Sleep, Chronotype, and Prosocial Allocation Decisions

NCT07697092 | Not Yet Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: HSEARS20260629007
• Study Type: observational
• Target: 128
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

This observational behavioural study examines whether individual differences in sleep quality, sleep timing, and chronotype are associated with prosocial allocation decisions in adults. Participants will complete self-report sleep and circadian questionnaires, including the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and the Munich Chronotype Questionnaire, a 7-day sleep diary, and a brief computer-based Dictator Game allocation task. The study does not involve sleep deprivation, sleep restriction, treatment, clinical diagnosis, medication, or medical devices. Participants will not be asked to change their sleep schedule. The Dictator Game decisions are hypothetical and do not affect participants' compensation. The study is intended to describe associations between naturally occurring sleep-related individual differences and behavioural allocation choices, not to diagnose or treat sleep or mental health conditions.

Conditions

Sleep Quality; Chronotype; Prosocial Decision-Making; Circadian Timing

Keywords

Sleep Quality; Chronotype; Circadian Timing; Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index; Munich Chronotype Questionnaire; Sleep Diary; Dictator Game; Prosocial Behavior; Prosocial Decision-Making; Allocation Decisions

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Dictator Game Prosocial Allocation Score

  Prosocial allocation behaviour will be measured using a brief computer-based Dictator Game task. The primary behavioural score will be the number or proportion of trials in which the participant selects the more prosocial allocation option across the task, with higher scores indicating more prosocial allocation choices.

  Day 1 (single study session)

Secondary Outcomes (3)

• Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index Global Score

  Day 1 (single study session)

• Chronotype (Sleep-Corrected Mid-Sleep on Free Days, MSFsc) From the Munich Chronotype Questionnaire

  Day 1 (single study session)

• Mean Sleep Duration From the 7-Day Sleep Diary

  Daily for the 7 days before the study session (Days -7 to -1)

Other Outcomes (1)

• Dictator Game Response Time

  Day 1 (single study session)

Study Arms (1)

Adult Participants

Adults aged 18 years or above who provide informed consent and complete sleep-related self-report measures, a 7-day sleep diary, and a computer-based prosocial allocation task. Participants are not assigned to any sleep manipulation, treatment, or intervention. Sleep quality, sleep timing, chronotype, and prosocial allocation behaviour are measured as naturally occurring individual differences.

Other: Sleep, Circadian, and Prosocial Allocation Assessment

Interventions

Sleep, Circadian, and Prosocial Allocation Assessment OTHER

Participants complete non-diagnostic sleep and circadian self-report measures, including the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, the Munich Chronotype Questionnaire, and a 7-day sleep diary, followed by a brief computer-based Dictator Game allocation task. This is an observational assessment procedure only. Participants are not assigned to a treatment, sleep manipulation, sleep deprivation, sleep restriction, or behaviour-change intervention.

Adult Participants

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)
• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Adults aged 18 years or above will be recruited as healthy volunteers from university and community settings. Eligible participants may include university students, university staff, and community adults who can understand English or Chinese study materials and complete computer-based behavioural tasks, sleep-related questionnaires, and a 7-day sleep diary. The study is not limited to PolyU students and is not designed to recruit participants with any specific sleep disorder, mental health condition, or clinical diagnosis.

You may qualify if:

• Aged 18 years or above.
• Able to provide informed consent.
• Able to understand English or Chinese study materials.
• Able to complete computer-based behavioural tasks and self-report questionnaires.
• Willing to complete a 7-day sleep diary.

You may not qualify if:

• Aged under 18 years.
• Unable to provide informed consent.
• Unable to complete study materials in English or Chinese.
• Prior participation in the same study.
• Self-reported condition or circumstance that would make participation in a brief computer-based decision-making task or sleep-related questionnaires inappropriate or distressing.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• The Hong Kong Polytechnic University: lead

Study Sites (1)

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong

Location

Related Publications (6)

• Brocklebank, S., Lewis, G. J., & Bates, T. C. (2011). Personality accounts for stable preferences and expectations across a range of simple games. Personality and Individual Differences, 51(8), 881-886. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2011.07.007

  BACKGROUND

• Forsythe, R., Horowitz, J. L., Savin, N. E., & Sefton, M. (1994). Fairness in simple bargaining experiments. Games and Economic Behavior, 6(3), 347-369. https://doi.org/10.1006/game.1994.1021

  BACKGROUND

• Ben Simon E, Vallat R, Rossi A, Walker MP. Sleep loss leads to the withdrawal of human helping across individuals, groups, and large-scale societies. PLoS Biol. 2022 Aug 23;20(8):e3001733. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3001733. eCollection 2022 Aug.

  PMID: 35998121 BACKGROUND

• Carney CE, Buysse DJ, Ancoli-Israel S, Edinger JD, Krystal AD, Lichstein KL, Morin CM. The consensus sleep diary: standardizing prospective sleep self-monitoring. Sleep. 2012 Feb 1;35(2):287-302. doi: 10.5665/sleep.1642.

  PMID: 22294820 BACKGROUND

• Roenneberg T, Wirz-Justice A, Merrow M. Life between clocks: daily temporal patterns of human chronotypes. J Biol Rhythms. 2003 Feb;18(1):80-90. doi: 10.1177/0748730402239679.

  PMID: 12568247 BACKGROUND

• Buysse DJ, Reynolds CF 3rd, Monk TH, Berman SR, Kupfer DJ. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index: a new instrument for psychiatric practice and research. Psychiatry Res. 1989 May;28(2):193-213. doi: 10.1016/0165-1781(89)90047-4.

  PMID: 2748771 BACKGROUND

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders; Altruism

Interventions

Sleep

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Sleep Disorders, Intrinsic; Dyssomnias; Sleep Wake Disorders; Nervous System Diseases; Mental Disorders; Social Behavior; Behavior

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Nervous System Physiological Phenomena; Musculoskeletal and Neural Physiological Phenomena

Central Study Contacts

Cehao Yu, PhD

CONTACT

+852 3400 3012; cehao.yu@polyu.edu.hk

Junkai Che, Master

CONTACT

+852 9783 8643; junkai.che@connect.polyu.hk

Study Design

• Study Type: observational
• Observational Model: COHORT
• Time Perspective: PROSPECTIVE
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Research Assistant Professor

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: June 30, 2026
• First Posted: July 13, 2026
• Study Start: July 1, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): June 1, 2028
• Study Completion (Estimated): June 1, 2028
• Last Updated: July 13, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-06

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

HK (1)