Night Owl Personality - Essay Example

Night Owl Person Introduction A night owl sometimes referred to as evening person is an individual who usually stays up until very late in the night before retiring to bed. Early birds are the complete opposite of the night owls. Alford (Para 3) illuminates that in some countries, the early birds are perceived as A-individuals while the night owls is viewed as B-individuals. Jacques (Para 1) attempts to give the explanations of the reasons the night owl persons should be proud. She asserts the common resonance of the early bird catching the worm by adding that the night owl benefits from the being night owls. This however does not negate the fact that good sleeping patterns should not be advocated for. It is not only vital but also health for persons to get the right amount of sleep each day. Much praises has not been languished towards the night owls as the early birds. However, Jacques (Para 3) explains that there are reasons the owl persons to be proud of who they are. The benefits of being a night owl She argues that one of the reasons to be proud if an individual is an evening person is that they might be having an IQ that is relatively higher. At the London School of Economics and Political Science, an evolutionary scientist called Satoshi Kanazawa found out the possibility of a connection or relationship between evolutionary adaptive behaviors and intelligence. It is a deviation from what ancestors did. Jacques (Para 4) activities that are routinely nocturnal are evolutionarily novel and were most likely seldom in the ancestral environment. The conclusion of the study revealed that intelligent children have the highest probability of growing up and becoming nocturnal in adulthood by going to bed both on weekends and weekdays late and waking up late. However, despite the fact that their IQ may be higher, the early birds tend to in a slightly better position for success. According to Jacque (Para 5), the second reason for the evening persons to be proud is that they usually benefit from the having strength at night. They have an advantage in terms of physicality in comparison to the morning people. The tests from researchers of the University of Alberta on the strength of legs of both morning and evening persons reveals that while the early birds exhibit consistent strength throughout the day, the night owls strength peaks at night to higher levels. This is attributed to the fact that nocturnal persons shows increase in excitability in the spinal cord and motor cortex. Jacque (Para 6) claims that individuals who tend to work more at night are to be a little more creative. They have the ability of not only developing original but also creative solutions to problems that are creative in comparison to early bird individuals. Staying up to late hours at night has the chances of encouraging the development of spirit that is non-convectional, as well as, the ability to find options and solutions that are original. Jacques (Para 7) next reason is that evening persons tend to higher scores on tests that are perceived to be of general intelligence. The evening individuals through a test by the researchers at the University of Madrid scored highly in tests for inductive reasoning which is usually related to the general intelligence in comparison to the early birds. However, the same study reveals that the morning individuals get good grades. Jacque (Para) claims that the evening individuals have the potential of being alert mentally for a longer time in comparison to the early bird individuals. The University of Liege in Belgium study monitored extreme night owls and extreme early birds and the brain activities of the participants were measured after they had woken up. Before sleep the both set of participants scored similar results. However, after waking up, the early bird exhibited lower activities in the regions of the brain that are related to attention, as well as, the circadian master clock in comparison to the evening persons. The risks of being a night owl Bakalar (Para 1) on the other hand illuminates on the disadvantages of being a night owl. He relates the disadvantages to health problems. Studies show that although going to bed early and waking up early does not necessarily make an individual wise or wealth, it makes him or her healthy. The study by researchers from Korea administered questionnaire to men and women who were either night owls or early birds. They collected information regarding their health characteristics such as body consumption, glucose tolerance, and the size of the waist. Throughout the study several variables were controlled and it was found that the night owl men were at higher risk of diabetes compared to men who are early birds. On the other hand, the night owl women were as twice as risky to have syndromes related to metabolism such as having excess fat around the body waist, high blood sugar level, and abnormal readings of the lipid. Even though the reasons for these effects are still elusive, it is attributed to consumption of more calories in the evening. In addition, the exposure to the lights that are artificial at night can also affect the metabolic processes and regulations. Fortunately, the evening person can become an early bird though it is not clear if the outcomes of their metabolism are likely to improve. Alford (Para 1) supports that fact that the evening people are at greater risk of developing diabetes when compared to the morning people. Alford (Para 1) argues that exhibiting the traits of a night owl may not be an option and the genes can play a great role. T he genes significantly influences individuals’ chronotypes. Being a night owl is likely to be detrimental to the health of an individual. The risks are similar for individuals who have the same duration or hours of sleep relative to the morning persons. Alford asserts that despite the fact that humans are usually active during the day (diurnal), individuals have different preferences on how they do things and sleep. While others prefer carrying out activities at night and retiring to bed late, others prefer getting to bed early and waking up early to carry out their activities. Despite the fact that some of these patterns are genes related, there are increasing evidences that evening persons are having higher chances of having health complications such as obesity and overweight. According to Alford (Para 6), the differences exhibited can be attributed to the evening persons having poor quality of sleeping patterns than the early birds. Moreover, they are likely to indulge in activities that are unhealthy such eating late and smoking. It is quite difficult for the night owl persons to change to be early birds though it is worth a try on the basis of health purposes. Conclusion Night owls are persons who exhibit the characteristics of staying up top late at night before retiring to bed. There are some of beneficial characteristics that the night owl persons have exhibited. Some of these characteristics are prolonged mental alertness, creativity in solution of problems, and they are perceived to possess a higher IQ. In addition, they tend to have more strength at night. Despite the above benefits, there are health risks related to health. Unfortunately, the night owl characteristics are at times not self induced but are in the genes as chronotypes. The health risks related to evening persons are diabetes, obesity and overweight. This may be compounded further by activities such as smoking and eating late especially at night. Work Cited: Jacques, Renee. Seven Reasons T o Be Proud Of Being A Night Owl. 2015. Web on 12th May 2015 Alford, Justine. Night Owls Have A Higher Risk Of Developing Diabetes Than Early Birds. 2015. Web on 12th May 2015 Baralar, Nicholas. Being a Night Owl May Be Bad for Your Health. 2015. Web on 12th May 2015 Read More