Abigail Woolley, an undergraduate researcher at Brigham Young University, has uncovered something that might sound absurd at first: people are willing to put a price on sleep. But her new study of 455 Americans reveals something far more profound about how we value one of life's most essential acts.
The research, to be presented at the SLEEP 2026 annual meeting in Baltimore, asks a deceptively simple question: How much would you demand to be paid to sacrifice an hour of sleep each night for the rest of your life? And conversely, how much would you pay for a better night's sleep? The answers, it turns out, tell us a lot about who we are.
Woolley and her team surveyed adults across the continental United States with a mean age of 45 years, split nearly evenly between men (47%) and women (53%). The participants completed the Monetary Sleep Value Questionnaire, which presented scenarios ranging from losing or gaining one hour of sleep nightly for life. The results revealed a striking pattern: people don't value sleep equally.
Income proved to be a powerful predictor. Those earning more money demanded significantly higher compensation to give up sleep—suggesting that wealthier individuals place greater weight on their rest. Age moved in the opposite direction: older adults required less money to sacrifice sleep, possibly reflecting changing sleep patterns and priorities that come with aging. But perhaps most intriguingly, the study identified two distinct psychological profiles. People classified as having a "Sleep Appreciate" profile were willing to pay more for better sleep, while those with a "Sleep Devalue" profile demanded far less compensation to give it up.
"How individuals financially value sleep may reflect broader attitudes about sleep, as well as their demographic characteristics such as age and income," Woolley explained. The Monetary Sleep Value Questionnaire, she suggested, could become a valuable tool for understanding the economic thinking that shapes sleep behavior.
This research arrives at a moment when sleep science is increasingly recognizing the stakes involved. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends that adults get seven or more hours of sleep per night, acknowledging that sleep is fundamental to health. Yet insufficient sleep carries what researchers describe as "substantial economic costs at the societal level"—costs borne through lost productivity, healthcare expenses, and reduced quality of life. Until now, however, relatively little was known about how individuals themselves assign monetary worth to sleep.
What makes Woolley's work particularly compelling is its potential application. By understanding how different groups financially conceptualize sleep, researchers and health professionals might design interventions that actually resonate with people's values. Someone who views sleep primarily through an economic lens—calculating what it's worth—might respond to a very different persuasion strategy than someone who takes sleep for granted. A intervention that acknowledges and works with these personal valuations, rather than against them, could prove more effective.
The study's findings all reached statistical significance, meaning they reflect genuine patterns rather than random chance. As sleep science increasingly integrates economic perspectives into its framework, it opens doors to understanding not just how much sleep people need, but why they choose to prioritize—or sacrifice—it.