Weak Associations of Morningness-Eveningness and Stability with Skin Temperature and Cortisol Levels

Abstract

Differences in daytime preferences can be described on the dimension of morningness-eveningness (continuous) or circadian typology (categorical) and are associated with our physiological functioning, which is reflected in body temperature and cortisol levels in the morning. The purpose of the present study was to explore the relationship between morningness-eveningness, stability and physiological markers (body temperature and cortisol) based on a three-dimensional conceptualization of morningness-eveningness using the Morningness-Eveningness-Stability Scale improved (MESSi). In contrast to previously used unidimensional measures, the MESSi determines circadian typology and its amplitude in three dimensions: Morning affect (MA), Eveningness (EV) and Stability/Distinctness (DI). Furthermore, the differences of the cortisol levels between weekday and weekend were examined. The sample (N = 42) consisted of extreme chronotypes (age 18–54 years; M = 24.8 years, SD = 5.83; 22 morning types [5 men and 17 women] and 20 evening types [8 men and 12 women]). The participants were asked to measure their skin temperature for one week and sample four saliva probes for cortisol determination. Morning types showed a better fit in the actual temperature data to the approximating data as compared to Evening types and showed a higher overall temperature. The Stability/Distinctness (DI) component of the MESSi was negatively correlated with the nadir. Morning types also showed higher cortisol levels than Evening types immediately after awakening. The cortisol levels were higher on a weekday compared to the weekend. To conclude, the present findings demonstrate that the skin temperature is weakly associated with morningness-eveningness and the stability of the circadian phase.