The influence of impactful dreams on self-perceptual depth and spiritual transformation.

Two studies contrasted the short-term effects of nightmares, existential dreams, and transcendent dreams (Busink & Kuiken, 1996; Kuiken & Sikora, 1993). Results from Study 1 indicated that existential dreams were more likely than mundane dreams, transcendent dreams, or nightmares to be followed by reported self-perceptual depth; also, transcendent dreams were more likely than mundane dreams, existential dreams, or nightmares to be followed by reported spiritual transformation. Results from Study 2 replicated these findings for existential dreams, indicating also that the type of spiritual transformation associated with transcendent dreams involved an ecstatic sense of release from everyday entanglements. Both existential dreams and transcendent dreams moved the dreamer toward an unbounded sense of life in all things, as did lucid forms of all three dream types. Such unbounded enlivenment suggests an aesthetic substrate to the changes induced by each of these dream types. The contrasting short-term effects of impactful dream types may require integration into a comprehensive model of long-term dream function. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Exotic Dreams: A Cross-Cultural Study

The purpose of this study was to identify exotic (i.e., puzzling, unusual, extraordinary, anomalous) dreams in a sample of 1,666 dream reports from six countries, and to make gender comparisons as well. Research participants were members of dream seminars that one of us conducted between 1990 and 1998 in Argentina, Brazil, Japan, Russia, Ukraine, and the United States. Only one dream report per participant was utilized, 910 dream reports from women and 756 from men. Scoring criteria were determined in advance for creative, lucid, healing, dreams within dreams, out-of-body, telepathic, mutual (and shared), clairvoyant, precognitive, past-life, initiation, and visitation dreams. When a dream fell into two categories, it received a score of 0.5 for each of the categories, rather than a score of 1.0, awarded when a dream represented a single category. In the sample of 1,666 dreams, there were 135 (8.1%) exotic dreams. Female dreamers reported 77 (8.5% of all female reports) exotic dreams, while male dreamers reported 58 (7.7% of all male reports), the difference was not statistically significant. The country with the highest percentage of exotic dream reports was Russia (12.7% of the total number reported by Russian seminar participants), followed by Brazil (10.9%), Argentina (9.0%), Japan (8.1%), Ukraine (5.9%), and the United States (5.7%). When chi square statistics were applied, it was found that Russian dreamers reported significantly more exotic dreams than dreamers in Ukraine or the United States.     

Children's grief dreams and the theory of spiritual intelligence.

Throughout history, people have reported dreams that have impacted upon their spiritual lives, some of which are related to death. Dreams related to death are not uncommon in childhood, and research shows that some children make meaning from them. Often this interpretation of a dream reflects a search for meaning about issues of life and death, as well as acting as a coping mechanism. This article explores how children make meaning from this type of dream by synthesizing the theory of spiritual intelligence with theoretical approaches to dreaming. Specifically, it explores the intersection between theoretical approaches to dreams related to death, children's responses to these dreams, and a key function of spiritual intelligence to solve problems of meaning and value in life. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relationship between video game play and threat simulation dreams.

Revonsuo proposes an evolutionary theory of dreaming in which dreams allow an individual to prepare for real world threats in the safety of the virtual setting of the dream world. Based upon previous work examining the dreams of video game players, it was hypothesized that high-end gamers would experience fewer threat simulation dreams because of frequent threat resolution rehearsal during game play. Subjects were asked to report a night before dream and fill out surveys regarding their gaming history, media use, and dream experiences. Using a factor analysis, support for the main hypothesis was found. Individuals with a history of game play experienced fewer threat severity variables in their dreams. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Emotions in the Diary and REM Dreams of Young and Late Adulthood Women and Their Relation to Life Satisfaction.

