Working in our sleep

Abstract

A large body of sleep physiology research highlights a broad array of effects of sleep on human functioning. Until recently, this literature has been completely isolated from the organizational psychology literature. The purpose of this paper is to further extend the sleep literature into the organizational psychology literature, with a focus on self-regulation in the workplace. I summarize the sleep literature into a model of sleep self-regulation. Next, I highlight initial research in organizational psychology which has drawn from basic sleep physiology research. Following this, I generate new propositions linking sleep to work withdrawal, goal level, incivility, and defection in workplace social dilemmas. Finally, I close with a discussion of methods for conducting sleep research in organizational psychology, as well as some promising areas for future research.