Sleep is a great pleasure, but it is also necessary for the proper functioning of our body. On average, it is recommended that a person sleep between 7 and 9 o’clock. If these numbers change over a long period of time, problems may arise, both physically and psychologically. For example, good rest is essential for reducing stress levels, securing essential memories, or good cardiovascular health. Unfortunately, many people have to deal with insomnia that prevents them from reaching those hours of sleep. It can be caused by many things, from everyday stress to your religious beliefs. The latter may sound crazy, but that’s what’s being discussed in a recent article that concludes that atheists sleep better.
What they cannot explain in this paper recently published in the journal sleepis the reason why this curious phenomenon seems to be happening.
Atheists sleep better, agnostics too.
The authors of this study are from Baylor UniversityThey used data from Overview of Baylor’s Religionwhere participants answered a series of questions about their religious habits. Among them, there were also some problems related to their sleep patterns, so it was possible to check if there was any connection. So it was.
Only two religions could be considered: Catholic and Baptist.
For the sample to be sufficiently representative, both atheists and agnostics were quantified in one group. On the other hand, there were those who stated that they had some kind of religious beliefs. The latter were divided into two groups: Catholics and Baptists. There were not enough people of a different religion to conduct a statistically significant study. On the whole they were 1501 people who took part in the study.
Among them, they noticed that agnostics and atheists sleep better because they specifically 73% had more than 7 hours of sleep. Instead, it only happened with 63% Catholic and 55% Baptist..
What is this for?
Although this seems contradictory, the study also shows that those participants who slept more than seven hours thought they had more likely to go to heaven. However, this perception was not associated with the ability to fall asleep, so among those who slept better, there were no more believers. In short, people without established religious beliefs find it easier to fall asleep; but why?
Those who slept more than seven hours believed they had a better chance of going to heaven.
This is something that, at least for now, researchers cannot answer. At the moment, his theory is that adequate sleep brings higher doses of optimism, hence the beliefs about getting into paradise among believers. But why atheists sleep better is unclear. It is often said that it is important to have a clear conscience in order to fall asleep. Does this mean that it is better for those who do not believe in anything to silence their conscience? More surveys and more research will be needed to answer this question. To begin with, according to the authors themselves, the sample should be expanded by repeating the procedure in other countrieswith people of other faiths, as this only includes Americans with two specific religions.
Source: Hiper Textual
