Post-lunch napping is still big in China. In a study, 94% of college students interviewed confirmed the habit. It wasn’t uncommon in the West but has now all but died out. Even in Western countries famous for the practice its not as common as it once was; but is it a bad thing?
The answer to the question depends on whom one asks but a way to test this is to look at how wage rates for nappers compare to peers. In the study highlighted today from a team at the Central University of Finance and Economics (Beijing) it was found postprandial kippers achieved and on-average 3% wage benefit so, for them at least, its a very good habit indeed.
After eliminating the possible endogenous variables of long commute times (those who travel more tend, generally to earn more anyhow) and higher physical activity (those who exercise more tend to nap more as part of a holistic approach to well-being) the researchers went on to try and identify the mechanism by which nappers were achieving the higher earnings.
Two factors appear to be at work. The first and easier to predict is a marked improvement in cognitive ability of workers who nap and this most likely improves their work performance. The second effect though has broader implications, improved mental health. The more rested reported less anxiety and depression and the researchers surmise this is an additional explanatory variable.
I found issues in the work that make me want to take it with a grain of salt but the overall conclusion seems to make intuitive sense and is worth considering. You can access the paper in full via the following link Siesta Returns.
Happy Sunday.