Kluwer Academic/Human Sciences Press, Inc., New York City

Dreaming 12, Number 4, December 2002
 
 

Contents

Dreams During Academic Stress

Stress and Coping in the Waking and Dreaming States During an Examination Period
Delorme, Marie-Annick; Lortie-Lussier, Monique; and De Koninck, Joseph
Page 171
Available online

Ordinary and Recurrent Dream Recall of Active, Past and Non-recurrent Dreamers During and After Academic Stress
Duke, Theresa and Davidson, John
Page 185
 

Dreams and Dreamless Sleep
Gillespie, George
Page 199

Stereotypical Gender-Based Emotions Are Not Detectable in Dream Reports
Kahn, David and Hobson, J. Allan
Page 209

Thank You, Referees!
Page 223

Announcements
Page 225
 

Stress and Coping in the Waking and Dreaming States During an Examination Period

Delorme, Marie-Annick; Lortie-Lussier, Monique; and De Koninck, Joseph

Dreaming: Journal of the Association for the Study of Dreams. Vol 12(4) 171-183, December 2002.

Abstract:

Dream diaries were kept by 35 female undergraduates for two ten-day periods, one of preparation for midterm or final examinations, and an exam-free one. Research questions were whether the stress and negative emotions induced by preparing for exams were reflected in dreams and what types of coping were used both in the waking and dreaming states. There was no consistent impact of the stressful situation on dreams, in terms of incorporation and negative emotions. However, 22 dreamers had incorporation dreams. They reported significantly less active problem-solving strategies in waking than the ones who had no such dreams. While a significant negative correlation was found between harm/threat emotions in waking and negative emotions in dream imagery, a positive correlation was found between positive reappraisal in waking and active problem-solving in dreams. Findings are discussed from the perspective of Lazarus and Folkman’s theory of adaptation to stress in waking life.

KEY WORDS: dreams; coping strategies; adaptation to stress.
 

Ordinary and Recurrent Dream Recall of Active, Past and Non-recurrent Dreamers During and After Academic Stress

Duke, Theresa and Davidson, John

Dreaming: Journal of the Association for the Study of Dreams. Vol 12(4) 185-197, December 2002.

Abstract:

The role of stress in the onset and frequency of recurrent dreams was investigated by comparing dream recall of students undergoing naturalistic stress conditions. Thirty nine students in active, past and non-recurrent dream groups (n=13) recorded frequency of nights per week involving overall and recurrent dream recall in the week prior to mid-term examinations and in a neutral study week in second semester. Self-report measures of everyday hassles and uplifts, anxiety and positive and negative affect experienced during these conditions were also collected. Anxiety and negative affect were reported as significantly higher in the pre-examination week. Overall the groups reported dreams on significantly more nights in the pre-examination week than the post examination week. Recurrent dream nights increased during the stress week for the active recurrent dream group but there was no change in recurrent dream recall for the other groups. These findings are consistent with theories that the experience of emotional stress is a critical factor in the onset and persistence of recurrent dreams.

KEY WORDS: recurrent dreams; dream recall; stress; anxiety; examinations.
 

Dreams and Dreamless Sleep

Gillespie, George

Dreaming: Journal of the Association for the Study of Dreams. Vol 12(4) 199-207, December 2002.

Abstract:

Dreamless sleep, as subjective experience, is mentioned primarily within Hindu and Buddhist contexts. In the Upanishads, dreamless sleep is presented for the most part as objectless consciousness. Tibetan Buddhists speak of dreamless sleep in terms of a progression of visual experiences consisting of darkness and light. Contemporary discussions of dreaming, unless concerned with Eastern religion or philosophy, do not tend to mention dreamless sleep. For some writers today, dreaming includes all subjective experience during sleep, leaving no room for an experience of dreamless sleep. Some writers describe dreaming as a simulation of waking life. Since not all experience during sleep is simulation, this concept allows for experiences during sleep that may be understood to be other than dreaming. The writer finds it useful to consider simulation as the determining characteristic of dreaming and finds certain other sleep experiences then that are best considered to be “dreamless.”

KEY WORDS: dreams; dream definition; dreamless sleep; Upanishads; Tibetan Buddhism.
 

Stereotypical Gender-Based Emotions Are Not Detectable in Dream Reports

Kahn, David and Hobson, J Allan

Dreaming: Journal of the Association for the Study of Dreams. Vol 12(4) 209-222, December 2002.

Abstract:

This study reports on the number of feelings evoked in men and women by their dream characters as well as on the relative frequency of different kinds of feelings. Thirty-five subjects recorded 320 dreams over a two-week period, submitted dream reports and a dream log of all characters that appeared in their dreams as well as any feelings involving the characters. We found that feelings were pervasive in dreams and that they were evoked by over 80% of a subject’s dream characters. Further, negative and positive emotions were balanced for both men and women. We found no significant differences in the number or in the profile of feelings in men and women’s dreams. The reasons for this are discussed in terms of a continuity hypothesis across dream and wake states or, on the contrary, that feelings expressed in dreams may be independent of learned gender differences.

KEY WORDS: gender; emotions; dream characters.