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밤에 주로 활동하는 올빼미족은 주로 미혼의 모험가 성향을 가진 사람이라는 연구 결과가 발표됐다.
이 연구를 이끈 시카고 대학의 다리오 메스트피에리 교수는 늦게 잠자리에 들고 늦게 일어나는 이른바 ‘올빼미족’ 여성이 보통 남성만큼 일상생활에서 위험을 무릅쓰고 도전하는 특징을 가졌다고 밝혔다.
메스트피에리 교수는 또 올빼미족은 미혼이거나 단기간의 연애를 즐기는 성향을 가지고 있으며, 올빼미형 남성은 아침에 활동적인 ‘아침형 인간’보다 섹스 파트너가 두 배 가량 많은 것으로 나타났다고 설명했다.
이 연구는 100명의 남성 참가자와 여성 응답자 91명을 대상으로 재정적 위험을 회피하려는 성향에 대해 검사를 실시하고, 호르몬 변화를 관찰하기 위해 검사 전후 타액을 채취했다.
연구진은 채취된 타액을 통해 급성 스트레스에 반응하면 분비되는 물질인 코르티솔과 남성 스테로이드인 안드로겐의 대표적인 호르몬 테스토스테론의 변화를 자세히 관찰하고, 각 참가자들의 잠드는 시간과 수면양상을 함께 조사했다.
그 결과, 남성은 전반적으로 두 가지 호르몬에서 여성보다 높은 수치를 나타냈지만, 늦은 밤까지 잠들지 않는 여성은 일반 남성과 비슷한 코르티솔 수치를 가진 것으로 밝혀졌다.
메스트피에리 교수는 올빼미족에게서 발견된 모험을 즐기는 성향이 짝짓기 대상을 찾기 위한 진화 전략이었을 가능성이 있다고 설명했다.
그는 “진화론적인 관점에서 볼 때, 올빼미족의 성향은 단기간의 짝짓기를 위해 진화된 것으로 보인다”며 “진화 역사의 초기 단계에 성인이 일과 양육에서 벗어나는 시간대인 밤에 사회적 또는 성적 활동을 더 활발하게 하기 위해 밤늦게까지 잠들지 않는 습관이 생겨난 것 같다”고 덧붙였다.
(khnews@heraldcorp.com)
<관련 영문 기사>
High levels of a stress hormone linked to risk taking in those who stay up late
Night owls, people who stay up late at night, compared to early birds, people who wake up early in the morning, tend to be unmarried risk-takers.
Study author Dario Maestripieri, a professor in comparative human development at the University of Chicago, said women who are night owls share the same high propensity for risk-taking as men.
"Night owls, both males and females, are more likely to be single or in short-term romantic relationships versus long-term relationships, when compared to early birds," Maestripieri said in a statement. "In addition, male night owls reported twice as many sexual partners than male early birds."
The researchers used data from earlier research of more than 500 graduate students at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, which assessed financial risk aversion among male and female students and found men more willing to take financial risks than women.
However, men with high levels of the male hormone were more similar to men in financial risk-taking.
The researchers took saliva samples of 110 men and 91 women provided saliva samples to assess their levels of cortisol and testosterone. Those levels were measured before and after participants took a computerized test of their tendencies for financial risk aversion. The participants also described their own willingness to take risks and gave information about their sleep patterns.
Men had higher cortisol and testosterone levels than women; but night-owl women had cortisol levels comparable to night-owl and early-morning men.
The findings suggests high cortisol levels may be one of the biological mechanisms explaining higher risk-taking in night owls.
The link between the night-owl tendency and risky behavior could have roots in evolutionary strategies for finding mates, Maestripieri said.
"From an evolutionary perspective, it has been suggested that the night-owl trait may have evolved to facilitate short-term mating, that is, sexual interactions that occur outside of committed, monogamous relationships," Maestripieri said. "It is possible that, earlier in our evolutionary history, being active in the evening hours increased the opportunities to engage in social and mating activities, when adults were less burdened by work or child-rearing."
The study was published in the journal Evolutionary Psychology. (UPI)
