Abstract
In the distant past, hunter-gatherers had to manage the risk of attacks from other human beings and dangerous animals not only when awake, but also when asleep—a time during which humans are particularly vulnerable. Thus, one hypothesis is that humans evolved to choose “safe spaces” to sleep. Spörrle and Stich (2010) provided evidence for this hypothesis using 2D-floor plans and by asking participants to arrange pieces of furniture in a bedroom (bed, chair, table, closet). The aim of the present research was to replicate and extend Spörrle and Stich’s (2010) findings. In two studies, participants had to position furniture in a sleeping room in the way they liked it best. Study 1 conducted with French participants was a quasi-replication of Spörrle and Stich (2010) using 2D-floor plans of a bedroom that differed in the opening direction of the door (left versus right) and the presence (versus absence) of a window. Study 2 with Slovak participants used the same design but this time with 3D-room plans. Finally, in Study 3 involving both French and Slovak participants, we examined the hypothesis that when participants are asked to imagine sleeping in a particular bedroom, a bed position that increases the risk of attack or predation (“unsafe position”) will elicit greater feelings of discomfort than a bed position that reduces such risks. Taken overall, the findings provide further evidence that the positioning of beds in modern sleeping rooms has been shaped by the ancestral requirement of being protected during the night.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data Availability
The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
Code Availability
Not applicable.
Notes
In this study that explored the sleep ecology of wild saddleback and mustached tamarins, the places chosen for sleeping were mainly high trees that were climbed depending on the altitude of the sun. Both species reached their sleep sites when the light was significantly higher than when they left them in the morning. However, no evidence was found that sleeping locations were selected to be closer to past than to future feeding sites.
Note that the same pattern of results was obtained when these participants were excluded from the analyses.
As in Study 1, the same pattern of results was obtained when these participants were excluded from the analyses.
As participants were not predominantly students, we ran supplementary exploratory analyses for each DV including the student variable in addition to the significant predictors. A significant difference between student and non-student participants was observed only for the position of the bed as a function of the door opening direction, with a lower percentage of students (42.3%) than non-students (63.4%) positioning the bedhead in a way that allowed them to see without being seen. The effects observed without the student status variable were still significant.
There was no significant difference between student and non-student Slovakian participants. Given that, with the exception of the psychology students, the student status was not recorded for the French sample, it was not possible to test for such a difference.
The computation was performed using the SPSS OMEGA macro (ML option) provided by Hayes and Coutts (2020).
References
Altmann, S. A., & Altmann, J. (1970). Baboon ecology: African field research. University of Chicago Press.
Apicella, C. L., & Barrett, H. C. (2016). Cross-cultural evolutionary psychology. Current Opinion in Psychology, 7, 92–97. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2015.08.015
Appleton, J. (1975). Landscape evaluation: The theoretical vacuum. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 66, 120–123. https://doi.org/10.2307/621625
Asendorpf, J. B., Conner, M., De Fruyt, F., De Houwer, J., Denissen, J. J. A., Fiedler, K., Fiedler, S., Funder, D. C., Kliegl, R., Nosek, B. A., Perugini, M., Roberts, B. W., Schmitt, M., Van Aken, M. A. G., Weber, H., & Wicherts, J. M. (2013). Recommendations for increasing replicability in psychology. European Journal of Personality, 27(2), 108–119. https://doi.org/10.1002/per.1919
Balling, J. D., & Falk, J. H. (1982). Development of visual preference for natural environments. Environment and Behavior, 14(1), 5–28. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013916582141001
Barrett, H. C. (2016). Adaptations to predators and prey. In D. M. Buss (Ed.), The handbook of evolutionary psychology (2nd ed., pp. 246–263). Wiley.
