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Continuity or compensation? – A hypothesis testing study concerning two types of dreamers’ Aggressive Behaviors in Nightmares
Abstract
Being the aggressor in dreams has been investigated relatively sparsely. On the one hand, these kinds of nightmares may represent continuity of aggression in waking-life, but on the other hand, being the aggressor in dreams may compensate failing (suppressed) aggression from waking-life. Two subtypes of aggressor nightmares should thus be distinguished: Those in which the dreamer is the primary aggressor and those, in which the dreamer reacts with aggression to a threatening event. We hypothesized that nightmares in which the aggressive event was caused by the dream-self may be related to waking-life aggression according to the continuity hypothesis, while in nightmares, in which the aggressive event by the dream-self was the response to threats caused by other dream-characters, the dream-self may be reacting in self-defense. Thus, participants who dreamt that the aggressive act was initiated by the dream-self should be more aggressive in waking-life (supporting continuity) than those who dreamt that the offending act was initiated by other dream characters, and the dream-self was only reacting (supporting compensation). Waking-life aggression was obtained with the Buss and Perry Aggression Questionnaire. Results showed that dreamers who dreamt that their dream-self initiated the aggressive act were more aggressive in waking-life than those who dreamt that other dream characters had initiated the aggressive act. Nightmares with aggression done by the dream-self thus support the continuity hypothesis of dreaming while aggressor nightmare with reactive aggression of the dream-self support the compensatory hypothesis of dreaming.
... The compensation hypothesis states that dreams provide a safe environment in which the dreamer can re-experience the emotions, shortcomings, and events he had in his waking life and could not resolve (Mathes & Pietrowsky, 2022). According to a study (Malinowski, 2015), thoughts that are suppressed during the day can appear in dreams. ...
In nightmares, the dream-self is mostly the victim, but there are also dreams in which the dream-self is the offender. Little is known yet about these offender-nightmares ; thus, the main goal of the present study was to carry out the frequencies of offender nightmares and to investigate if the dream-self is offending mostly in self-defense and anger, or whether the dream-self is offending out of fun and pleasure. Besides, personality traits of offender-nightmare dreamers, non-offender-nightmare dreamers, and nonnightmare dreamers are observed. Results show that the prevalence of offender-nightmares is not as high as in previous studies, but nevertheless offender nightmares definitely appear. Being the offender in dreams does not necessarily mean that the dreamer calls the dream a nightmare. In most cases, the dream-self is offending in the heat of the moment and in self-defense, so possibly offender nightmares are simulations of exaggerated manifestations of threats or anticipated conflicts, which the dream-self can only solute by offending. Future studies may investigate the coping styles of frequent offender-nightmare dreamers in waking life.
Being the victim of an aggressor in nightmares is quite common for most persons, but there are also nightmares where the dream-self can become the offender. Two studies were conducted in two nonclinical samples of participants with frequent nightmares to investigate the so-called offender-nightmares. Study 1 served to assess the frequency of offender-nightmares in persons with frequent nightmares and the motives and actions in these dreams during a 28-day interval, whereas in Study 2, correlations to personality variables were investigated. The results indicate that the occurrence of offender-nightmares is not negligible; about 18% to 28% of the reported nightmares were classified as offender-nightmares. Most of the aggressive acts in these dreams were intentional, and killing a person was the most prominent offender’s act, with self-defense being the most common motive. Persons with offender-nightmares were also found to have been more violent in the past than persons without offender-nightmares and persons without nightmares. In addition, they scored higher in neuroticism and aggression, reported more creative achievements than persons without nightmares, and had more creative achievements than persons without offender-nightmares. The results suggest that offender-nightmares are rather common in people who frequently have nightmares and that these dreams are related to aggressiveness, creativity, and previous violent experiences.