Expanding on studies of the incidence and valence of emotions in dreams and their relationship with waking life satisfaction, home and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep dreams were collected from 30 late adulthood and 28 young women who had filled out a life satisfaction scale. Four positive and 4 negative dream emotions were self-rated. Both groups reported more emotions, with greater intensity, in home dreams than in REM dreams, particularly the older group. Regardless of age, intensity of negative emotions was lower in laboratory dreams than in home dreams, but there was no difference for positive emotions. The older women's home dreams had fewer negative emotions, with lower intensity, than did the young women's. Life satisfaction did not differ between age groups and was not significantly related to dream emotions. These results reinforce the distinction between home and laboratory dreams and question the relation between dream emotions and life satisfaction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceived change in the affect associated with dreams: The fading affect bias and its moderators.

Eighty-two undergraduate participants kept dream diaries for a month. Five dreams were randomly selected from each diary and were returned to participants. They rated the affect produced by the dream at its occurrence and at its recall, as well as a number of other characteristics of the dream and characteristics of the context in which the dream occurred. Results revealed that, like memories for real autobiographical events, the negative affect associated with dreams generally faded faster than the positive affect associated with dreams (a Fading Affect Bias, or FAB). The data also showed that the FAB did not occur for: (a) dreams that were remembered to contain information that dreamers believed came true at a later date, (b) dreamers who had reportedly taken recreational drugs prior to their dream, (c) dreams remembered as lacking sound, and (d) dreams remembered as very quiet. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Recurrent dreams and psychosocial adjustment in preteenaged children.

Research indicates that recurrent dreams in adults are associated with impoverished psychological well-being. Whether similar associations exist in children remains unknown. The authors hypothesized that children reporting recurrent dreams would show poorer psychosocial adjustment than children without recurrent dreams. One hundred sixty-eight 11-year-old children self-reported on their recurrent dreams and on measures of psychosocial adjustment. Although 35% of children reported having experienced a recurrent dream during the past year, our hypothesis was only partially supported. Multivariate analyses revealed a marginally significant interaction between gender and recurrent dream presence and a significant main effect of gender. Univariate analyses revealed that boys reporting recurrent dreams reported significantly higher scores on reactive aggression than those who did not (d = 0.58). This suggests that by age 11 years, the presence of recurrent dreams may already reflect underlying emotional difficulties in boys but not necessarily in girls. Challenges in addressing this developmental question are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dream work with children: Perceptions and practices of school mental health professionals.

In this study, 49 public school mental health practitioners (school counselors, school psychologists, and school social workers) completed a survey about working with students’ dreams. The majority of these practitioners reported having at least one student bring up dreams during counseling, more frequently with troubling dreams and nightmares or when coping with grief. Results showed that practitioners were less likely to talk about dreams with students who had been identified with an adjustment disorder, psychosis, or eating disorder; those who were oppositional or ill; and those who struggled with substance abuse problems. Although most practitioners did not feel competent working with children’s dreams and reported minimal training in dream work, they were interested in learning more about children’s dreams and potential uses of dream work in supportive counseling. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Genesis Dreams: Using a Private, Psychological Event as a Cultural, Political Declaration

The article examines the role of the 13 dreams in the book of Genesis. The dreams are first shortly described (following Gnuse, 1984, and Oppenheim, 1956) in their historical context: the Near-East of over 3000 years ago. The structure of some of the dreams is then discussed and compared to dreams from another historical period, that of modern Jewish Moroccan pilgrims (Bilu & Abramovitch, 1985), whose faith is based largely on the Bible. Following this discussion of the structure, the message of the dreams, regarding both the near future, and the remote, national future, is described. The article discusses the argument that all these dreams serve the purpose of establishing a common national identity, which has been historically the basis of Jewish faith. Possible reasons for using dreams in conveying the message are then discussed. The article ends with a discussion on the declining importance of the dream in the post-Genesis Bible.     

Electronic media and lucid-control dreams: Morning after reports.

Lucid dreams, as well as control dreams, have recently been reported as associated with video game play (Gackenbach, 2006). In this study, dreams were collected from the morning after a night of rested sleep as well as electronic media use from the day before the dream. In a factor analysis, lucid and control dreams were associated with all electronic media use but most strongly with video game play. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Working with Dreams in Psychotherapy: The Therapists' Perspective

129 therapists completed a 70-item questionnaire about working with dreams in psychotherapy. Almost all therapists (92%) worked with dreams in psychotherapy at least occasionally. Therapists reported that 15% of clients had brought dreams into therapy during the past year. Therapists engaged more in exploratory than insight- or action-oriented activities when working with dreams. They were more likely to work on dreams with clients who had troubling dreams or who were interested in working on dreams, but were unlikely to work on dreams with schizophrenic or psychotic clients. Those clinicians who were more likely to work with dreams had more training, higher estimated dream recall, more positive attitudes toward dreams, and did more personal dream work than clinicians who were not likely to work with dreams.     

