Moody much? Exploring the correlation between subjective sleepiness, negative affect and cooperation.

Cooperation is a defining characteristic of human behaviour and can be shaped by various factors, such as individuals’ personalities, group dynamics and culture. Underexplored factors such as sleepiness and mood have also been suggested as potential contributors to cooperative behaviours. The mechanisms that shape cooperation remain debated, particularly its relation to subjective sleepiness. Past research has focused on objective sleepiness and less is therefore known about how subjective sleepiness is associated with cooperation. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between subjective sleepiness and cooperation and examine whether negative affect explains this relationship. It was hypothesized that feeling sleepier would be associated with less cooperative behaviour and that negative affect would serve as a link between these variables. To explore this, we recruited 201 Prolific participants from the US and the UK to participate in an online study, employing a 3...Show moreCooperation is a defining characteristic of human behaviour and can be shaped by various factors, such as individuals’ personalities, group dynamics and culture. Underexplored factors such as sleepiness and mood have also been suggested as potential contributors to cooperative behaviours. The mechanisms that shape cooperation remain debated, particularly its relation to subjective sleepiness. Past research has focused on objective sleepiness and less is therefore known about how subjective sleepiness is associated with cooperation. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between subjective sleepiness and cooperation and examine whether negative affect explains this relationship. It was hypothesized that feeling sleepier would be associated with less cooperative behaviour and that negative affect would serve as a link between these variables. To explore this, we recruited 201 Prolific participants from the US and the UK to participate in an online study, employing a 3 x 2 within-subjects design. Cooperation was measured through a one-shot unequal Prisoner’s Dilemma (PD), in which participants played in Person A and Person B roles. The PD contained unbalanced payoffs. Beside the cooperation task, participants also completed questionnaires measuring subjective sleepiness (Stanford Sleepiness Scale) and negative affect (I-PANAS-SF). Results indicated no significant relationship between subjective sleepiness and cooperation, and negative affect was also not associated with cooperation. However, subjective sleepiness had a significant positive relationship with negative affect. These outcomes question whether subjective sleepiness substantially impacts cooperation, especially in situations of inequality, and call for future studies to clarify in what contexts and why internal states influence cooperation.Show less

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Moody much? Exploring the correlation between subjective sleepiness, negative affect and cooperation.