

The results clearly showed a link between greater optimism and improved sleep.

A previous study has found that people who are hopeful about the future are 78 percent more likely to report very good quality sleep.

Positive people also reported getting a good amount of sleep: six to nine hours per night.

Optimists were much less likely to report any symptoms of insomnia or daytime sleepiness.

The good news is that optimism is not fixed in stone.

Exercises such as visualising your ‘best possible self‘ have been shown to increase optimism.

Mr Weitzer exlained:

 “This involves trying to imagine an ideal and writing down how one’s best possible life could look in the future.

After several weeks of regular practice, it can help to increase an individual’s level of optimism.”

The study was published in the Journal of Sleep Research (Weitzer et al., 2020).

The trait can be increased using psychological exercises.

Optimistic people tend to sleep the best, research finds.

People who are hopeful about the future were 78 percent more likely to report very good quality sleep.

Positive people also reported getting a good amount of sleep: six to nine hours per night.

Finally, optimists were much less likely to report any symptoms of insomnia or daytime sleepiness.

The reason optimism is linked to better sleep could be that it promotes positive coping.

People who cope adaptively with stress in life tend to seek support from others, eat properly, exercise regularly and anticipate stressful episodes.

The good news is that optimism is not fixed in stone.

Exercises such as visualising your ‘best possible self‘ have been shown to increase optimism.

Inadequate sleep is linked to an increased risk of many chronic diseases, said Professor Rosalba Hernandez, the study’s first author, said:

“The lack of healthy sleep is a public health concern, as poor sleep quality is associated with multiple health problems, including higher risks of obesity, hypertension and all-cause mortality.

Dispositional optimism — the belief that positive things will occur in the future — has emerged as a psychological asset of particular salience for disease-free survival and superior health.”

The study included 3,548 people across three large US cities.

They completed measures of optimism and reported on their sleep quality.

People who are optimistic tend to agree strongly with statements like “I’m always optimistic about my future” and strongly disagree with statements like  “I hardly expect things to go my way.”

Some participants were brought into the lab to have their sleep quality directly measured.

Professor Hernandez explained what the study found:

“Results from this study revealed significant associations between optimism and various characteristics of self-reported sleep after adjusting for a wide array of variables, including socio-demographic characteristics, health conditions and depressive symptoms.”

Optimism promotes adaptive coping, said Professor Hernandez:

“Optimists are more likely to engage in active problem-focused coping and to interpret stressful events in more positive ways, reducing worry and ruminative thoughts when they’re falling asleep and throughout their sleep cycle.”

The study was published in the journal Behavioral Medicine (Hernandez et al., 2019).