Are You Morning Lark or Night Owl? Here Are 12 Science Facts for You

Morning People?

I know right?

How can they leave the warm confines of their bed for chilly weather, or do they watch cartoons?

Unbelievable.

But don’t even get me started on Night People.

Don’t they have to work through the day?

You’ve probably had enough of their late-night house parties and loud movie nights.

The majority of people are classified based on their sleep type or chronotype.

Our chronotype determines our sleep patterns and how we function based on our internal body clock or circadian rhythm.

You can be a morning person (also known as an early bird, early riser, or morning lark), an evening person (also known as a night owl), both, or neither.

Morning Larks are known to be early risers and early sleepers.

They have a habit of waking up before the sun rises and they are more active and energetic in the morning.

Night Owls, on the other hand, have an evening chronotype that is 2-3 hours later than their morning chronotype.

This is because of the timing of their circadian rhythm.

Your circadian rhythm regulates not only your sleeping patterns, but also your hunger and eating patterns, hormone levels, and even your mood.

Everyone is different and has their own sleep-wake cycle; some people are more alert in the afternoon or evening, while others are energetic at any time of day; you have a set of characteristics that are superior to the other group.

So, regardless of where you fit in, here are 12 facts that science says about morning larks and night owls.

Many books have been written about or mention having a solid morning routine that involves waking up early as a source of success.

In fact, Robin Sharma’s bestseller, The 5 AM Club, was widely appreciated and adored by millions of people.

More popular is the Ben Franklin quote that says sleeping early and waking up early will make you healthy, richer, and wise.

Science suggests you don’t take his words too literally.

In the late 1990s, while writing a paper for BMJ, two health researchers performed an analysis on male and female subjects.

The subjects were divided into morning larks that slept before 2300hrs and woke up before 0800hrs and night owls who slept after 2300 hrs and woke up after 0800 hrs.

The results indicated that subjects more active at night were richer with higher incomes and luxury items.

What about their health?

The cognitive tests and health reports did not show striking differences or advantages between the two sleep types.

An uninformed world perspective is that sleeping in through the morning or night owls are generally lazier.

That is not so true. As a matter of fact, night people have more active hours than their counterparts’ early sleepers.

More mentally active hours equate to the ability to perform more work or create and a higher chance of cutting out distractions.

The proof is in a 2009 study that featured two tests carried out ten and half hours apart.

In the test, both morning larks and night owls performed relatively similarly in morning tests.

However, in the second evening test night, owls were sharper and quicker than morning larks.

But are these active night owls smart enough to maximize on their productivity?

Research by Psychologist Satoshi aimed to find answers to that question.

The psychologist carried out a five-year study on more than 20,000 students.

The study aimed to establish the connection between patterns of sleep and intelligence.

The results showed students who slept late at night were synonymous with high levels of intelligence.

Depending on your body’s peak level, you may be more susceptible to contracting some illnesses.

This is as a result of your circadian rhythm influences your hormonal production, energy levels, and eating habits.

Many studies, for instance, one by NCBI that investigated more than 30000 nurses, show similar troubling findings.

People more active at night show higher risks of suffering from depression, eating disorders, and drug abuse.

The risks are even greater since night owls carry out habits that may decrease sleep, such as minimal exercising and caffeine use.

Other results from a study by Knutson show that night people have a shorter life expectancy than their morning counterparts.

However, it is important to note that the results tie to other habits and do not conclusively mean night people will not live long lives.

Since your body clock is natural and ingrained in your DNA, night owls tend to have it bad on their 9 AM-5 PM jobs.

In turn, this results in social jet lag. Social jetlag is a complication caused by changes to your natural chronotype due to factors such as work or other commitments.

Social jetlag can influence your productivity and mood, making you experience signs of exhaustion.

Morning people tend to work best and experience their day actively.

That is because their rhythm is simultaneous with social and employment activities.

Consequently, their mood may be happier, lighter, and have a feeling of fulfillment throughout their day.

On the other hand, night people may feel out of control about their day, and thus they may be grumpy.

A research in 2012 backs this up, with the results showing morning larks exhibit positive hormonal characteristics than their night counterparts.

Well, now we know the reason behind the simile as happy as a lark.

In a research conducted on university students, your sleep patterns may have a say on your personality traits.

Night owls depicted characters that are more novelty inclining than morning larks.

