Early Risers Tend to Be More Punctual than Night Owls

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When you tend to naturally wake up may have some bearing on your personality. A recent study shows that “larks” (early risers) and “owls” (those who thrive in the evening) are quite different when it comes to punctuality.

BPS reported on the study published in Current Psychology that examined 267 students in an experiment to see how punctual the two groups were for an 8:15 AM class. It may not seem surprising to some, but the larks tended to be more punctual than the owls. The researchers wrote:

“Morning-oriented and conscientious students scored higher on punctuality.”

Though, it seems a little unfair to test both of these groups with an early morning class — it gives the larks a bit of an advantage over the later-rising participants. But BPS writes that there have been other studies measuring the relationship between sleep tendencies and personality, which shows early risers are more proactive than night owls.

The researchers also took note of how the students were getting to their morning class. Once eliminating the larks versus owls, researchers found that students arriving by foot or by bike tended to be tardier than those taking public transport or car. With these factors taken into account, the researchers write:

“These findings suggest that morningness might be an important predictor of lateness in addition to situational factors.”