Barrett, H. C. (2020a). Deciding what to observe: Thoughts for a post-WEIRD generation. Evolution and Human Behavior, 41(5), 445–453. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2020.05.006
Barrett, H. C. (2020b). Towards a cognitive science of the human: Cross-cultural approaches and their urgency. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 24(8), 620–638. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2020.05.007
Becker, D. V., Kenrick, D. T., Neuberg, S. L., Blackwell, K. C., & Smith, D. M. (2007). The confounded nature of angry men and happy women. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92(2), 179–190. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.92.2.179
Bonin, P., & Méot, A. (2019). Pourquoi avons-nous encore peur des serpents? Apport de la psychologie évolutionniste à la compréhension de certains biais comportementaux. [Why are we still afraid of snakes? Contributions of evolutionary psychology to the understanding of certain behavioral biases]. L’Année Psychologique, 119(3), 363–396. https://doi.org/10.3917/anpsy1.193.0363
Buss, D. M. (1989). Sex differences in human mate preferences: Evolutionary hypotheses tested in 37 cultures. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 12(1), 1–49. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X00023992
Caine, N. G., Potter, M. P., & Mayer, K. E. (1992). Sleeping site selection by captive tamarins (Saguinus labiatus). Ethology, 90(1), 63–71. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1439-0310.1992.tb00820.x
Calvo, M. G., Avero, P., & Lundqvist, D. (2006). Facilitated detection of angry faces: Initial orienting and processing efficiency. Cognition and Emotion, 20(6), 785–811. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699930500465224
Cohn, E. G., & Rotton, J. (1997). Assault as a function of time and temperature: A moderator-variable time-series analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72(6), 1322–1334. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.72.6.1322
Coss, R. G. (1991). Context and animal behavior: III. The relationship between early development and evolutionary persistence of ground squirrel antisnake behavior. Ecological Psychology, 3(4), 277–315. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15326969eco0304_1
Di Bitetti, M. S., Vidal, E. M. L., Baldovino, M. C., & Benesovsky, V. (2000). Sleeping site preferences in tufted capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella Nigritus). American Journal of Primatology, 50(4), 257–274. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1098-2345(200004)50:43.0.CO;2-J
Falk, J. H., & Balling, J. D. (2010). Evolutionary influence on human landscape preference. Environment and Behavior, 42(4), 479–493. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013916509341244
Fisher, B. S., & Nasar, J. L. (1992). Fear of crime in relation to three exterior site features: Prospect, refuge, and escape. Environment and Behavior, 24(1), 35–65. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013916592241002
Gale, J. A., & Coupe, T. (2005). The behavioural, emotional and psychological effects of street robbery on victims. International Review of Victimology, 12(1), 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1177/026975800501200101
Gordon, J., King, N., Gullone, E., Muris, P., & Ollendick, T. H. (2007). Nighttime fears of children and adolescents: Frequency, content, severity, harm expectations, disclosure, and coping behaviours. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 45(10), 2464–2472. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2007.03.013
Gullone, E. (2000). The biophilia hypothesis and life in the 21st century: Increasing mental health or increasing pathology? Journal of Happiness Studies, 1, 293–322. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1010043827986
Hagen, E. H. (2022). The biological roots of music and dance: Extending the credible signaling hypothesis to predator deterrence. Human Nature, 33(3), 261–279. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12110-022-09429-9
Hamilton, W. J., III (1982). Baboon sleeping site preferences and relationships to primate grouping patterns. American Journal of Primatology, 3(1–4), 41–53. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajp.1350030104
Hart, D., & Sussman, R. W. (2009). Man the hunted. Primates, predators, and human evolution. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429499081
Hayes, A. F., & Coutts, J. J. (2020). Use omega rather than Cronbach’s alpha for estimating reliability. But…. Communication Methods and Measures, 14(1), 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/19312458.2020.1718629
Henrich, J. (2019). L’intelligence collective. Les Arènes.
Henrich, J., Heine, S., & Norenzayan, A. (2010). The weirdest people in the world? Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 33(2–3), 61–83. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X0999152X
Hoehl, S., & Pauen, S. (2017). Do infants associate spiders and snakes with fearful facial expressions? Evolution and Human Behavior, 38(3), 404–413. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2016.12.001
Hoehl, S., Hellmer, K., Johansson, M., & Gredebäck, G. (2017). Itsy Bitsy spider…: Infants react with increased arousal to spiders and snakes. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 1710. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01710
Isbell, L. A. (2009). The fruit, the tree, and the serpent. Why we see so well. Harvard University Press. https://doi.org/10.4159/9780674054042
Joseph, E. D., & Zhang, D. C. (2021). Personality profile of risk-takers. An examination of the big five facets. Journal of Individual Differences, 42(4), 194–203. https://doi.org/10.1027/1614-0001/a000346
Kanazawa, S. (2020). What do we do with the WEIRD problem? Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences, 14(4), 342–346. https://doi.org/10.1037/ebs0000222
Kanazawa, S., & Li, N. P. (2018). The savanna theory of happiness. Oxford Handbook of Evolution, Biology, and Society (pp. 171–194). Oxford University Press.
