Who knew that your parents nagging you all those year to make your bed could actually affect how you feel? According to researchers, people who make their beds in the morning are ultimately happier people than those that do not. Is this true? Can doing this one simple thing actually change how I feel throughout the day?
The Today Show had an article that helped me answer this question. Starting your day off by doing this basic task is seeing you up to be even more productive throughout the rest of the day. People will think, “Oh wow that made me feel good I actually got something done. Okay might as well keep it up what else do I have to do.” Obviously how much we get done during the day usually affects our happiness. If I spent my whole day laying in bed being completely unproductive, I would feel pretty bad about myself. But if I started my day off right and made my bed, then was productive throughout the rest of the day, I would feel a lot better about myself. Charles Duhigg talked about making your bed in his book The Power of Habit. He correlates doing this with productivity. He also states that making your bed is a keystone habit because it dissolves into other habits, like getting things done.
Psychology Today notes on a survey of 68,000 people. It states that from those people, “59 percent of people don’t make their beds. 27 percent do, while 12 percent pay a housekeeper to make it for them. Here’s what disturbed me: 71 percent of bed makers consider themselves happy; while 62 percent of non-bed-makers admit to being unhappy.” This was a very general study though and not as much of an experiment. It is relating and proving more of a correlational study, given that it was a survey. However this is not that good of a reason. First of all, the survey group was so big and giving people surveys is not the best way of getting evidence, given that some may not take it seriously. Also, some of these people may just be happy people in general. That does not mean that just because they make there bed they are happy for that reason. Surveys are more correlational and prove whether that correlation is positive or negative.
On the other hand, other researchers are telling us not to make our beds. According to a study by researchers from Kingston University in England, leaving your bed messy helps to prevent the presence of allergen and asthma-causing dust mites. This experiment can be found in most detail at this link. Scientists state that mites cannot survive in warm and dry conditions, which are the conditions of an unmade bed. The main researcher, Dr. Stephen Pretlove, explains, ““House dust mites feed on scales of human skin so they love to share our beds. The allergens they produce are easily inhaled during sleep and are a major cause of illnesses such as asthma.” (cited in the last link.) A computer model was developed that looked at the changes made in households of people if they made their beds. A experiment was then developed where Pretlove put mites in 36 peoples beds. Third variables such as heating and insulation were adjusting accordingly to see how the mites react. Thankfully, these mites were put into tea bags which would give them the temperatures they needed, without escaping. These participants volunteered to participate so it was not a randomized or blind experiment trial. I do think it would have made more sense to make this randomized and have two separate groups because the results could be compared. Mites are a main source of people getting asthma, because when these mites let out their allergen it is what we consume while sleeping, and what causes our asthma.
In conclusion, if I were decided which of the two studies is more accurate I would have to pick not making your bed. This is because both started with a correlation but Pretlove took it one step further and made an experiment out of it. But I do think that both make sense. It is just whichever you prefer. So which are you going to go for? US Navy Seal William H. McCraven, however, stated in his 2014 commencement speech at the University of Texas, “If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed. If you make your bed every morning, you will have accomplished the first task of the day. “It will give you a small sense of pride, and it will encourage you to do another task, and another, and another. And by the end of the day that one task completed will have turned into many tasks completed.”
It is an interesting topic to talk about., but I think the post lacks support for its question because there is no evidence that happy people are happy because they make their bed. And the passage that states that messy bed “helps to prevent the presence of allergen and asthma-causing dust mites” has no connection to the main question which is “Are people that make their beds happier than those who don’t?” I think it can be a separate topic for one more post.
I find this article very interesting and actually pretty relatable, since the majority of us are living in dorms this year. I feel like I’m forced to make my bed when I’m here because it makes my room look cleaner and more put together and I’m always on my bed weather I’m doing some homework or just hanging out, so it has to be made. Now that you say that “making your bed makes you more productive throughout the day” I can see that now. I feel like I get more stuff done. Here’s a link to how making your bed can lead you to a “better” life.
I believe in the fact that making my bed makes my days more productive. Yet the correlation you proceeded to explain was that making your bed makes you happier. Yet in my case sometimes when I’m in a good mood I’ll make my bed just because. So does that also prove an inverse causality in the fact that happier people make their beds. Interesting enough it could be both, or it could be neither and there could be a confounding variable in play. This post was fun to read because my mom always nagged me about my bed and even in college she nags me. She always says that a messy bed = a messy day. It’s also very hard to study in my room when I’m looking at my comfy messy comforters so I tend to make my bed so that I’m less tempted to take a nap. Overall great post though 🙂
Perhaps this study could be one that could be reversed. The question I would think to pose would be: Do happier people make their beds? Perhaps people who do not make their beds are sad and don’t see the point, or are flustered and rushing, and therefore less happy. Perhaps people who make their beds are just generally more happy because they are more organized or enjoy their lives, and therefore be more willing to get their lives together, starting with their beds.