Women beware! Poor sleep can affect your career goals in life

Proper sleep plays a signgicant role in our overall health and well-being. Find out how sleep can impact women's mood and ambition.

It's no secret that getting enough sleep is crucial for maintaining physical health. Various negative health risks, such as heart disease and type 2 diabetes, are associated with sleep deprivation. According to already existing research, there is a complex relationship between sleep and emotional health. 

Despite the fact that many psychiatric diseases have long been known to have a negative impact on sleep, more recent theories claim that lack of sleep can also contribute to the development and maintenance of a range of mental and mood related issues.

Sleep quality affects happiness and how people feel about advancing in life and career.. The researchers at Washington State University discovered a peculiar finding in a two-week-long survey study of 135 workers in the U.S. Each day the participants first noted how well they had slept and the quality of their current mood, and then later in the day how they felt about striving for more status and responsibility at work. 

It was found out that quality of sleep migth affect women's happiness and their career ambitions and may have no significant effect on men's ambitions. 

The lead author of this interesting study, Leah Sheppard, an associate professor in WSU's Carson College of Business said, "When women are getting a good night's sleep and their mood is boosted, they are more likely to be oriented in their daily intentions toward achieving status and responsibility at work. If their sleep is poor it reduces their positive mood, then we saw that they were less oriented toward those goals." 

Lack of sleep can alter one's mood and make them more irritable and so in another study it was found that participants who were sleep deprived also felt anxious and depressed. This is because when sleep-deprived, the brain cannot function normally, which means it can't suppress the reactivity of the amygdala.

Women more often report lower levelsof happiness and intentions to pursue any career advances especially on days following a night of poor sleep or if they are generally sleep deprived due to family pressure or other responsibilities. There are many gender differences in emotion regulation as well as societal expectations as per imperical evidence and recent studies.

Additionally, according to neuroscience studies, women exhibit less emotion regulation and more emotional reactivity than men do. This is supported by cultural stereotypes that attribute more emotionality to women. 

However, because males are often perceived as being more ambitious than women, there is more pressure on them to advance professionally. As a result, men may be less likely to be discouraged from their career goals by poor sleep quality.

Such findings hold some good news for women who want to advance their careers, though, Sheppard said. 

The ability to link aspirations to something that is happening outside of the workplace and under your control is crucial. There are several measures everybody can do to get a better night's sleep and manage their mood in general.

(With ANI inputs)