Beer goggles are probably familiar to you, but what of sleep goggles? However, this phenomenon actually has the opposite effect of what alcohol does. A recent study claims that sleep deprivation may affect your romantic life since it makes people appear less desirable.

Researchers employed eye-tracking tech to identify  what people were staring at

Lack of sleep affects how we perceive others, but not in a positive way, according to researchers from Sweden’s Uppsala University. The finding may have significant ramifications for bar-going individuals who frequently lack sleep.

The team examined 45 young women and men utilizing eye-tracking technology to identify what someone was staring at in live time. Participants had the option of sleeping for eight hours on one night and for not sleeping at all on another. Researchers examined their eye movements in the morning after both of the previous nights.

Associate neuroscience professor and senior author of the study Christian Benedict said that sleep deprivation is related to more unfavorable social impressions. Benedict explained that subjects in the study rated angry faces as less trustworthy, with neutral and healthy-looking and fearful faces considered less attractive. Notably, This might lead to decreased motivation to engage in social interaction.

Sleep deprivation can lead to incorrect perceiving of people

According to the researchers, sleep-deprived people appear to waste less time “fixating” on other people’s faces. This, therefore, has a negative impact on how we see other people.

The study’s doctoral student and first author, Lieve van Egmond, said that the study participants focused less on faces when they weren’t getting enough sleep. Spending little time focusing exclusively on faces after severe sleep deprivation may raise the possibility that you incorrectly or prematurely perceive people’s emotional states because facial expressions are essential for doing so. However, Lieve added that they don’t know if these findings apply to other age groups because the study subjects were young men and women. Furthermore, they are not sure if people with chronic sleep loss will see similar outcomes.