Dreaming about cats: An online survey.

Abstract

Cats have lived with humankind for millennia, and one would expect-according to the continuity hypothesis of dreaming-that cats also show up in dreams, more often when the relationship is between the cat and a human is closer, for example, when she or he is a cat owner. Previous studies showed that the percentage of dreams that included cats ranges from 0.4% to 2%, but studies relating waking-life experiences with cats with dreams about cats have not been carried out. In total, 1,695 persons (960 women, 735 men; mean age: 53.84 6 13.99 years) completed an online survey that included questions about dreams and waking-life experiences with cats. The findings indicate that cats show up-on average-in about 5% of the remembered dreams, but the percentage is much higher in cat owners or persons with a close contact to cats. Interestingly, the cat dream percentage was lower compared to the dog dream percentage, elicited in a previous study. Moreover, proximity during sleep and whether the cat stays in the household is also related to a higher percentage of dreams that include cats. Cat dreams are very positive, much more so than dreams in general, indicating that waking-life experiences with cats are also mostly positive. A small percentage of participants indicted that they had negative experiences with cats in the past; this is related to the frequency of dreams with threatening cats. The results support the continuity hypothesis, and it would be very interesting to conduct content analytic studies with dream samples obtained from pet owners to learn more about the variety of interactions between dreamers and their pets as they are reflected in dreams.

Work–life balance in dreams: Frequency and emotional tone of work‐related and hobby‐related dreams

“…The medium effect size of the association between hobby frequency and the percentage of hobby‐related dreams is in line with the continuity hypothesis of dreaming (Schredl, 2003) and previous studies looking at topics such as spending time with pets (Schredl et al, 2020b; Schredl et al, 2021), music (König et al, 2018), sports (Schredl and Erlacher, 2008), and media (Moverley et al, 2018). These findings support the notion of a thematic continuity between waking and dreaming, that is, dreams include experiences the person is engaged in in waking life.…”

“…However, the hobby definition applied in this study only includes most often structured activities within a sports club, musical school or other organisations, i.e., did not include all leisure time activities such as talking with friends, watching TV, enjoying a meal, or relaxing on a couch. In a student sample, it could be demonstrated that academic activities arecompared with social activitiesunderrepresented in dreams (Schredl and Hofmann, 2003); that is, we hypothesised that using a broader definition that includes all lei- The medium effect size of the association between hobby frequency and the percentage of hobby-related dreams is in line with the continuity hypothesis of dreaming (Schredl, 2003) and previous studies looking at topics such as spending time with pets (Schredl et al, 2020b;Schredl et al, 2021), music (König et al, 2018), sports (Schredl and Erlacher, 2008), and media (Moverley et al, 2018). These findings support the notion of a thematic continuity between waking and dreaming, that is, dreams include experiences the person is engaged in in waking life.…”

“…In a diary study, Barnes et al (2021) were able to demonstrate that work‐related stress affects not only the emotional tone of dreams negatively but also the waking mood in the morning. The emotional tone of work‐related dreams is on average slightly more negative than the averaged general emotional tone of all dreams (Schredl et al, 2020a) but dreams related to pleasant activities such as music (König and Schredl, 2021), sports (Noveski et al, 2016), or pets (Schredl et al, 2020b; Schredl et al, 2021) were more positively toned. A study systematically studying the relationship between waking‐life hobbies and hobby‐related dreams has not yet been carried out.…”

Typical images of animals in dreams: Results from a content analysis.

“…Animals, like dogs and cats, according to the continuity hypothesis of dreaming, lived with humankind are likely to appear in dreams, which surveys have confirmed (Schredl et al, 2020, 2021). Moreover, the frequency and species of animals in dreams differed among various groups.…”