Studies have found relationships between dream content and personality traits, but there are still many traits that have been underexplored or have had questionable conclusions drawn about them. Experimental work has found a 'rebound' effect in dreams when thoughts are suppressed prior to sleep, but the effect of trait thought suppression on dream content has not yet been researched. In the present study participants (N=106) reported their Most Recent Dream, answered questions about the content of the dream, and completed questionnaires measuring trait thought suppression and the 'Big Five' personality traits. Of these, 83 were suitably recent for analyses. A significant positive correlation was found between trait thought suppression and participants' ratings of dreaming of waking-life emotions, and high suppressors reported dreaming more of their waking-life emotions than low suppressors did. The results may lend support to the compensation theory of dreams, and/or the ironic process theory of mental control.
Aggressive interactions are common in dreams, even aggression resulting in the death of a dream character. In different student samples, approximately 20% to 35% of the participants reported having dreamed of killing someone at least once in their lives. In nightmare sufferers, this type of dream was related to elevated waking-life aggression. The present study confirmed this relationship in an unselected student sample (N = 439). The present results indicate that continuity between waking and dreaming can take different forms, that is, the waking emotion is not reflected in a direct way in the dreams but in an exaggerated way. Further studies should look at the content of killing dreams as to whether it is self-defense, an accident, or cold-blooded murder. One might argue that the third category is most strongly associated with waking-life aggressiveness. From a methodological viewpoint, it would be desirable to back up the present findings with dream diary studies.
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) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Video-game play offers the opportunity to investigate the continuity hypothesis. Using interactive video games rather than passive films as a controlled manipulation allows for an engaging presleep experience. Several researchers have successfully used video games to investigate dream incorporation. In this study, interactivity and fidelity were the independent measures that manipulated immersion in a commercially available video game. Interactivity was either passive or active, whereas fidelity was high-screen resolution and stereophonic headset audio versus low. The highest dream incorporation in the high-fidelity–high-interactivity condition was expected. Incorporation was assessed by participant self-report and judges' evaluations. The independent variable of fidelity was especially strong in both the manipulation and the subsequent dream incorporation for self-report. Interactivity became the dominant variable when viewed from the judges' perspectives. The effects of demand characteristics and emotionality were also considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
In a series of studies, J. Gackenbach has been mapping the effects of heavy video game play on consciousness, including dreaming. The reason that gamers are being investigated is that they represent a group of people who are engaging in the most immersive media experience widely available today. With its audio and visual interactive nature as well as the long hours often required to master a game, they are an opportune group to study media effects upon consciousness. In this study, the focus was on dream bizarreness. Dream bizarreness has been variously thought to be the differentiator between waking and dreaming thought, an indication of creativity, and most recently, as a model for solving the binding problem in consciousness. Using A. Revonsuo’s and C. Salmivalli’s scale for dream content analysis, it was found that high-end gamers evidenced more bizarre dreams than did low-end gamers in two of three types of bizarreness categories. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Factors affecting or inducing nightmares have been investigated repeatedly. However, little research is carried out on the behavioral consequences of nightmares. The present study thus served to investigate behavioral effects of nightmares in correlation to personality variables. 41 non-clinical participants, who suffer from about 2 nightmares per month recorded their dreams and nightmares over a 4-week period. A nightmare was defined as a dream that frightens the dreamer and could be recalled in detail on awakening. Anxiety and mood were monitored every morning. All nightmares and their behavioral consequences were noted on a questionnaire. Personality traits and life events were assessed at the beginning of the investigation. 100 nightmares were reported by the subjects over the 4-week period (range: 0–8). Following a nightmare, the subjects were significantly more anxious and were of a less stable mental condition compared to nights without nightmares. Additionally, nightmares induced physical complaints. This was considered to be an indicator that something was wrong in their lives and induced them to solve personal problems. The behavioral effects were most pronounced in subjects scoring high on neuroticism and on the number of physical complaints and low on achievement orientation and openness. The results suggest that sufferers of nightmares intend to change their lives, especially those with a neurotic-like personality.