Kenrick, D. T. (2011). Sex, Murder, and the meaning of life: A psychologist investigates how evolution, cognition, and complexity are revolutionizing our view of human nature. Basic Books.
Kenrick, D. T., & Lundberg-Kenrick, D. E. (2022). Solving modern problems with a stone-age brain: Human evolution and the seven fundamental motives. APA LifeTools.
Klein, O., Doyen, S., Leys, C., Magalhães de Saldanha da Gama, P. A., Miller, S., Questienne, L., & Cleeremans, A. (2012). Low hopes, high expectations: Expectancy effects and the replicability of behavioral experiments. Perspective on Psychological Science, 7(6), 572–584. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691612463704
Krems, J. A., Neuberg, S. L., Filip-Crawford, G., & Kenrick, D. T. (2015). Is she angry? (sexually desirable) women “see” anger on female faces. Psychological Science, 26(11), 1655–1663. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797615603705
Kurzban, R. (2013). Is evolutionary psychology weird or normal? EP Journal blog. http://epjournal.net/blog/2013/09/is-evolutionary-psychology-weird-or-normal/
LoBue, V. (2010). And along came a spider: An attentional bias for the detection of spiders in young children and adults. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 107(1), 59–66. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2010.04.005
LoBue, V., & DeLoache, J. S. (2008). Detecting the snake in the grass: Attention to fear-relevant stimuli by adults and young children. Psychological Science, 19(3), 284–289. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02081.x
Meskelyte, J., & Lyons, M. (2022). Fear of crime and preference for aggressive-formidable same-sex and opposite-sex friends. Current Psychology, 41, 1434–1439. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-020-00679-3
Moura, J. M. B., Júnior, F., Silva, W. S., T. C., & Albuquerque, U. P. (2018). The influence of the evolutionary past on the mind: An analysis of the preference for landscapes in the human species. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 2485. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02485
Nicholson, N., Soane, E., Fenton-O’Creevy, M., & Willman, P. (2005). Personality and domain-specific risk taking. Journal of Risk Research, 8(2), 157–176. https://doi.org/10.1080/1366987032000123856
Öhman, A., & Mineka, S. (2001). Fears, phobias, and preparedness: Toward an evolved module of fear and fear learning. Psychological Review, 108(3), 483–522. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295x.108.3.483
Öhman, A., Flykt, A., & Esteves, F. (2001). Emotion drives attention: Detecting the snake in the grass. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 130(3), 466–478. https://doi.org/10.1037/0096-3445.130.3.466
Orians, G. H., & Heerwagen, J. H. (1992). Evolved responses to landscapes. In J. Barkow, L. Cosmides, & J. Tooby (Eds.), The adapted mind (pp. 555–580). Oxford University Press.
Pashler, H., & Harris, C. R. (2012). Is the replicability crisis overblown? Three arguments examined. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 7(6), 531–536. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691612463401
Pick, C. M., Ko, A., Wormley, A. S., Wiezel, A., Kenrick, D. T., Al-Shawaf, L., Barry, O., Bereby-Meyer, Y., Boonyasiriwat, W., Brandstätter, E., Crispim, A. C., Cruz, J. E., David, D., David, O. A., Defelipe, R. P., Elmas, P., Espinosa, A., Fernandez, A. M., Fetvadjiev, V. H., ... & Varnum, M. E. W. (2022). Family still matters: Human social motivation across 42 countries during a global pandemic. Evolution and Human Behavior, 43(6), 527–535. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2022.09.003
Pinker, S. (2012). The better angels of our nature: Why Violence has declined. Penguin Books.
