There are two kinds of people in this world: those who jump out of bed as soon as their alarm goes off and those who happily hit snooze. Until now, the scientific community has largely sided with the former group – with some research suggesting that hitting snooze can have a negative effect on our sleep and physical health. 

According to a new study, though, the big snooze debate may not be as black and white as we previously thought. The study, published in The Journal Of Sleep Research, set out to explore snoozing as a behaviour, assessing how common it is as well as its potential impact on areas including cognitive function, mood and sleep quality.

The research was split into two experiments – the first of which quizzed 1,732 people on their sleeping habits. As you might expect, the researchers found that snoozing is a pretty widespread habit, especially in younger people and those with later chronotypes (ie night owls).  

But it was the second experiment that provided the most interesting results. To measure the impact of snoozing, the researchers took 31 habitual snoozers and asked them to spend two nights in a sleep lab. On one of the mornings, they were allowed to snooze for 30 minutes; on the other, they had to get up straight away. They then underwent a series of tests to measure how their body responded to the wake-up method.

Ultimately, the study found that while snoozing led to a minimal amount of sleep loss (about six minutes), it had no negative effect on the release of the stress hormone cortisol, mood or sleep quality throughout the night. In fact, when the participants were allowed to snooze, they performed better on cognitive tests taken directly after waking – suggesting that snoozing could help us to function better in some cases. 

The experts believe this could be to do with the fact that snoozing prevents the shock of going from deep sleep to full wakefulness – by going back into a light sleep stage first, we’re able to wake up more gently. 

However, it’s still worth taking these results with a pinch of salt. Not only was the sample size of the second study very small, but these results do not disprove the negative effects that have been observed in the past. Feeling the need to snooze your alarm can also be indicative of wider issues – like not getting enough sleep in the first place.

But for those of us who enjoy a little snooze every once in a while, this study at least provides some justification for our habit. It’s probably not a good idea to snooze your alarm for hours on end every morning; if you’re feeling that tired, setting your alarm later and getting more uninterrupted sleep is probably your best bet. However, if you find it hard to wake up from time to time, giving yourself that little extra kip could make things that little bit easier.  

Images: Getty