Moon cycles and violent behaviours: myth or fact?

Area of Science:

• Forensic Psychiatry
• Criminology
• Lunar Science

Background:

• Popular belief suggests lunar phases influence human behavior, including aggression.
• Previous studies have yielded conflicting results regarding moon phases and societal behavior.
• This research specifically examines the link between lunar cycles and emergency department admissions for violent incidents.

Purpose of the Study:

• To test the hypothesis that lunar phases correlate with the frequency of victims of aggression presenting to emergency departments.
• To determine if full moon or new moon phases are associated with an increase in violent incidents.
• To provide empirical data to either support or refute the popular belief in lunar influence on aggression.

Main Methods:

• Collected daily data on the frequency of aggression victims in an emergency department.
• Created a time series of this data spanning a specific period.
• Correlated the aggression data time series with a concurrent time series of lunar luminosity data.
• Performed cross-correlations within a -7 to +7 day lag range.

Main Results:

• Observed weak correlations between lunar phases and the frequency of aggression victims.
• Correlation coefficients ranged from -0.102 to +0.034.
• These correlations lacked statistical significance, indicating no reliable association.

Conclusions:

• The study's data does not support an association between lunar phases and the frequency of violent behavior.
• Lunar luminosity cannot be used to predict the incidence of aggression cases presenting to emergency departments.
• The popular belief linking moon phases to increased human aggression is not substantiated by this research.