A new questionnaire on aggression was constructed. Replicated factor analyses yielded 4 scales: Physical Aggression, Verbal Aggression, Anger, and Hostility. Correlational analysis revealed that anger is the bridge between both physical and verbal aggression and hostility. The scales showed internal consistency and stability over time. Men scored slightly higher on Verbal Aggression and Hostility and much higher on Physical Aggression. There was no sex difference for Anger. The various scales correlated differently with various personality traits. Scale scores correlated with peer nominations of the various kinds of aggression. These findings suggest the need to assess not only overall aggression but also its individual components.
Dream characters continue their enduring presence in dreams in general as the prevalent feature of dreaming consciousness. The present work focuses on non-lucid problem-solving dreams, and dream characters’ types of involvement and range of their relational capacities. The analysis of 979 cross-cultural problem-solving dreams using the method of grounded theory yielded 56 exemplary dreams. From the perspective of cross-state consciousness, the tentative explanatory frameworks include attained waking-life relational schemas, habitual or emerging patterns of organizing inner experiences in distress, and potential reliance on adaptive involuntary homeostatic mechanisms. The discussion of results centers on dream characters’ positive and negative involvements in dreamers’ portrayals of family constellations, and dreamers’ reactions and responses to dream characters’ experiencing problems separately from the dreamer and together with the dreamer. In terms of relational capacities, dream characters display beneficence toward the dreamer in the form of kindness, helpful intentions, and behaviors, or they instigate problems for the dreamers and display injurious and harmful attitudes, intentions, or behaviors. Limitations of the study include a study sample from highly motivated dreamers. Further research might focus on similarities or differences in dream characters’ involvement in problematic situations dreamers experience during lucid dreaming.
Dream characters are present in dreams as the pervasive feature of dreaming consciousness. The current research was guided by the question, “What could be the types of dream characters’ involvement and range of their relational capacities in non-lucid problem-solving dreams?” In this study, 979 cross-cultural operationally defined problem-solving dreams were analyzed by the method of grounded theory for the dream characters’ participation and input into solutions and their relational skills, capacities, and abilities. The analysis yielded 56 exemplary dreams ranging from dreamers’ longing for characters and recalling helpful character, to their involvement in family dynamics, characters’ experiences of problems, joint problematic experiences, and characters’ helpful use of capacities and instigation of problems for the dreamer. Discussion revolves about dream characters’ absence and recalled presence. In the subsequent article, the author will present additional results, conclude the discussion, and include limitations of study and suggestions for future research.
To determine whether personality in dreams exhibits a compensatory or a continuous relationship with waking personality, one dream from each of 100 undergraduate women was analysed with an extraversion scale derived from the Eysenck Personality Inventory. The dream extraversion scores were correlated with the subjects' corresponding extraversion score on Eysenck's inventory. The over-all coefficient (.14) was nonsignificant; however, when subjects were divided into high and low neuroticism groups, the low scorers' r was negative and significant (-.29) but that of the high scorers was not (.12). The results suggest that individual differences in neuroticism should be taken into account for further explorations of compensatory relationships between waking and dreaming.
This chapter explores the nature of the self's secret life in the dream world by drawing together the results that systematic studies of the phenomenological content of dreams have revealed. The self in our dreams is a bodily representation of our waking self. It is a behaviorally active self that shows a regular pattern of cognitive deficits. The dream self suffers from amnesia and diminished critical thinking but is unaware of its own deficits. It is immersed into the center of a simulated world where dangerous, threatening events appear with considerable frequency. Those events are mostly based on emotionally charged memory traces from real-life experiences of threats. The biological function of this nocturnal simulation remains controversial: Some believe that the dream world arises in the sleeping brain for no particular reason at all. By contrast, the threat simulation theory suggests that perhaps the dream self was forced to face simulated threats during dreaming so that the brain would be prepared to face real threats during wakefulness.
