Research Design Connection: More Reasons for Napping Spaces

Goldschmied and her colleagues have identified a few more reasons to create spaces for naps in places outside the home. Building on previous research that “has shown that napping can increase positive mood and improve immune functioning” they determined that after “a brief, midday nap…nappers showed a decrease in self-reported impulsivity and increased tolerance for frustration, while those in the no-nap condition showed the opposite pattern.” Nap periods were 60 minutes long. Jennifer Goldschmied, Philip Cheng, Kathryn Kemp, Lauren Caccamo, Julia Roberts, and Patricia Deldin. 2015. “Napping to Modulate Frustration and Impulsivity: A Pilot Study.” Personality and Individual Differences, vol. 86, pp. 164-167. Sally Augustin, PhD, a cognitive scientist, is the editor of Research Design Connections (www.researchdesignconnections.com), a monthly subscription newsletter and free daily blog, where recent and classic research in the social, design, and physical sciences that can inform designers’ work are presented in straightforward language. Readers learn about …