The Who, When, Where, What of Daydreams Among a Young Adult Hearing-Impaired Population

Abstract

A sample of 251 hearing-impaired college students responded to a daydreaming questionnaire. Only those responses from subjects who daydreamed 14-plus hours per week, or who daydreamed one and a half hours or less per week were used. This resulted in 40 high-frequency and 40 low-frequency daydreamers. Comparisons were made between male and female hearing impaired, high- and low-frequency daydreamers. The three significant differences were (a) when daydreaming occurred for these subjects; (b) time orientation of the daydreams; and (c) having an imaginary companion as a child. Although daydreaming did not differ significantly by frequency or sex in the students, other characteristics emerged. Subjects use actual, or desired, romantic partners as their central fantasy figures; change both themes and characters over a several month period; discuss their fantasies with a friend or family member; daydream most frequently while driving, while studying, or in class about the themes of love, sex, friendship, and owning things.