Dreams have been part of the human experience throughout recorded history and a central focus in psychodynamic therapy. This paper deals with the use of dreams and images in the context of cognitive-behavioral therapy. The therapist trained in cognitive-behavioral therapy is frequently not trained or prepared to work with dreams and may lose valuable opportunities to tap the richness of imagery offered in dreams. The cognitive model sees the dreamer as idiosyncratic and the dream as a dramatization of the patient's view of self, world, and future, subject to the same cognitive distorations as the waking state. Dreams and the understanding of the dreams of the dream content and themes offer an opportunity for the patient to understand his or her cognitions as played out on the stag of the imagination and to challenge or dispute those depressogenic or anxiogenic thoughts, with a resultant positive affect sift.
The present article briefly reviews the literature on gender differences in dream content. The results confirm earlier findings that men dream more often about men, physical aggression and sexuality than women. Women's dreams, on the other hand, contain an equal proportion of male and female characters, more aggression turned inwardly and themes of depression. In regard to formal features, e.g., dream realism, dream length, occurrence of verbal and physical interaction, dreams of men and women are quite similar. These findings are related to meta-analyses compiling studies of gender differences in waking-life. Since men, for example, were found to be more aggressive in waking-life and women tend to be more vulnerable to depression, the assumption of continuity between waking-life and dreaming is supported.
Several theories claim that dreaming is a random by-product of REM sleep physiology and that it does not serve any natural function. Phenomenal dream content, however, is not as disorganized as such views imply. The form and content of dreams is not random but organized and selective: during dreaming, the brain constructs a complex model of the world in which certain types of elements, when compared to waking life, are underrepresented whereas others are over represented. Furthermore, dream content is consistently and powerfully modulated by certain types of waking experiences. On the basis of this evidence, I put forward the hypothesis that the biological function of dreaming is to simulate threatening events, and to rehearse threat perception and threat avoidance. To evaluate this hypothesis, we need to consider the original evolutionary context of dreaming and the possible traces it has left in the dream content of the present human population. In the ancestral environment human life was short and full of threats. Any behavioral advantage in dealing with highly dangerous events would have increased the probability of reproductive success. A dream-production mechanism that tends to select threatening waking events and simulate them over and over again in various combinations would have been valuable for the development and maintenance of threat-avoidance skills. Empirical evidence from normative dream content, children's dreams, recurrent dreams, nightmares, post traumatic dreams, and the dreams of hunter-gatherers indicates that our dream-production mechanisms are in fact specialized in the simulation of threatening events, and thus provides support to the threat simulation hypothesis of the function of dreaming.
Empirical studies largely support the continuity hypothesis of dreaming. Despite of previous research efforts, the exact formulation of the continuity hypothesis remains vague. The present paper focuses on two aspects: (1) the differential incorporation rate of different waking-life activities and (2) the magnitude of which interindividual differences in waking-life activities are reflected in corresponding differences in dream content. Using a correlational design, a positive, non-zero correlation coefficient will support the continuity hypothesis. Although many researchers stress the importance of emotional involvement on the incorporation rate of waking-life experiences into dreams, formulated the hypothesis that highly focused cognitive processes such as reading, writing, etc. are rarely found in dreams due to the cholinergic activation of the brain during dreaming. The present findings based on dream diaries and the exact measurement of waking activities replicated two recent questionnaire studies. These findings indicate that it will be necessary to specify the continuity hypothesis more fully and include factors (e.g., type of waking-life experience, emotional involvement) which modulate the incorporation rate of waking-life experiences into dreams. Whether the cholinergic state of the brain during REM sleep or other alterations of brain physiology (e.g., down-regulation of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex) are the underlying factors of the rare occurrence of highly focused cognitive processes in dreaming remains an open question. Although continuity between waking life and dreaming has been demonstrated, i.e., interindividual differences in the amount of time spent with specific waking-life activities are reflected in dream content, methodological issues (averaging over a two-week period, small number of dreams) have limited the capacity for detecting substantial relationships in all areas. Nevertheless, it might be concluded that the continuity hypothesis in its present general form is not valid and should be elaborated and tested in a more specific way.
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