Other well-known night owls include Winston Churchill, Fran Lebowitz, Bob Dylan, Carl Jung, J.R.R. Tolkien, John Travolta, Prince, Christina Aguilera, and, believe it or not, Barack Obama. Some research even suggests that those who stay up late and sleep in regularly are smarter than those who don't.
A split of personalities
These differences in behavior have been attributed, in part, to contrasts in personality between night owls and early birds. A greater proportion of night owls have been found to exhibit traits of extraversion, narcissism, Machiavellism, impulsivity, novelty-seeking, and risk-taking.
Psychology Today reported that intelligent people are likely to be nocturnal beings, with those with a higher IQ going bed later on both weeknights and weekends.
Night owls make up approximately 15% of the population and are most productive late into the evenings. Many are creative and more open to taking risks. While not always true, they may be more likely to: Be sleep-deprived.
In fact, some studies suggest that night owls tend to possess three personality traits known as the “dark triad.” These traits are psychopathy (psychologically manipulative tendencies), Machiavellianism (a willingness to harm others in pursuit of a personal goal), and narcissism (a self-obsessed personality).
They Have Higher IQs
Studies have shown that people with higher IQs are likely to deviate from familiar evolutionary traits, such as circadian rhythms. Night owls who opt to wake up in the later hours of the day and stay awake until the wee small hours of the morning may be exhibiting a form of evolution.
According to recent studies, night owls may have more mental stamina than early birds. Adolescents and teens who self-reported later sleep schedules were more intelligent and creative, on average than those who went to bed early.
Morning larks tend to live longer than night owls, research has shown.
You enjoy peak performances in strength
A study at the University of Alberta found that night owls saw an increase in leg strength at night as they seemed to hit peak performance during this time. On the other side, the early birds leg strength seemed to remain constant throughout the day.
Usually, people who are night owls stay awake past midnight, and extreme night owls may stay awake until just before or even after dawn. Some night owls have a preference or habit for staying up late, or stay up to work the night shift.
ADHD and Circadian Rhythm Dysfunction
It's common for people with ADHD to have delayed circadian rhythms– known more commonly as “being a night owl.” With a delayed circadian rhythm, your sleep signals are delayed by two hours or more beyond what is considered a normal bedtime.
Individual differences in morningness/eveningness are relatively stable over time and, in part, genetically based. The night-owl pattern is more prevalent in men than in women, particularly after puberty and before women reach menopause.
Morning people really are happier, study finds. A new study finds that night owls have an increased risk for mental illness and are less happy than morning larks.
What's more, some studies have found that early birds tend to be happier than night owls overall. This may be due to a prolonged exposure to natural light, which is linked to our brain's release of serotonin, otherwise known as your natural 'happy hormone'.
Types of sleepers: lion, wolf, bear and dolphin. The American sleep scientist, Michael Breus, revised the owls and larks model and identified a total of four types of sleepers. Whoever knows what type of sleeper they are can optimise their daily routine accordingly, thus improving their performance.
Night owls have better reasoning skills
A study from the University of Madrid tested the various skills of 1,000 teenagers, and found that those considered to be night owls scored the highest on the inductive reasoning portions of the test.
Hundreds of genes might decide whether you're an early bird or night owl - CNN. Some people are genetically programmed to go to bed (and rise) early, others late. Morning birds have certain advantages over night owls, new research suggests, including a lower risk of certain mental disorders.
People who are up at night are less well-adapted to the routines of many activities such as work or school schedules, and feel less social support. It is thought that they may be seen as lazy or rude and consequently received less support from others.
More A.M.
Creative people tend to be more inspired at night and put sleep on the back burner while they pursue creative projects. They deviate from a normal sleep schedule because they are brave enough to adhere to their own schedules and have confidence in their ability to create.
When night owls are exposed only to natural light, their internal body clocks shift earlier. Exposure to bright light in the morning is considered one of the best ways to become more of a morning person and shift your chronotype earlier.
Interestingly, only a bit more than one-third (37 percent) of people in the study actually identified as early birds or night owls (13 percent and 24 percent respectively), although it's worth noting that evening types on 24 percent were the most common chronotype.
They tend to be introverted, self-controlled, and eager to make a good impression on others. In contrast, evening types have a far more creative outlook on life, are more prepared to take risks, are more independent and nonconforming, and are a little impulsive.
They are often tied to deadlines for school or work. People who work night shifts and have daytime obligations may be forced to pull all-nighters. In other cases, a person may stay up all night for leisure, such as being engrossed in a book or TV series, playing video games, or partying with friends.
One of the best-known night owls was Albert Einstein, the genius scientist who formulated the Theory of Relativity, and Charles Darwin, the naturalist who developed the Theory of Evolution.