lullableA chronotype is where your body clock sits against everyone else's: early (a lark), late (an owl) or in between. This free test asks the five questions of the reduced Morningness–Eveningness Questionnaire, the short research version published in 1991, and places you as one of five animals. No email, no sign-up.
Most of when you want to sleep was decided for you. A roughly 24-hour clock in your body cues when you feel sharp, when you feel hungry and when you finally feel tired, and your chronotype is where that clock sits against everyone else's. Early types peak before lunch. Late types come alive after dark. Most people sit somewhere in the middle, and the setting drifts with age: children run early, teenagers run late.
The five questions below are adapted from the reduced Morningness–Eveningness Questionnaire, the short form of the instrument sleep researchers have used since 1976. Answer for the life you would choose, not the one your alarm imposes.
The five animals
- BlackbirdDefinitely a morning type. The first voice in the dawn chorus, singing before there is light to sing by.
- TortoiseModerately a morning type. An early riser who keeps to the daylight and is in no hurry inside it.
- SheepNeither, and in good company. Neither lark nor owl, and the most common of the five, which seems fitting.
- MothModerately an evening type. The evening is where you come alive, usually near a lamp.
- OctopusDefinitely an evening type. You do not properly get going until the sun has gone down.
How this test works
Each answer scores between 0 and 6 points, and the five add up to a total between 4 and 25. That total is the questionnaire's own score: 22 and above is a definite morning type, 18 to 21 moderately morning, 12 to 17 neither, 8 to 11 moderately evening and 7 or below a definite evening type. We gave each band an animal; the cut-offs are the researchers', not ours.
Answer for your free days. Most people's alarm pulls them earlier than their body clock would, and the test is trying to find the body clock.
Lark, owl, Lion, Wolf: how the animals compare
| Lullable | Lark or owl | Breus animal | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blackbird | Lark | Lion | 22–25 |
| Tortoise | Mild lark | Lion or Bear | 18–21 |
| Sheep | Neither | Bear | 12–17 |
| Moth | Mild owl | Wolf | 8–11 |
| Octopus | Owl | Wolf | 4–7 |
If you have taken the Lion, Bear, Wolf and Dolphin quiz, the mapping above is the nearest fit. Those four come from Michael Breus's book The Power of When; ours come from the research questionnaire, which is why there are five bands instead of four. Breus's Dolphin is a light, anxious sleeper rather than a time of day, so no band lines up with it.
Common questions
What is a chronotype?
Your chronotype is where your body clock sits compared with other people's: whether you naturally wake, peak and tire early, late or in between. Researchers measure it as a spectrum from morning type (a lark) to evening type (an owl).
How accurate is a five-question chronotype test?
This test uses the five items of the reduced Morningness–Eveningness Questionnaire (Adan & Almirall, 1991), which was built to agree closely with the full 19-question version and is still used in sleep research. It describes a tendency, not a medical finding.
Is the Lion, Bear, Wolf and Dolphin quiz accurate?
Those four animals come from Michael Breus's 2016 book The Power of When. They are a popular, readable framework, but we could not find a published validation study for that quiz. Lion, Bear and Wolf line up roughly with morning, middle and evening types; Dolphin describes a light, anxious sleeper rather than a time of day.
Can your chronotype change?
Yes, mostly with age. Children run early, teenagers and people in their early twenties run late, and most people drift earlier again through adulthood. Morning light and regular wake times can nudge it by an hour or so, but they do not turn an owl into a lark.
Is being a night owl bad for you?
Being a late type is not a problem in itself. The difficulty is social jet lag: living on an early schedule your body clock does not keep, which shortens sleep on workdays. Keeping wake times steady, including at weekends, narrows that gap.
What is the difference between a chronotype and a circadian rhythm?
The circadian rhythm is the roughly 24-hour clock everyone has. Your chronotype is how early or late your particular clock is set compared with everyone else's.