Pollet, T. V., & Saxton, T. K. (2019). How diverse are the samples used in the journals ‘Evolution & Human Behavior’ and ‘Evolutionary psychology’? Evolutionary Psychological Science, 5, 357–368. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40806-019-00192-2
Prokop, P. (2018). Natural selection influences the reactions of children to potentially dangerous animals. EURASIA Journal of Mathematics Science and Technology Education, 14(4), 1397–1406. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/83677
Prokop, J., & Fancǒvicǒvá, J. (2011). Preferences for spicy foods and disgust of ectoparasites are associated with reported health in humans. Psihologija, 44(4), 281–293. https://doi.org/10.2298/PSI1104281P
Prokop, P., & Fančovičová, J. (2010). Perceived body condition is associated with fear of a large Carnivore predator in humans. Annales Zoologici Fennici, 47(6), 417–425. https://doi.org/10.5735/086.047.0606
Pruiksma, K. E., Taylor, D. J., Ruggero, C., Boals, A., Davis, J. L., Cranston, C., DeViva, J. C., & Zayfert, C. (2014). A psychometric study of the fear of Sleep Inventory-Short Form (FoSI-SF). Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 10(5), 551–558. https://doi.org/10.5664/jcsm.3710
Rad, M. S., Martingano, A. J., & Ginges, J. (2018). Toward a psychology of Homo sapiens: Making psychological science more representative of the human population. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 115(45), 11401–11405. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1721165115
Rakison, D. H. (2009). Does women’s greater fear of snakes and spiders originate in infancy? Evolution and Human Behavior, 30(6), 438–444. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2009.06.002
Rakison, D. H. (2018). Do 5-month-old infants possess an evolved detection mechanism for snakes, sharks, and rodents? Journal of Cognition and Development, 19(4), 456–476. https://doi.org/10.1080/15248372.2018.1488717
Rakison, D. H., & Derringer, J. (2008). Do infants possess an evolved spider-detection mechanism? Cognition, 107(1), 381–393. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2007.07.022
Røskaft, E., Bjerke, T., Kaltenborn, B., Linnell, J. D. C., & Andersen, R. (2003). Patterns of self-reported fear towards large carnivores among the Norwegian public. Evolution and Human Behavior, 24(3), 184–198. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1090-5138(03)00011-4
Samson, D. R., & Hunt, K. D. (2014). Chimpanzees preferentially select sleeping platform construction tree species with biomechanical properties that yield stable, firm, but compliant nests. Plos One, 9(4), e95361. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0095361
Samson, D. R., & Nunn, C. L. (2015). Sleep intensity and the evolution of human cognition. Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues News and Reviews, 24(6), 225–237. https://doi.org/10.1002/evan.21464
Schaller, G. B. (1963). The mountain gorilla. University of Chicago Press.
Selbst, S. M., Baker, M. D., & Shames, M. (1990). Bunk bed injuries. American Journal of Diseases of Children, 144(6), 721–723. https://doi.org/10.1001/archpedi.1990.02150300121031
Sherman, P. W., & Billing, J. (1999). Darwinian gastronomy: Why we use spices: Spices taste good because they are good for us. BioScience, 49(6), 453–463. https://doi.org/10.2307/1313553
Smith, A. C., Knogge, C., Huck, M., Löttker, P., Buchanan-Smith, H. M., & Heymann, E. W. (2007). Long‐term patterns of sleeping site use in wild saddleback (Saguinus fuscicollis) and mustached tamarins (S. mystax): Effects of foraging, thermoregulation, predation, and resource defense constraints. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 134(3), 340–353. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.20676
Snyder, J. K., Fessler, D. M., Tiokhin, L., Frederick, D. A., Lee, S. W., & Navarrete, C. D. (2011). Trade-offs in a dangerous world: Women’s fear of crime predicts preferences for aggressive and formidable mates. Evolution and Human Behavior, 32, 127–137. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2010.08.007
Spörrle, M., & Stich, J. (2010). Sleeping in safe places: An experimental investigation of human sleeping place preferences from an evolutionary perspective. Evolutionary Psychology, 8(3), 405–419. https://doi.org/10.1177/147470491000800308
Stamps, A. (2014). Literature review of prospect and refuge theory: The first 214 references https://doi.org/10.13140/2.1.4642.6249
Sugardjito, J. (1983). Selecting nest-sites of sumatran organ-utans, Pongo pygmaeus abelii in the Gunung Leuser National Park, Indonesia. Primates, 24(4), 467–474. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02381680
Tiffany, W. D., & Ketchel, J. M. (1979). Psychological deterrence in robberies of banks and its application to other institutions. In J. J. Kramer (Ed.), The role of behavioral sciences in physical security, Special publication, National Bureau of Standards (pp. 81–87).
