Determining the dreamer’s gender from a single dream report: a matching study

Judges can identify a dreamer's gender from a single dream report slightly better than chance, with correct rates between 57.5% and 64%. This accuracy is too low for reliable matching in individual cases, indicating that more dream material is needed for valid predictions. Female judges were more confident matching women's dreams correctly than men's dreams, a pattern not seen among male judges. The authors conclude that qualitative studies are needed to identify specific dream characteristics that improve matching accuracy.

Study at a glance

Abstract

In clinical praxis, the question as to whether it is possible – based on a dream report – to make any inferences about the characteristics of the dreamer often arises. For the present study, gender was selected for the matching task. The judges were able to match the dreamer’s gender based on a single dream report better than chance. The rate of correct decisions (57.5% to 64%), however, was not very high, so that a reliable matching for a single case is not possible. It must be concluded that even for simple characteristics more dream material is necessary to make a valid prediction. Interestingly, the female judges have been more confident in matching women’s dreams correctly than men’s dream; a findings which was not found for the male judges. Qualitative studies are necessary to identify specific dream characteristics that facilitate the correct matching.