Implicit and Explicit Stigma of Chronotype in Emerging Adults

ABSTRACT

Background

Individuals with poor sleep (e.g., insomnia) and mental health (e.g., depression) experience negative stigma but no studies have examined the relationship between stigma and evening chronotype. The present mixed methods study aimed to assess and describe explicit and implicit attitudes about evening and morning chronotypes in a sample of emerging adults.

Participants

49 undergraduates (M_age = 19.9 [SD = 1.5], 83.7% female).

Methods

Participants completed self-reports of demographics and chronotype. Attitudes about “night owls” and “early birds” were measured with self-report questionnaires (explicit attitudes) and an Implicit Association Task (implicit attitudes). Participants described associations with evening and morning chronotypes in free-text responses, which were qualitatively coded.

Results

We found evidence of implicit bias against night owls and for early birds. The positive mean implicit d score was 0.57 (SD = 0.47), indicating a moderate implicit bias for pairing “bad” with “night owl” and “good” with “early bird.” No baseline characteristics, including chronotype, were significantly associated with implicit bias. Analyses of explicit bias revealed participants perceived night owls as significantly more lazy, unhealthy, undisciplined, immature, creative, and young. Analysis of free-text responses provided further evidence of these associations.

Conclusions

Consistent with hypothesis, undergraduates demonstrated predominantly negative implicit and explicit stigma toward evening chronotypes compared to morning types. As stigma can lead to adverse consequences, future studies should assess the impact of negative societal and self-stigma on evening types. Consideration of societal stigma within clinical intervention contexts could have the potential to reduce shame or other emotions that interfere with sleep.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge Dr. Daniel Taylor and Dr. Heidemarie Blumenthal for their previous and ongoing mentorship, and the research assistants who contributed to this study: Bella Scott, Brett Messman, Xin Li, Ryan Moore, Laura Jamison, and Jennifer Warmann.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplemental material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed on the publisher’s website.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.