Humans have a biological clock—a natural sleep-wake rhythm. When social obligations like work or school conflict with this clock, such as having to wake earlier than your body’s rhythm dictates, it creates what we call social jetlag. “In other words, it’s a mismatch between the ‘biological clock’ and the ‘social clock,’” explains biological psychologist Anne Landvreugd.
Sixty percent of the European population reports experiencing at least one hour of social jetlag, and a third of them experience two hours or more. “Most research so far has focused on the link between social jetlag and depressive symptoms in adolescents,” Landvreugd explains. That’s why she decided to examine the relationship between social jetlag and happiness in adults.
Twin Register
Landvreugd and her colleagues conducted the research through questionnaires filled out by over 7,000 participants from the Netherlands Twin Register. “This is the first large-scale study on social jetlag and well-being in a Western European adult population,” the scientist explains. The findings were recently published in the scientific journal Personality and Individual Differences.
How much social jetlag someone experiences has little to no impact on their happiness or well-being, Landvreugd concludes. “This holds true across all adult age groups in our sample, and the day of the week we measure social jetlag on makes no difference to the results.” Moreover, the study shows that family environment factors, such as upbringing and family habits, also play no role. “Because our sample included participants from the Netherlands Twin Register, many of whom grew up in the same household, we were able to correct for these family effects in our analysis.”
Going clubbing
“The results of this study suggest we need to rethink how we talk about social jetlag,” says Landvreugd. “The term carries a negative connotation, but our research shows that social jetlag does not directly harm our happiness.” To improve happiness and well-being, she stresses, we should focus on other factors. “Everyone is different, and any negative effects some people experience are likely due to poor sleep quality or insufficient sleep rather than social jetlag itself.”
Good news for night owls too! “We’re seeing more early-start club nights so people can get to bed at a decent hour,” Landvreugd says. “But the time you choose to go dancing doesn’t really matter, as long as your consumption habits don’t harm your sleep quality and you make sure to get enough rest when you do go to bed.”