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Cited by 225Sleep and Work-Related FatigueSleep and Wakefulness ResearchPsychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment

The effects of 53 hours of sleep deprivation on moral judgment

Killgore, William D.S., Killgore, Desiree B., Day, Lisa M., Li, Christopher, Kamimori, Gary H., Balkin, Thomas J.·2007·SLEEP
DOI 10.1093/sleep/30.3.345
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Abstract

STUDY OBJECTIVES: Functional neuroimaging studies suggest a prominent role for the medial prefrontal cortex in the formation of moral judgments. Activity in this region has also been shown to decline significantly during sleep loss. We therefore examined the effects of 2 nights of sleep deprivation on several aspects of moral judgment. DESIGN: Participants made judgments about the "appropriateness" of various courses of action in response to 3 types of moral dilemmas at rested baseline and again following 53 hours of continuous wakefulness. SETTING: In-residence sleep laboratory at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. PARTICIPANTS: Twenty-six healthy adults (21 men, 5 women). INTERVENTIONS: N/A. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: Compared to baseline, sleep deprivation resulted in significantly longer response latencies (suggesting greater difficulty deciding upon a course of action) only for Moral Personal (i.e., emotionally evocative) dilemmas, whereas response times to Moral Impersonal (less emotionally evocative) and Non Moral dilemmas did not change significantly with sleep loss. The effect of sleep deprivation on the willingness to agree with solutions that violate personally held moral beliefs was moderated by the level of emotional intelligence, as measured by the Bar-On EQ-i. Persons high in emotional intelligence were less susceptible to changes in moral judgments as a function of sleep loss. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that sleep deprivation impairs the ability to integrate emotion and cognition to guide moral judgments, although susceptibility to the effects of sleep loss on this ability is moderated by the level of emotional intelligence.

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  • A lack of appropriate engagement of limbic-related PFC regions may contribute to altered positive emotional sensitivity and regulatory control under conditions of sleep loss, with cognition being driven more by subcortical affective circuits.

    “A lack of appropriate engagement of these limbic-related PFC regions may therefore contribute to altered positive emotional sensitivity and regulatory control under conditions of sleep loss, with cognition being driven more by subcortical affective circuits (Killgore et al., 2006; Killgore et al., 2007; Venkatraman et al., 2007).”

    From Sleep deprivation amplifies reactivity of brain reward networks, biasing the appraisal of positive emotional experiences (2011) · cites this paper as Killgore et al., 2007

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Authors
Killgore, W. D. S., Killgore, D. B., Day, L. M., Li, C., Kamimori, G. H., & Balkin, T. J.
Affiliations
Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (US)
Corresponding author
Killgore, William D.S.
ORCID
Venue
SLEEP
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Published
2007-03
Volume
30
Issue
3
Pages
345-352
ISSN
  • 0161-8105 (ISSN-L)
  • 1550-9109
DOI
10.1093/sleep/30.3.345
OpenAlex
W2410974606
Cited by
225
References
34
Citations by year
2026: 7 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 17 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 14 · 2016: 8 · 2015: 12 · 2014: 18 · 2013: 19 · 2012: 17
FWCI
14.07
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • SLEEP (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
U.S. Department of Defense
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Sleep and Work-Related Fatigue
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Sleep and Wakefulness Research
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment
Keywords
sleep deprivation, moral judgment, ethical dilemmas, medial prefrontal cortex, emotional intelligence, response latency, emotion-cognition integration
MeSH terms
Adult, Caffeine, Chewing Gum, Choice Behavior, Decision Making, Double-Blind Method, Emotions, Female, Humans, Individuality, Intelligence, Interpersonal Relations, Judgment, Male, Military Personnel, Morals, Personality Inventory, Reaction Time, Sleep Deprivation

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