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Updated: Dec 6, 2025
10:16
Human Circadian Phenotyping and Diurnal Performance Testing in the Real World
Published on: April 7, 2020
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Later bedtimes predict President Trump's performance
Douglas Almond1,2, Xinming Du1
1Columbia University, United States of America.
Economics Letters
|October 5, 2020
Summary
President Trump
Area of Science:
- Sleep science
- Political science
- Social media analysis
Background:
- Technology and social media use are linked to delayed sleep.
- Assessing sleep duration via President Trump's Twitter activity.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the relationship between late-night Twitter activity and public performance.
- To investigate the impact of potential sleep deprivation on political outcomes.
Main Methods:
- Analyzing Twitter post times as a proxy for sleep duration.
- Quantifying engagement metrics (likes, retweets, replies) after late-night posts.
- Text analysis of speeches/interviews for emotional tone.
- Examining 2020 election odds.
Main Results:
- Late-night Twitter activity increased significantly (317%) from 2017-2020.
- Reduced follower engagement on days following late-night posts (6.5%-8% drop).
- Increased likelihood of "angry" emotional tone and decreased "happy" tone in public statements.
- Opponent's election odds increased after late nights.
Conclusions:
- Evidence suggests progressive sleep shortening during Trump's term.
- Sleep deprivation appears to correlate with compromised public performance and political outcomes.
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