Gender Differences in the Dream Content of Children and Adolescents: The UK Library Study

Schredl, Michael; Struck, Verena. S; Schwert, Christine; Blei, Blei; Henley-Einion, Josie; Blagrove, Blagrove

doi:10.5406/amerjpsyc.132.3.0315

Cited by 5 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 40 publications

(63 reference statements)

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“…The percentage of dreams including dogs of about 5% is in line with previous results [ 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 ], especially if one considers that the 5% figure is a slight overestimation due to many high dream recallers in the sample. Overall, the emotional tone of dog-including dreams was more positive when compared to the overall general tone of dreams, especially in dog owners.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…[ 3 ], one would expect—according to the continuity hypothesis of dreaming [ 4 ]—that dogs would also be quite common in dreams. Indeed, dogs are often the most frequent animals within dreams; the percentage of dreams including dogs ranges from about 1.5% to 5% [ 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 ]. There is a long history of speculating about the meaning of dog dreams that dates back to the second century AD [ 12 ], including the ideas that animals in general, but especially dogs, represent the animal nature of humans [ 13 , 14 ], the impulsive self of the child [ 15 ], the parents [ 16 ], or sexual impulses in adolescence [ 17 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Dreaming about Dogs: An Online Survey

Schredl

Bailer

Weigel

et al. 2020

Animals

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Dogs have been close human companions for millennia and one would expect—according to the continuity hypothesis of dreaming—that dogs are also quite common in dreams. Previous studies showed that the percentages of dreams that include dogs range from about 1.5% to 5%, but studies relating waking-life experiences with dogs with dreams about dogs have not been carried out. In total, 1695 persons (960 women, 735 men) completed an online survey that included questions about dreams and waking-life experiences that included dogs. The findings indicate that dogs show up, on average, in about 5% of remembered dreams, but this percentage is much higher in the dreams of dog owners and persons with close contacts with dogs. Moreover, the active time spent with a dog and the proximity during sleep is also related to a higher percentage of dreams that include dogs. Although dreams including dogs are on average more positively toned than dreams in general, about 11% of the dog dreams included threatening dogs. Persons who had negative experiences with dogs in their waking lives reported more threatening dog dreams. The results support the continuity hypothesis and it would be very interesting to conduct content analytic studies with dream samples obtained from dog owners to learn more about the variety of interactions between dreamers and dogs.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dreaming about Dogs: An Online Survey

Schredl

Bailer

Weigel

et al. 2020

Animals

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“…The percentage of dreams including cats of about 5% is higher compared to previous results (Domhoff, 2003; Garfield, 1984; Hall & Van de Castle, 1966; Schredl, 2013a; Schredl, Struck, et al, 2019; Strauch & Meier, 1996; Van de Castle, 1983). One possible explanation might be the overrepresentation of high dream recallers in the sample, as dream recall frequency is related to cat dreams being present.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 66%

“…Indeed, cats are often the second or third most frequent animal within dreams, with dogs being the most frequent and horses being the second most frequent; the percentage of dreams including cats range from 0.4% to 2% (Domhoff, 2003; Garfield, 1984; Hall & Van de Castle, 1966; Schredl, 2013a; Schredl, Struck, et al, 2019; Strauch & Meier, 1996; Van de Castle, 1983). There are a few exceptions of individuals (“cat lovers”) dreaming more often about cats than about dogs; that is, the cat percentile (number of cat dreams divided by the sum of cat and dog dreams) is greater than 50% (Domhoff, 2003; Schredl, 2013a).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Dreaming about cats: An online survey.

Schredl¹,

Bailer²,

Weigel³

et al. 2021

Dreaming

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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.

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“…The present study is based on 2716 dream reports of children, adolescents, and adults collected within the UK Library study (Schredl et al., 2016, 2019). The first aim was to replicate the decrease of animal dreams from childhood to adulthood in dream reports collected within one study.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Animals in Dreams of Children, Adolescents, and Adults: The UK Library Study

Schredl

Blagrove

2021

Imagination, Cognition and Personality

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Animal dreams have fascinated mankind for ages. Empirical research indicated that children dream more often about animals than adults and dogs, cats, and horses are the most frequent animals that appear within dreams. Moreover, most dreamer-animal interactions are negative. The present study included 4849 participants (6 to 90 yrs. old) reporting 2716 most recent dreams. Overall, 18.30% of these dreams included animals with children reporting more animal dreams that adolescents and adults. The most frequent animals were again dogs, horses, and cats; about 20% of the dream animals were in fact pets of the dreamers. About 30% of the dream animals showed bizarre features, e.g., metamorphosing into humans or other animals, bigger than in real life, or can talk. Taken together, the findings support the continuity hypothesis of dreaming but also the idea that dreams reflect waking-life emotions in a metaphorical and dramatized way. Future studies should focus on eliciting waking-life experiences with animals, e.g., having a pet, animal-related media consumption, and relating these to experiences with animals in dreams.

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Gender Differences in the Dream Content of Children and Adolescents: The UK Library Study

Cited by 5 publications

References 40 publications

Dreaming about Dogs: An Online Survey

Dreaming about Dogs: An Online Survey

Dreaming about cats: An online survey.

Animals in Dreams of Children, Adolescents, and Adults: The UK Library Study

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