Individual traits and experiences predict the content of dreams
Valentina Elce, Giorgia Bontempi, Serena Scarpelli, Bianca Pedreschi, Pietro Pietrini, Luigi De Gennaro, Michele Bellesi, Giulio Bernardi, Giacomo Handjaras
Communications Psychology April 28, 2026 DOI: 10.1038/s44271-026-00447-2 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational cohort Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 207 |
| Population | Adults |
| Duration | 2020 to 2024 |
| Topics | Lucid dreaming Dreaming |
| Keywords | Content measure theory Narrative Stressor Rumination Cognitive psychology Developmental psychology Semantics computer science Sleep system call Social perception Content analysis |
| Key findings | Dreams shift from self-referential, thought-centered narratives to perceptual experiences dominated by visuo-spatial details, multiple characters, and bizarre events, and are shaped by both stable individual traits and incidental experiences. |
Abstract
Dreams are universal yet highly idiosyncratic experiences. While memories and personal concerns are known to influence dream content, how such influences evolve over time and how stable individual traits shape dreaming remain unclear. Here, we systematically quantified the semantic structure of dreams in a large, multimodal dataset comprising 3366 reports of dreams and waking experiences collected from 207 adults between 2020 and 2024, alongside demographic, cognitive, psychometric, and sleep measures. To this end, we combined large language model-assisted evaluation of hypothesis-driven semantic dimensions and a data-driven lexical domain approach. Relative to waking reports, dreams shifted from self-referential, thought-centered narratives to perceptual experiences dominated by visuo-spatial details, multiple characters, and bizarre events. Stable traits, including attitude toward dreaming, mind-wandering propensity, and subjective sleep quality, selectively influenced dream content. A second, independent dataset collected during the first 2020 COVID-19 lockdown (80 participants) allowed us to examine the impact of a major external stressor on dream semantics. During lockdown, dreams showed increased references to limitations and heightened emotional intensity, effects that gradually normalized over the following years. These findings demonstrate that stable individual traits and incidental experiences jointly shape dream semantics.
Comparable studies
Other observational and cohort studies on lucid dreaming, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lucid Dreaming: a State of Consciousness with Features of Both Waking and Non-Lucid Dreaming Student volunteers trained to become lucid and signal lucidity with horizontal eye... | 2009 | Observational study | n = 6 |
| Neural Correlates of Dream Lucidity Obtained from Contrasting Lucid versus Non-Lucid REM Sleep: A Combined EEG/fMRI Case Study Experienced lucid dreamers | 2012 | Observational cohort | n = 4 |
| Real-time dialogue between experimenters and dreamers during REM sleep. Individuals during REM sleep, including frequent lucid dreamers, a novice, and a... | 2021 | Observational study | n = 36 |
| Lucid Dreaming in Narcolepsy Consecutive patients with narcolepsy and healthy controls | 2015 | Case-control study | n = 106 |
| Metacognitive Mechanisms Underlying Lucid Dreaming Human participants split into high- and low-lucidity groups based on reported dream... | 2015 | Observational cohort |
Citations in the library
Cites 31
- Dreaming as mind wandering: evidence from functional neuroimaging and first-person content reports. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 2013
- Questionnaires and diaries as research instruments in dream research: Methodological issues. Dreaming March 1, 2002
- The threat simulation theory in light of recent empirical evidence: A review The American Journal of Psychology April 1, 2009
- Dreaming during the Covid-19 pandemic: Computational assessment of dream reports reveals mental suffering related to fear of contagion PLoS One November 30, 2020
- Spotlight on dream recall: the ages of dreams Nature and Science of Sleep 2018
and 26 more in the library