Frequency of dream sharing: the effects of gender and personality.

About 14.5% of dreams are shared, and how often people share dreams is independently linked to how often they recall dreams, how often they have nightmares, their attitude toward dreams, gender, extroversion, and thin psychological boundaries. Dream sharing typically occurs with romantic partners, friends, and relatives and is associated with greater relational intimacy and stress relief, especially for nightmares. The authors call for longitudinal studies to separate temporary from stable factors and to confirm the reported benefits of dream sharing on intimacy in relationships and friendships.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Although dreaming is a private experience, dream sharing is a common experience for most people. Dreams are disclosed to romantic partners, friends, and relatives, and the sharing is often associated with enhancement of relational intimacy and stress relief (e.g., in the case of nightmares). Research has focused on factors that might affect dream sharing such as dream recall frequency, gender, and emotional intensity of the dream. The present findings indicate that about 14.5% of the dreams were shared and that dream recall frequency, nightmare frequency, attitude toward dreams, gender, extroversion, and thin boundaries are associated independently with the frequency of dream sharing. Longitudinal studies are needed to differentiate between state factors and trait factors and to validate the self-reported positive effects of dream sharing on intimacy in romantic relationships and friendships.