Dream Content in a Representative German Sample: Gender Differences and the Effects of other Socio-Demographic Variables

Abstract

The present study investigated the effects of socio-demographic variables on dream content in a representative sample. The analyses of 380 most recent dreams showed that almost none of the socio-demographic variables like age, gender, marital status, education, income, nor town (or city) of residence size was significantly related to general dream characteristics like dream length, bizarreness, and intensity of dream emotions, thus indicating that dreaming is a universal phenomenon shared by all humans and is experienced in similar ways. On the other hand, dream content—in contrast to the general dream characteristics—is determined by waking-life experiences. This is clearly shown by the gender differences found in the present study: more work-related themes and physical aggression in men's dreams. In order to generalize these findings, it will be necessary to apply other dream collection methods like dream diary or laboratory awakenings in large, representative samples in order to obtain and analyze the dream reports of persons who do not often recall their dreams and who are not able to report their most recent dream to an interviewer.