Impact of Sleep Quality on Personality of Young Adults

Abstract

Sleep is an essential bodily process, yet the demands of the constantly changing world of the 21st century may cause severe impairment to an individual's ability to rest and rejuvenate. Poor sleep may have psychological effects for an individual, especially during early adulthood. The aim of the present study was to examine how sleep quality impacts the personality of young adults. Asample of 100 participants was studied, divided into two equal groups of participants with good sleep quality and poor sleep quality. Sleep quality was assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (Buysse et al., 1989) and personality domains were assessed using the NEO-FFI (Costa & McCrae, 1992). The results were obtained through hypothesis testing using t values and correlations. Poor quality sleepers had higher neuroticism whereas good quality sleepers had higher extraversion, agreeableness and conscientiousness. A significant positive correlation was observed between PSQI scores and neuroticism whereas negative correlations were observed with extraversion, agreeableness and conscientiousness. The study presents implications for health and personality.