Comprehensive Review of Biorhythm Theory

Abstract

Biorhythm theory which became popular with the general public in the late 1960s held that three different biorhythm cycles influenced three different general aspects of human behavior. There was a 23-day cycle which influenced physical aspects of behavior. A 28-day cycle influenced emotions and a 33-day cycle influenced intellectual functions. Further, according to the theory, these three cycles started at birth and progressed, sinusoidally, throughout life varying not a bit with environmental or physiological factors. This paper reviews 134 studies of biorhythm theory, both published and unpublished. 35 of those reported some support for biorhythm theory. Careful examination of these studies identified methodological and statistical errors that account for the claimed findings supporting the theory. Another 99 studies, covering many different variables, yielded no support. The conclusion is that biorhythm theory is not valid.

Seasonal affective disorder and the Romanian stock market

“…The idea of different biorhythm cycles that influence human behaviour can be traced back to the German surgeon Wilhelm Fliess in the 1890s, who proposed a 23-day male period and a 28-day female period (Hines, 1998). More recent studies identified three different biorhythm cycles: a 23-day cycle influences physical aspects such as energy, resistance to disease, endurance; a 28-day cycle influences emotions such as sadness, elation, moodiness, creativity and a 33-day cycle influences intellectual functions such as alertness, memory and reasoning ability (Thommen, 1968).…”

Individual chronobiological regularity in track-and-field sprint

“…The study describes the characteristics of the main biorhythms [16,17]. Rhythms are classified according to the length of the period.…”

“…The results of the study of circadian rhythms are presented in various studies [18][19][20][21]. There are also biorhythms with periods: 7-14 days; 21-43 days; about a year; about a few years [16,17].…”

Probabilistic approach for biorhythmic analysis to prevent aviation accidents

“…The positive phase brings optimism, joy, openness, tolerance, and self control. During the low end of the cycle (day 16 to day 28) your emotions are in a recuperative state, as explained by Hines (1998). You are more inclined to be irritable and negative.…”

“…Biorhythm cycles are composed of positive phase, negative phase and nodal points where the curve crosses the abscissa. According to Hines (1998) each cycle starts on the first positive phase at the moment of birth, the positive phases correspond to periods of better performance, and the negative phases correspond to periods of poor performance and greatest susceptibility. Critical periods are usually of 24 h/48 h duration.…”