Alarm clock and snooze: Who hits snooze more often - Scientific research

New Scientific Research Comes to Shed More Light on 'Snoozing'

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A new scientific study sheds more light on 'Snoozing', the habit of many adults to press snooze several times on their alarm clock, until they finally get out of bed. As found out, this is something extremely common, since 57% of adults seem to stay in bed until the second or in some cases until the third or even fourth ring of the alarm clock! In general, the scientific community is against this habit, pointing out that it interrupts sleep cycles, making it even more difficult to wake up. Silencing/snoozing the alarm for a few more minutes just lulls the body into the next sleep cycle, only to be interrupted again. Nevertheless, neuroscientist Stephen Mattingly of the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, United States, emphasizes that until now there was no analytical data. “The medical establishment is generally against 'snoozing,' but when we went to see what hard evidence there was, we found out that... there was none. Now we have the data that proves how common it is after all!", he says.

Who hits snooze on their alarm the most?

Stephen and his team's new research was very large-scale, with 450 adults as participants. The scientists relied on data from daily questionnaires and from wearable devices.

So it was found that women were 50% more likely to press 'Snooze' on their alarm than men. At the same time, those who had a regular habit of hitting snooze were observed to take fewer steps during the day and had sleep patterns that showed more signs of sleep disturbance.

Another interesting observation is that all-nighters used the 'Snooze' button more often and reported being generally more tired. Also, younger participants were more likely to hit snooze.

Of course, scientists have not come to any final conclusion on whether there is a direct relationship between staying up all night and 'snoozing'. However, this new research reinforces earlier findings that sleep is very different for each person. This also applies to the habit of snoozing, which can make some people feel better and others feel like they wake up with less energy.

How does it affect health?

The scientific team did not conclude whether the habit of snoozing the alarm clock is ultimately good or bad for health. On the contrary, he emphasized that in general the need for any kind of awakening is probably not good for health.

What is suggested is more undisturbed sleep, with the right duration and regular schedule, and not fewer presses of the snooze button.

The research was published in the scientific journal Sleep in the October 2022 issue, with the official title 'Snoozing: an examination of a common method of waking'