The Pop Psych Project: Morning People Are Happier--Night Owls Are Mostly Cool With That

This picture pretty well describes my mood most mornings.

Researchers from the University of Toronto recently discovered that people who identify themselves as "morning people," or people who pop out of bed early with energy and enthusiasm, are happier than night owls. Interestingly, night owls do not display higher levels of "negative" emotion such as anger or depression when compared to morning people. They just aren't as happy.

In my unofficial, unscientific research on the subject (having one child who is a morning person and one child who is a night owl), morning people seem to be overly enthusiastic in the morning, and night owls appear to be mildly irritated by that enthusiasm.

Thanks for reading-- Max Wachtel, Ph.D.


reference:

Biss, R. K., & Hasher, L. (2012). Happy As A Lark: Morning-Type Younger and Older Adults Are Higher In Positive Affect, Emotion, 12(3), 437-441.

Posted in: happiness,morning person,negative emotions,night owl,Pop Psych