Get All Access for $5/mo

Study Finds the Less You Sleep the Less People Like You A new study reveals people don't want to socialize with a sleep-deprived person.

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Shutterstock

It turns out, the concept of beauty sleep is not just clever marketing from cosmetics makers. According to a recent study published in the Royal Society Open Science Journal, not getting enough sleep makes you less attractive, less healthy and damages your social appeal.

The study discovered that sleep deprivation and looking tired not only have a direct relationship to health and attractiveness, but people are less likely to interact with someone who looks tired and unhealthy.

Related: Sleep In and Make Millions: Why You Don't Need to Wake Up at 5 A.M.

Conducted at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, researchers photographed 25 male and female students without makeup after they had slept for eight hours for two consecutive nights. The researchers took another set of photographs of the students after they restricted their sleep to four hours a night for two consecutive nights. Researchers presented each student's photographs to a group of 122 strangers who rated each image in terms of attractiveness, health, sleepiness and trustworthiness.

Of course, most people gave lower scores to the people in the sleep-deprived images, labeling them as less attractive and less healthy. Raters admitted to being less inclined to socialize with sleep-deprived individuals, and the study goes so far as to suggest that people might avoid contact with a sleep-deprived person in order to reduce health risks.

Related: How CEOs Optimize Their Sleep Schedule

According to the study, "Having an unhealthy-looking face, whether due to sleep deprivation or otherwise, might thus activate disease-avoidance mechanisms in others and render one's surroundings less socially inclined."

However, while the study found that people were found to be less attractive when lacking sleep, it discovered no change in other's perception of how trustworthy a person appears.

Rose Leadem is a freelance writer for Entrepreneur.com. 

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Marketing

He Pitched His First Business at 12 and Sold a Company for 8 Figures When He Was 24. Here's This Gen Z Marketing Expert's Next Big Move.

Griffin Hadrill built a marketing empire working with artists like Justin Bieber and Lil Nas X. Learn how he tapped into Gen Z's digital culture and turned viral campaigns into a business model.

Business News

Apple Is Adding ChatGPT to iPhones This Week. Here's How It Works.

ChatGPT will take over questions that Siri can't answer.

Growing a Business

5 Effective Strategies to Boost Your Business's Online Presence

Boosting your online presence in 2025 is the key to success for businesses looking to grow. Working on your branding and reputation management is important to drive more sales and improve conversion.

Growing a Business

How to Spot Trends and Anticipate Market Shifts Before Your Competition

Discover how to identify disruptive trends before your competitors by mastering the art of anticipating market shifts. Learn strategies for staying ahead and gaining a competitive edge in business.

Leadership

As a Leader, Take These 5 Steps to Bridge the Gap Between Innovation and Execution

Companies that want to turn ideas into action must align their people and listen to their customers.

Side Hustle

At Age 15, He Used Facebook Marketplace to Start a Side Hustle — Then It Became Something Much Bigger: 'Raised Over $1.6 Million'

Dylan Zajac, now a 21-year-old senior at Babson College, wanted to bridge the digital divide.