A study reported by Medical News Today suggests that people who look tired are at a social disadvantage. 

Sundelin and colleagues enrolled 25 healthy men and women to their study.

Each participant was required to sleep for 8 hours on 2 consecutive nights. One week later, subjects were asked to restrict their sleep to just 4 hours on 2 consecutive nights.

After both sleep conditions, participants visited a laboratory to have their photograph taken. For the photographs, subjects were instructed not to wear makeup, to wear their hair pulled away from their faces, and to wear a gray t-shirt.

Next, the researchers recruited 122 adults – referred to as “raters” – and asked them view each photograph. The adults were asked to rate how attractive, healthy, or trustworthy they perceived the person in each photograph to be, as well as whether they would like to socialize with that person.

Not only were participants rated as less attractive and healthy following sleep restriction than when they were well rested, but the raters also reported a reduced willingness to socialize with adults who looked sleep-deprived.

Ratings of trustworthiness did not appear to be affected by sleep duration, the team reports.

Read more at www.medicalnewstoday.com