People who take naps are happier, according to science

Researchers have finally realised that napping may be the secret to a happy life.

According to a study conducted by the University of Hertfordshire, people who take short naps say they are more happy overall.

However, those who take naps longer than half an hour are more unhappy than those who don't nap at all.

The research, carried out as part of the Edinburgh International Science Festival, gave 1,000 participants psychological questions in an online survey about napping habits.

When asked to score their happiness on a five point scale, those who napped for short times gave an average score of 3.67 – as opposed to 3.52 for those who don't.

Interestingly, people who take long naps scored the lowest, with 3.44 out of five. 66 per cent of short nappers said they felt happy overall, as opposed to 56 per cent of long nappers.

Professor Richard Wiseman said: "Previous research has shown that naps of under 30 minutes make you more focused, productive and creative, and these new findings suggest the tantalising possibility that you can also become happier by just taking a short nap.

"Similarly, longer napping is associated with several health risks and, again, this is in line with our results."