The central image makes "big" dreams big: The central image as the emotional heart of the dream.

"Big dreams" are hard to define. This paper considers "big" dreams under several more easily definable subcategories: memorable dreams; important dreams (labeled by dreamer); significant dreams; and impactful dreams. Past studies are reviewed, and five new preliminary studies are presented showing that a powerful Central Image (CI) distinguishes "big" dreams in all subcategories. 1) Dreams labeled "important" by the dreamer have higher CI intensity than dreams labeled "unimportant." 2) Dreams labeled "especially significant" have especially high CI intensity. 3) Impactful dreams (leading to a new discovery) have a very high CI intensity. 4) The dreams of people who score very "thin" on the Boundary Questionnaire (BQ)--sometimes called "dream-people"--have higher CI intensity than the dreams of people who score "thick." 5) In a separate, larger group, there is a significant positive correlation between CI intensity and "thinness." It appears that CI intensity is an important measure of the "bigness" of dreams. The present results are consistent with the Contemporary Theory of Dreaming which states that dreams involve making connections guided by emotion, that the Ci of the dream pictures the emotion, and that CI intensity measures the power of the underlying emotion. "Big" dreams are dreams with great emotional power and have powerful Central Images. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Can Dreams During Pregnancy Predict Postpartum Depression?

Postpartum depression (henceforth PPD) is an emotional disturbance which occurs in as much as 20% of the childbearing population. This study attempted to ascertain whether dreams, offering unconscious expression of internal emotional processes, could help to identify early signs of PPD. It was hypothesized that differences would be found in the emotional dream work of pregnant women who either later developed or did not develop PPD. 166 women participated in the two stages of the study. During stage I, the women were interviewed in the last trimester of their first pregnancies. The interview included a demographic questionnaire and an account of a dream. During stage II, the women were interviewed 6–10 weeks after giving birth. The second interview included only the EPDS scale for affirming or denying the occurrence of PPD. The findings of the study confirm the hypothesis that dreams of pregnant women can differentiate among women who are or are not at-risk for PPD. It was found that more unpleasant dreams and dreams expressing apprehension were found among women who did not later develop PPD, than among women who did develop PPD.     

Ordinary and Recurrent Dream Recall of Active, Past and Non-recurrent Dreamers During and After Academic Stress

The role of stress in the onset and frequency of recurrent dreams was investigated by comparing dream recall of students undergoing naturalistic stress conditions. Thirty nine students in active, past and non-recurrent dream groups (n = 13) recorded frequency of nights per week involving overall and recurrent dream recall in the week prior to mid-term examinations and in a neutral study week in second semester. Self-report measures of everyday hassles and uplifts, anxiety and positive and negative affect experienced during these conditions were also collected. Anxiety and negative affect were reported as significantly higher in the pre-examination week. Overall the groups reported dreams on significantly more nights in the pre-examination week than the post examination week. Recurrent dream nights increased during the stress week for the active recurrent dream group but there was no change in recurrent dream recall for the other groups. These findings are consistent with theories that the experience of emotional stress is a critical factor in the onset and persistence of recurrent dreams.     

Dream content: Reflections of the emotional and psychological states of earthquake survivors.

