这种现象被称为“睡眠拖延”(Bedtime procrastination)[1]. 当然,这并不是说它是一种“心理疾病”,这个名词只是用来描述一类睡眠现象:在入睡前冗长的准备动作。
把睡眠拖延归于自控力的薄弱是一个显然的推断动作[1]:
上面数据说明,睡眠拖延跟自控力具有显著负相关性,同时睡眠拖延的人也容易在其他日常事务上拖延,这使得TA们睡眠时间更短,并更多地感受到疲劳。从因果性上来讲,其关系如下[2]:
也就是,自控力的薄弱是一个重要的导致睡眠拖延因素。但是到这里,显然问题还没有结束,因为自控力是一种自身资源,是可变而非恒定的[3].
因此出现了这样的现象:压力越大时候自控力越不足,工作上未完成的事情越多自控力越不足,家务事越忙乱自控力越不足,也就导致了在这些情况下睡眠拖延的更严重[4]:
也就形成了问题中的情况:明明第二天还要工作,晚上却不想睡,而且当天越劳累、第二天的工作越繁复,晚上越不想睡。
很多人晚上不想睡,而是躺着把大量时间花在手机和电脑/电视节目上。这种情况下,睡眠拖延就有媒体暴露的因素了[5]:
媒体暴露会通过屏幕光照扰乱我们的昼夜节律(原理参见 睡觉时开灯会不会有损睡眠质量,为什么有人不开灯睡不着?),这不仅会使入睡困难,甚至还会消除睡意[6].
总结:
[1] Kroese, Floor M., et al. "Bedtime procrastination: introducing a new area of procrastination."Frontiers in psychology 5 (2014): 611.
[2] Kroese, Floor M., et al. "Bedtime procrastination: A self-regulation perspective on sleep insufficiency in the general population."Journal of health psychology 21.5 (2016): 853-862.
[3] Muraven, Mark, Dianne M. Tice, and Roy F. Baumeister. "Self-control as a limited resource: Regulatory depletion patterns."Journal of personality and social psychology 74.3 (1998): 774.
[4] Kühnel, Jana, Christine J. Syrek, and Anne Dreher. "Why Don’t You Go to Bed on Time? A Daily Diary Study on the Relationships between Chronotype, Self-Control Resources and the Phenomenon of Bedtime Procrastination."Frontiers in Psychology 9 (2018): 77.
[5] Exelmans, Liese, and Jan Van den Bulck. "“Glued to the Tube” The Interplay Between Self-Control, Evening Television Viewing, and Bedtime Procrastination."Communication Research (2017): 0093650216686877.
[6] Li, Jian, Andrew Lepp, and Jacob E. Barkley. "Locus of control and cell phone use: Implications for sleep quality, academic performance, and subjective well-being."Computers in Human Behavior 52 (2015): 450-457.