Much ado about the full moon: A meta-analysis of lunar-lunacy research.

Abstract

Data from 37 published and unpublished studies were combined in a metaanalysis that examined relations between phase of the moon, type of lunar cycle, sex, publication practices, geographical features (latitude, population density), and several types of lunacy, including mental hospital admissions, psychiatric disturbances, crisis calls, homicides, and other criminal offenses. Although a few statistically significant relations emerged, effect size estimates indicated that phases of the moon accounted for no more than 1% of the variance in activities usually termed lunacy. Alleged relations between phases of the moon and behavior can be traced to inappropriate analyses, a failure to take other (e.g., weekly) cycles into account, and a willingness to accept any departure from chance as evidence for a lunar effect.

Moon Phases and Rates of Return of WIG Index on the Warsaw Stock Exchange

“…According to Sivakumar and Sathyyanarayanan (2009) the impact of lunar cycles on returns of the Bombay Stock Exchange index over the period of 17 years, was quite limited. Rotton and Kelly (1985) cite a working paper of Rotton and Rosenberg (1984), who investigated relation between lunar phases and closing prices of Dow Jones Industrial Average, and found no relation after correcting Dow Jones Industrial Average prices for first autocorrelations (Yuan et al, 2001). …”

Are Investors Moonstruck? - Lunar Phases and Stock Returns

“…Rotton and Kelly (1985b) cite a working paper by Rotton and Rosenberg (1984) that investigates the relation between lunar phases and Dow-Jones average closing prices. They find no significant relation 9 between lunar phases and the Dow Jones Index prices.…”

Sustainability of the Self–Harnessing Natural Cycles for Leadership Development

“…Much research has been undertaken on the effect of the lunar cycle on human mood and emotions (see Rotton & Kelly, 1985 for an early overview). From a business perspective two teams of researchers from the University of Michigan (Dichev & Janes, 2001;Yuan, Zheng, & Zhu, 2006) found that financial returns obtained by investors were significantly higher in the days surrounding new moon dates than in the days surrounding full moon dates.…”

“…Subsequent studies have sought to explore this relationship further (see for example Borowski, 2015;Floros & Tan, 2013). Despite the interest in the lunar cycle and human behavior, the dominant view in the psychology literature is that there is in fact no relationship between mood and the lunar phases (Foster & Roenneberg, 2008;Rotton & Kelly, 1985). However it has been suggested that despite evidence to the contrary, many people do in fact believe that abnormal behavior is associated with the full moon and as such there may be cognitive relationship between one's decision making capabilities and the lunar cycle (Kelly, Rotton, & Culver, 1996).…”