This study investigated dream narratives as reflections of the emotional and psychological states of earthquake survivors. Dreams and dreams imagery have reportedly been affected by the emotional and psychological trauma that the dreamer goes through. Dream narratives and dream content ratings used in earlier studies were utilized in this study. Narratives and content ratings were obtained from a sample of 27 volunteer survivors of the October 8, 2005 earthquake in Pakistan (Azad Kashmir area) and 27 volunteer controls from similar demographics. Three independent raters judged the dream narratives and dream content ratings. The judges rating were highly congruent (86.05). Findings revealed that the survivor group had more vivid, unpleasant, horrifying, and hostile dreams compared with the control group. However, there were no significant gender differences. The data suggest that a closer study of dreams can be used to understand the underlying trauma for effective interventions. In addition, interesting emergence of recurrent dreams was seen, which will be independently studied in future. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stress and Coping in the Waking and Dreaming States During an Examination Period

Dream diaries were kept by 35 female undergraduates for two ten-day periods, one of preparation for midterm or final examinations, and an exam-free one. Research questions were whether the stress and negative emotions induced by preparing for exams were reflected in dreams and what types of coping were used both in the waking and dreaming states. There was no consistent impact of the stressful situation on dreams, in terms of incorporation and negative emotions. However, 22 dreamers had incorporation dreams. They reported significantly less active problem-solving strategies in waking than the ones who had no such dreams. While a significant negative correlation was found between harm/threat emotions in waking and negative emotions in dream imagery, a positive correlation was found between positive reappraisal in waking and active problem-solving in dreams. Findings are discussed from the perspective of Lazarus and Folkman's theory of adaptation to stress in waking life.     

Object Representations in Dreams of Chicanos and Anglos

The relationship between the cultures to which persons belong and their internalized object representations as revealed by manifest dream content was investigated. It was hypothesized that because Chicanos are from a more nurturing culture than Anglos, they would represent persons in their dreams as more differentiated, articulated, and integrated, with more benevolent interactions. 50 Chicano and 50 Anglo university students (25 of each gender in each culture) reported a total of 555 dreams that were scored according to the Concept of the Object Scale (Blatt, Brenneis, Schimek & Glick, 1976). The Scale applies developmental principles concerning the three dimensions of differentiation, articulation, and integration to the study of human responses given to the Rorschach. This research applied the Scale to the manifest content of the subjects' reported dreams. The cross-cultural hypothesis was disconfirmed; however, there were strong findings concerning gender. Gender differences across culture were statistically significant in each developmental dimension, ranging from females representing more humans, who are better articulated and more benevolently interactive (p < .01) to females reporting more intentional, congruent actions and more interactions (p < .05). The only cross-cultural finding was that Anglos represent more action in their dreams than Chicanos (p < .05). Within the sample of acculturated Chicano subjects, genders were polarized to a much greater extent than in the Anglo sample. Implications of the findings for theoretical understanding of gender and cultural differences in object representations are discussed.     

Sex dreams, wet dreams, and nocturnal emissions.

This study provides an overview of the frequencies and narrative features of sex and wet dreams and investigates the incestuous behavior in the manifest content of dreams. A questionnaire specially designed for capturing both quantitative and qualitative aspects of sex and wet dreams was administered to 58 male participants. More than 80% of participants had dreamed about having vaginal intercourse with a woman. Dreaming of sexual interactions other than vaginal intercourse—such as oral sex—was also common. Consistent with the hypothesis that latent sexual motives or some variation of sexuality that people may not be aware of during the daytime would emerge at night through dreaming, both homosexual and incestuous behaviors were observed in dreams. In addition, the finding indicates that sexual thoughts and motives can be represented by symbols in dreams, and dream impressions involving no erotic scenes are capable of eliciting nocturnal emissions. It seems that sex dreams, wet dreams, and nocturnal emissions without erotic imagery or dreaming can be distinguished from each other. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Children's Dreams and Nightmares: Emerging Trends in Research.

New manifest content analysis research on children's dreams and nightmares provides insights into how dreaming reveals developmental changes over time. Five culturally diverse research studies were conducted with varied methods for dream collection that included laboratory-collected dreams, as well as written journals, audiotaped dreams, and retrospectively recalled dreams. As children grow older, they are more able to recall dreams, dream narratives increase in length, and dreams are characterized by decreasing levels of passive victimization and have more elaborate character interactions. Age and gender differences in recall, interactions, and gender of dream characters indicate that dream research is a fertile area for studying child development and the changing function of dreams over time. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)