That means night people may be more attracted to change or newness and originality and may be persistent in chasing that.

Morning larks may lack novelty in abundance but exhibit more persistence, teamwork, adaptability, and self-motivation.

While they may have shorter mentally active hours, early risers are bolder and more dynamic than night owls.

When it comes to time interpretation, morning people are more likely to be concerned about their future than their current state.

As a result, morning larks tend to plan their future objectives and set higher expectations for themselves.

While all the productivity glory seems to belong to the night owls, the morning larks rank high inefficiency.

That is as a result of their proactive nature and the fact that morning people often procrastinate less.

Unlike night owls who may wait till their peak moments to tackle problems, morning people handle the problems when they appear.

However, this may not always be the case as it depends on other factors such as your alertness and subject of work engagement.

When it comes to creativity, night persons have the win, and this is according to research carried out by the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart.

As a result of seeking novelty and lacking proactiveness, night owls go out of their way to come up with creative answers to their issues.

However, according to a journal by Weith and Zacks, both chronotypes are more creative during their lower peak ties.

The test offered questions that required logical answers and creative answers.

Each chronotype was more successful in the logical questions during their peak times.

But morning larks worked at creative questions better at night, while night owls were more successful during the morning hours

The San Francisco Giants conducted a research on their baseball players to find a connection between gameplay and sleeping patterns.

The results show that players that are more prolific are more inclined to sleep late at night.

The tests featured morning lark players enjoy a game at their preferred peak time while night owls played at night.

The night owls returned higher batting points than the morning larks.

Interestingly, eveningness players increased their performance when playing in the mornings.

In comparison, morning players performed similarly at evening/night games.

Night owls feed into the stereotype that all bad activities happen in the dark.

How?

Well, several studies link night owls to clubbing, substance abuse, mainly smoking and drinking, and sex.

Some results from the research show that many night people are battling smoking complications or smoke more than larks.

That also applies to the consumption of alcoholic content, which is significantly higher in night people.

However, there may be a result of clubs and bars mainly operating during the evening and nighttime.

Consequently, you can expect your night owl friend to turn up more than your morning self despite an active workday.

While Night people consume more alcohol, Morning people will indulge more caffeine during the day.

In the study conducted by Jamie Zeitzer, an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University, said: 

“However, for the early risers, the more caffeine in their bodies, the more time they spent awake during the night after initially falling asleep. This was not seen in the night owls.”

In addition to that, Night owls tend to be more sleep-deprived which can result to health issues.

As mentioned, a couple of times through this article, night owls don’t have it so smooth.

The worldly acceptance of the available work time being between morning and evening, night owls tend to break the circadian rhythms by waking up in the morning.

As such, the night owls will have a reduced sleep time or varying sleeping times.

Lack of enough sleep and unhealthy sleeping patterns can reduce their productivity affecting their jobs or schoolwork.

The habits are also prominent in mental disorders such as anxiety, depression, and poor concentration levels.

Everyone has their unique circadian rhythm, which is tied to their DNA and biology. 47% of your chronotype is inherited from your parents, while the rest is based on your most prominent habits or time-management as you grow up.

While average human circadian rhythms complete a cycle approximately every 24 hours, night owl’s body cycles may go for even longer hours.

As such, night owls may consider using external factors or habits to indicate what time they should fall asleep.

However, the circadian rhythms are also susceptible to changes some depending on age.

Teenagers and children tend to be more active from the evening to night hours.

But as they grow older and age, they may find themselves being more alert and enjoying more early

While you may be internally debating on the best time to be active, it is best, you know, there’s no right answer for that.

Sleep and health professionals suggest you instead be more aware of your circadian rhythm and work in line with it for more success.

While that may not be possible due to external factors, attempting to alter your body clock may cause more harm than progress.

For morning people sleeping in late into the night may result in exhaustion the next day or sleeping more than often during the day.

Night people may experience short spans of quality sleep when they sleep early and low productivity during the morning to afternoon times when they wake up early.

Remember your circadian rhythms that dictate whether you are a morning lark or night owl depends on various factors.

It’s best you adapt your lifestyle and activities to match your body clock for better living and success of your daily activities.

The essence of Ben Franklin’s quote of sleeping early and waking up earlier lies in getting the right amount of sleep for your brain and body. So, whether a morning person or night person, embrace it and live your best life.