Science Stats Psychology

Westerners sleep more than people from Eastern nations

EARLY RISERS  Sleep schedules vary from country to country, with social demands like work and study providing the primary incentives to stay up (sleep times shown above in darker blue).

J.C. Lo et al/Frontiers in Neurology 2014, adapted by S. Egts

By Science News Staff

People in Western nations tend to sleep more: seven to eight hours per night on average, compared with less than seven hours in many Eastern nations. A new study suggests that differences in the timing of the natural light-dark cycle are not to blame, but rather differing schedules for work and study. People in Singapore stayed up later on work days but rose around the same time as people in the United Kingdom. Schedules were more similar on free days.

A version of this article appears in the July 12, 2014 issue of Science News.

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