Misperception of sleep is associated with intrinsic motivation toward thinking about sleep

Misperception of sleep, the underestimation of total sleep time and overestimation of sleep onset latency (SOL) relative to objective measures, is often found in people with sleep disturbances. Theories of insomnia have proposed that perceived sleeplessness triggers excessive intention and effort to sleep, ironically disturbing the normal initiation of sleep. The current study tested this specific association between (mis)perception of sleep and intrinsic motivation to think about sleep.

The sample (n = 74) covered students and community living in Munich and surrounds with ages between 18 and 30 years. We assessed the subjective and objective sleep of participants using a sleep diary and actigraphy. Participants also completed a decision-making task (the pay-per-view task), where they had to decide between thinking about sleep vs. eating. As these options were associated with a variable monetary reward, participants typically experienced a conflict between their preferred topic and the reward for their choice.

Multilevel logistic regression analyses showed that participants with greater SOL misperception (i.e., longer subjective relative to objective SOL) forgo a greater reward for the opportunity to think about sleep.

The non-clinical nature of our sample may limit the implication of the findings for clinical levels of insomnia.

Results support the cognitive model of insomnia, suggesting that perception of sleeplessness is associated with higher intrinsic motivation to engage in sleep-related thinking.