Abstract
Focusing on lucid dreaming, this paper examined relationships between dissociated experiences related to rapid eye movement (REM) sleep (lucid dreaming, nightmares, and sleep paralysis), reality testing, and paranormal experiences/beliefs. The study comprised a UK-based online sample of 455 respondents (110 males, 345 females, Mean age = 34.46 years, SD = 15.70), who had all previously experienced lucid dreaming. Respondents completed established self-report measures assessing control within lucid dreaming, experience and frequency of nightmares, incidence of sleep paralysis, proneness to reality testing deficits (Inventory of Personality Organization subscale, IPO-RT), subjective experience of receptive psi and life after death (paranormal experience), and paranormal belief. Analysis comprised tests of correlational and predictive relationships between sleep-related outcomes, IPO-RT scores, and paranormal measures. Significant positive correlations between sleep and paranormal measures were weak. Paranormal measures related differentially to sleep indices. Paranormal experience correlated with lucid dreaming, nightmares, and sleep paralysis, whereas paranormal belief related only to nightmares and sleep paralysis. IPO-RT correlated positively with all paranormal and sleep-related measures. Within the IPO-RT, the Auditory and Visual Hallucinations sub-factor demonstrated the strongest positive associations with sleep measures. Structural equation modeling indicated that Auditory and Visual Hallucinations significantly positively predicted dissociated experiences related to REM sleep, while paranormal experience did not. However, paranormal experience was a significant predictor when analysis controlled for Auditory and Visual Hallucinations. The moderate positive association between these variables explained this effect. Findings indicated that self-generated, productive cognitive-processes (as encompassed by Auditory and Visual Hallucinations) played a significant role in conscious control and awareness of lucid dreaming, and related dissociative sleep states (sleep paralysis and nightmares).
Highlights
Lucid Dreaming BackgroundLucid dreaming is a dissociated state, which combines aspects of waking and dreaming (Schredl and Erlacher, 2004; Voss et al, 2009; LaBerge et al, 2018)
The inclusion of reality testing derived from the constructs focus on intra-psychic activity and overlap with factors linked to lucid dreaming
Paranormal measures positively correlated with proneness to reality testing deficits, relationships between belief and experience and sleep measures varied as a function of dissociated state
Summary
Lucid dreaming is a dissociated state, which combines aspects of waking and dreaming (Schredl and Erlacher, 2004; Voss et al, 2009; LaBerge et al, 2018). The present study extended understanding of the relationship between cognitiveperceptual personality factors by examining the extent to which reality testing and paranormal belief/experience predicted lucid dreaming and sleep-related phenomena (i.e., sleep paralysis and dreaming). The inclusion of reality testing derived from the constructs focus on intra-psychic activity and overlap with factors linked to lucid dreaming (i.e., creativity, imagination, fantasy proneness, and absorption) These elements link with consciousness and belief/experience of the paranormal. Given that the present study included only respondents who experienced lucid dreaming and focused on control of lucid dreaming, the authors tentatively anticipated correlations between sleep-related factors This postulation resulted from the view that experiencers of lucid dreaming possess a greater awareness of sleep-related phenomena, especially when experiences reference perception of visual imagery and imagined sensations. The inclusion of a range of sleep-related measures enabled the researchers to determine whether reality testing and paranormal measures were predictive of lucid dreaming, sleep paralysis, and nightmares
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