User:Maddievalentine/Bedtime procrastination

Bedtime procrastination or revenge bedtime procrastination is a psychological phenomenon in which people stay up later than they desire in an attempt to have control over the night because they perceive themselves (perhaps subconsciously) to lack influence over events during the day.

Origin of the term
The term "bedtime procrastination" became popular based on a 2014 study from the Netherlands.

The "revenge" prefix was believed to be added first in China in the late 2010s, possibly relating to the 996 working hour system (72 hours per week). "Revenge" because many feel like it's the only way they can take any control over their daytime self. Long, unenjoyable, stressful days lead to unfuffilment and little personal joy.

Writer Daphne K. Lee, wrote about it on Twitter, describing it as "a phenomenon in which people who don't have much control over their daytime life refuse to sleep early in order to regain some sense of freedom during late night hours."

Causes
An individual may procrastinate sleep due to a variety of causes. Bedtime procrastination commonly occurs when an individual is not necessarily avoiding sleep, but rather continuing to complete activities they deem more enjoyable than sleep (such as watching television or browsing social media). Due to the nature of constant distraction in the 21st century, obtaining distractions to delay sleep is much easier than decades before.

People who take part in bedtime procrastination do not want to avoid sleep, rather they acknowledge that they want sleep, but they want control over their free time. This is also known as "inention behavior gap" Self control is one of the biggest controlling factors when it comes to bedtime procrastination. Self control is at it's lowest at the end of the day, so regardless of how tired or how much a person wants sleep, they continue to stay up.

A 2014 study of Dutch individuals concluded that a potential cause for bedtime procrastination could be low self-regulation.

Due to covid 19, 40% more people have had sleeping problems.

Psychological Influences
Women, students and "night owls" are most likely to participate in bedtime procrastination. People with high daytime stress levels are more prone to bedtime procrastination.

Sleep procrastination comes in other forms as well, such as delaying going to sleep (sleep procrastination) and delaying the time trying to fall asleep (while in bed procrastination).

Signs and Symptoms
According to researchers, there are three key factors to differentiate bedtime procrastination and staying up late. This means the individual experiencing bedtime procrastination must be decreasing their overall sleep time every night, there must be no reason for them to be staying up late (ie. location, sickness, etc) and lastly, the individual must be aware that the loss in sleep is impacting them negatively, but they do not care to change their routine.

Consequences
A person who experiences bedtime procrastination is likely to face effects related to the delayed sleep. One study indicated that bedtime procrastination was frequently associated with sleep deprivation and experiencing more fatigue throughout the day.