New Study Says Sleep Makes You Look Better
Yeah we know, file this one under duh, but a new study in Sweden actually went to the trouble of proving that people are more attractive when they’re rested.
According to this MSNBC article (and many others who’ve reported on this breaking story), researchers gathered 23 healthy adults and took before and after pictures, the afters being after 31 hours of sleep deprivation. Then they were rated by 65 strangers.
Not surprisingly, the subjects were found to look better after 8 hours of sleep and “4 percent less attractive, 6 percent less healthy and 19 percent more tired” after not sleeping for 31 hours.
Pretty straightforward stuff. The only thing that I find confusing is that the guy they chose to show as their example (pictured above)—who is well rested on the left and sleepless on the right—looks way better to me in his tired state. Does anyone else agree?
You can see the whole study in the British Medical Journal. And here’s what we want to know: When it comes to sleep, is beauty a motivator for you to get more?
Image via the study
I agree–I assumed the pic on the right was the well-rested version as the guy looks a lot better in that pic. weird.
he def looks thinner and has a better skin.. texture?… in the sleepy one; though, in the first one he looks more alert, though plump. Hrm… Yes sleep is a great beauty aid… now if only I didn’t always stay up past 10 and get stuck in the hyper midnight stage of awakeness…
I totally agree about the picture, but the expression on his face could be attributed to a multitude of things (trying to look a certain way, excited to be in an experiment, ect.). I would imagine that being in the same room as someone going through the experiment would allow us to assess someone on a much deeper level.
I drink one glass of water before I go to bed. As the need to use the restroom increases in the early morning, I slowly come out of my deep sleep and wake up from a lighter state of rest. This means that I feel much more rested regardless of how much sleep I got (hopefully 8 hours). This is a technique that has been used for thousand of years, although, it was intentionally used as an alarm clock based on how long a certain amount of liquid could be held before woken up.
I totally agree. I think he looks healthier and more attractive in the right photo. Maybe its partially due to his slight difference in facial expression in the two photos. Hmmm.
Personally I think I look wayyyyy better when I have slept 8 hours over 5 or 6. It’s just the struggle to get it on a consistent basis! My looks, health, and how hydrated I am are all motivators for me to get more sleep. Tonight I will get 8 hours! Hopefully…
I totally agree about the picture! And yes, looking healthier and more rested and more attractive is a motivation for me to get more sleep!
Working with children generally gets me into bed pretty early!
The previous three posters all began their comments with ‘I totally agree’ – I love it!
Haha that’s funny! At least we all “totally agree” with each other.
Wow, the difference is amazing!
I agree!! I thought the 2nd pic looked better!
Totally agree with you – my first thought upon seeing those pics was exactly the same! The sleep deprived version of this guy looked better to me… Now, mayeb we need a study on why women of today prefer sleep deprived men? Or maybe they should release more pictures and let us be judges!