The Romance of Sleep/Wake Schedules, The Research Life.
We often consider a defined set of criteria when vetting potential romantic partners. We evaluate their character and personality, their attractiveness, their occupation, and hobbies to determine the compatibility for a romantic relationship. While we learn about their waking days, learning about their sleep schedules is not often considered.
What’s a chronotype?
Your chronotype is your preferred time of day to be active. It’s the time interval that you feel the most energized or “mentally sharp.”
- Research shows that our preferences for sleep and wake times vary by age and gender/sex and may even play a role in romantic partner selection.
Do Chronotypes Really Matter For Romantic Relationships?
The short answer to this question is yes, but I would argue that chronotype similarity is most important for those with inflexible daily schedules or poor problem-solving skills.
- Romantic partners with similar chronotypes generally report higher relationship satisfaction than partners with misaligned chronotypes.
Bottom Line
Relationship Satisfaction May Depend More on Effective Problem-Solving Than Chronotype
- People who have similar sleep/wake schedules are more likely to have higher relationship satisfaction than those who have different schedules
- Time spent together may be an underlying factor that explains the relationship between chronotype similarity and relationship satisfaction
- A similar sleep wake schedule is not the only factor involved with a successful romance, however