Dreams of Canadian Students

Abstract

A total of 600 dream reports were collected from 300 Canadian university students, 150 female and 150 male, and their content analyzed with the Hall and Van de Castle (1966) system of categories. The main dream content categories were characters, aggressive and friendly interactions, positive and negative emotions, and dream outcomes. The main purpose of the analysis was to provide normative data for a large sample of young Canadians to determine (a) whether negative elements prevail over positive ones, as assumed by the threat simulation theory and (b) whether dream gender differences are consistent with differences in waking life, in accordance with the continuity hypothesis. Overall, findings support both theories. The final objective was to compare the Canadian data, relative to gender differences, with normative data established in 1966 with the original American sample. Findings for males and females and gender differences remain consistent with the American normative data for most categories despite a 50 years interval. Similarities in Canadian and American dream content reflect similarities between the respective cultures. They also attest to fundamental structural dimensions of dream content that transcend cultures. Other types of content analysis relative to themes, for instance, might be appropriate to highlight cultural differences.

Dreamers’ evaluation of the emotional valence of their day-to-day dreams is indicative of some mood regulation function

“…Overall, our results offer some support for the CH, such that negative bedtime emotions can manifest into dreams, and that subject's positivity bias, in addition to the subject's bedtime mood and stress, is predictive of their waking mood and stress, respectively. The next step would be to link the positive bias to the actual content of dreams, most notably dream content characteristics identified in normative studies, such as aggression, failures, or misfortunes in addition to balance between positive and negative events in the dream (Dale et al, 2016) while using the same study design to examine whether the positivity bias is present and aids morning mood regulation through the desensitization to threats simulated in dreams.…”

“…One hundred eighty-eight participants were selected from a pool of participants that was previously collected in a larger study examining normative dreams among Canadians between 2004 and 2017 (Dale et al, 2016), which was before the COVID-19 pandemic. Male (n = 90; 48%) and female participants (52%) were between the ages of 12-24 years old (Mean = 19.2, SD = 3.0).…”

“…After obtaining participants' consent, they were instructed to complete a dream questionnaire using pen and paper at home until they reported at least one dream for a maximum period of 10 days. The dream questionnaire (DQ), which was developed for the Normative Study on the dreams of Canadians (Dale et al, 2015(Dale et al, , 2016(Dale et al, , 2017, comprised several sections. Of particular interest to this study, were the data from the sections related to participants' emotions and stress experienced in the evening before sleeping and upon waking in the morning, and sections related to aspects of their (recalled) dreams, such as the narrative of their dream and the emotions in their dream.…”

“…Finally, what gives credence to the notion of subjects' positive bias is the very well-documented presence of negative components in dreams beyond emotions. Indeed, the first normative study of dream content by Hall and Van De Castle (1966), which has been replicated in a normative Canadian population (Dale et al, 2016), confirms the predominance of aggression over friendliness, failures over success and misfortune over fortune in dreams. However, the interpretation of these events may differ depending on the evaluator [i.e., self (subject) vs. external evaluator] and thus the evaluation of emotions felt during these dreams may also consequently differ.…”

“…Research has shown that various aspects of waking life are incorporated into the content of dreams. Examples include social roles (Lortie-Lussier et al, 1985), gender (Dale et al, 2016), physical health (King and DeCicco, 2007), mental health (Schredl and Montasser, 1999) personality and psychotherapy process (Koulack et al, 1976;Busby and De Koninck, 1980;Hartmann et al, 1991;Samson-Daoust et al, 2019), remote past experiences (Grenier et al, 2005) and cognitive capacity (Fogel et al, 2018). Other studies have observed that certain chronobiological determinants, such as hormonal fluctuations (Wiebe et al, 2007), and certain major life changes, such as pregnancy (Sabourin et al, 2018), can influence dream content and result in dream modulations (e.g., affective changes, element incorporations).…”