Musicians: Larks, Owls or Hummingbirds?

Abstract

Previous studies have shown an association between morning and evening types and creative thinking. Musicians are creative individuals and the purpose of the current research was to examine whether musicians are significantly more evening types than non-musicians. The total sample included 835 participants (n women = 353; n men = 482), with a mean age of 28.0 years (SD = 10.4). The group of musicians consisted of 600 participants (n women = 168; n men = 432) with a mean age of 29.1 years (SD = 11.2). The group of non-musicians consisted of 233 participants (n women = 184; n men = 49) with a mean age of 25.3 years (SD = 7.4). Participants were recruited via an online forum, and chronotypes were assessed using the self-report Horne & Ostberg’s Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ). We found that performance musicians had significantly lower MEQ scores compared to non-performance musicians, and musicians who composed had the lowest MEQ scores across the whole sample. This indicates that musicians, particularly composing musicians had a tendency towards eveningness. These findings are discussed in relation to theories on chronobiology, creativity, and cognitive psychology.