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The effect of 5 nights of sleep restriction on empathic propensity
Author(s) -
Amicucci Giulia,
Tempesta Daniela,
Salfi Federico,
D'Atri Aurora,
Viselli Lorenzo,
De Gennaro Luigi,
Ferrara Michele
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of sleep research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.297
H-Index - 117
eISSN - 1365-2869
pISSN - 0962-1105
DOI - 10.1111/jsr.13325
Subject(s) - empathy , sleep restriction , psychology , context (archaeology) , sleep (system call) , cognition , propensity score matching , audiology , developmental psychology , clinical psychology , sleep deprivation , medicine , social psychology , psychiatry , operating system , paleontology , computer science , biology
Summary Literature supports the existence of a significant relationship between sleep quality/quantity and empathy. However, empathic ability and empathic propensity are distinct constructs. Expression of empathic propensity depends on the subjective cognitive costs attributed to the empathic experience. Studies on the effects of the experimental reduction in sleep duration on empathic behaviour are still lacking. Therefore, we investigated the consequences of 5 consecutive nights of sleep restriction on empathic propensity. A total of 42 university students (mean [ SEM ] age 24.09 [0.65] years; 22 females) underwent a cross‐over design consisting of 5 consecutive nights of regular sleep and 5 consecutive nights of sleep restriction with a maximum of 5 hr sleep/night. After each condition, all participants were evaluated using the Empathy Selection Task, a new test assessing the motivated avoidance of empathy for its associated cognitive costs. The results showed different effects of sleep restriction depending on the habitual way of responding in the empathic context. Participants with baseline high levels of empathic propensity reduced their empathic propensity after prolonged sleep restriction. Differently, participants who tended to avoid empathising already in the habitual sleep condition maintained their empathic behaviour unchanged after sleep curtailment. In conclusion, inter‐individual variability should be taken into account when evaluating the effects of sleep restriction on empathic propensity. People with habitual higher tendency to empathise could choose to avoid empathic experience following several consecutive nights of inadequate sleep.