Reactions to Dream Content: Continuity and Non-continuity

Abstract

Although dream content may at times be quite outlandish or illogical, the dreamer’s emotional reactions to these events are not outlandish or illogical. Our study shows that the dreamer’s emotional reaction to people and events are similar to what they would have been in wake life. There is continuity between the emotional reactions of the dream and wake-self, even though situations may arise that are not likely or possible in wake life. For example, a dream may include people and places that span different times that are weaved together as if they were occurring at the moment. Further, the behavior of the dream-self is often different than that of the wake-self. When this happens, there is a non-continuity between the behavior of the dream and wake-self. Thus, there is both continuity and non-continuity between the dream and wake-self: Continuity in emotional reactions and non-continuity in the kinds of situations and behaviors that occur while dreaming. In the Kahn and Hobson, 2005a study, 58.7% of participants reported that their thinking within the context of the dream was similar to what it would have been had they been awake. About 55.1% of participants also reported that their thinking about the context of the dream was different than it would have been had they been awake. This difference affords the dream-self with novel experiences but that still elicit emotional reactions that are similar to how its wake-self would react. In essentially, every case when a comment was given to the question on thinking in the Kahn and Hobson, 2005a study, participants reported about how they emotionally reacted within the context of the dream and how they emotionally reacted about the content of the dream in comparison to how they would have reacted if awake.

The feeling priming theory (FPT) of dreaming.

“…Kahn (2019) collected 178 home dream reports from 26 participants. After reporting each dream, the participants were asked to comment on the similarities or distinctions between their thinking in the dream, and what their thinking would have been like if they had experienced the dream events in waking life.…”

“…If the dream-self became impatient, angry, or happy about its own or a dream character’s behavior, its wake-self would have reacted the same. (Kahn, 2019, p. 4)…”

Dreaming with Awareness: Exploring Lucid Dreaming as a Bridge Between Reality and Meditation

“…No doubt there are certain common patterns of the dream plot formation that have been in the focus of those who studied the dreams from the very early periods of the human history. In a dream, there is both continuity and non-continuity between the dream-self and the wake-self (Kahn, 2019). Non-continuity is manifested in unexpected associations and in the number and kind of associations that become linked during dreaming (Cai, Mednick, Harrison, Kanady, & Mednick, 2009;Kahn & Gover, 2010;J.…”