Sleep Deprivation May Cause Lapses in Moral Judgment

The New Scientist reports on a study from the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, which suggest that a lack of sleep can affect people’s moral judgment.

The findings, along with previous brain-imaging studies, suggest that sleep deprivation has a particularly debilitating effect on decision-making processes that depend heavily on emotion. Sleep deprived participants also showed slight shifts in what they deemed appropriate actions compared to when they were well-rested. The changes were more pronounced in individuals who scored lower in "emotional intelligence" tests.

Of course, leaders of most institutions tend to adopt schedules that mandate sleep deprivation. How is their moral judgment being impacted? Think…leaders of companies, government or religion. This is scary.

Closer to home, advertising and media are industries that propagate sleep deprivation – speaking from personal experience. How is my moral judgment being impacted? How much of today’s marketing and advertising is tainted with lapses in moral judgment.

Published by Max Kalehoff

Father, sailor and marketing executive.

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