Tindle, R. (2021). Improving the global reach of psychological research. Discover Psychology, 1, 1–4. https://doi.org/10.1007/s44202-021-00004-4
Treves, A., & Naughton-Treves, L. (1999). Risk and opportunity for humans coexisting with large carnivores. Journal of Human Evolution, 36(3), 275–282. https://doi.org/10.1006/jhev.1998.0268
Tybur, J. M., Inbar, Y., Aarøe, L., Barclay, P., Barlowe, F. K., De Barra, M., ... & Žeželj, I. (2016). Parasite stress and pathogen avoidance relate to distinct dimensions of political ideology across 30 nations. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 113(44), 12408–12413. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1607398113
van Leeuwen, F., Inbar, Y., Petersen, M. B., Aarøe, L., Barclay, P., Barlow, F. K., de Barra, M., Becker, D. V., Borovoi, L., Choi, J., Consedine, N. S., Conway, J. R., Conway, P., Adoric, V. C., Demirci, E., Fernández, A. M., Ferreira, D. C. S., Ishii, K., Jakšić, I., ... & Tybur, J. M. (2023). Disgust sensitivity relates to attitudes toward gay men and lesbian women across 31 nations. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 26(3), 629–651. https://doi.org/10.1177/13684302211067151
Wadley, L., Esteban, I., de la Pena, P., Wojcieszak, M., Stratford, D., Lennox, S., d’Errico, F., Rosso, D. E., Orange, F., Backwell, L., & Sievers, C. (2020). Fire and grass-bedding construction 200 thousand years ago at Border Cave, South Africa. Science, 369(6505), 863–866. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abc7239
Wichlinski, L. J. (2022). Adaptive solutions to the problem of vulnerability during sleep. Evolutionary Psychological Science, 8, 442–477. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40806-022-00330-3
Yorzinski, J. L., Penkunas, M. J., Platt, M. L., & Coss, R. G. (2014). Dangerous animals capture and maintain attention in humans. Evolutionary Psychology, 12(3), 534–548. https://doi.org/10.1177/147470491401200304
Yorzinski, J. L., Tovar, M. E., & Coss, R. G. (2018). Forward-facing predators attract attention in humans (Homo sapiens). Journal of Comparative Psychology, 132(4), 410–418. https://doi.org/10.1037/com0000126
Zimbardo, P. G., & Gerrig, R. J. (2004). Psychologie [Psychology] (16th rev. ed.). Pearson Studium.
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank Louis Heinze for designing the 2D and 3D-floor plans, Todd K. Shackelford and two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments on a previous version the manuscript.
Funding
Not applicable.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by Patrick Bonin, Gaëtan Thiebaut, André Didierjean, Jana Fančovičová, Natália Kubjatková, Pavol Prokop, and Alain Méot. The first draft of the manuscript was written by both Patrick Bonin and Gaëtan Thiebaut and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare no competing interests.
Ethics Approval
This study was performed in line with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. All the study procedures were approved by the Statutory Ethics Committee of the University of Bourgogne Franche-Comté.
Consent to Participate
Written informed consent was obtained from all participants before the beginning of the study.
Consent for Publication
Not applicable.
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Electronic supplementary material
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Bonin, P., Thiebaut, G., Didierjean, A. et al. “Good Night, Sleep Tight”: Do we have an “Evolutionary Preference” for Placing Beds in Sleeping Rooms? A Replication and Extension of Spörrle and Stich (2010). Evolutionary Psychological Science 9, 463–476 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40806-023-00377-w
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40806-023-00377-w