The Continuity between Waking Mood and Dream Emotions: Direct and Second-Order Effects

Abstract

Emotions are an integral part of dreaming. From the viewpoint of the continuity hypothesis, two areas are of interest: how are dream emotions affected by day-time mood and how do dream emotions affect subsequent waking life. Seventy-four participants kept a diary over a 2-week period recording daytime mood, emotional valence of daytime events, and their dreams. Confirming earlier findings, the present study demonstrated direct effects of waking life on dreams and of dream emotions on waking-life. Positive and negative effects of daytime events on dreams were reported equally often (i.e., emotional intensity and not emotional valence is important in determining whether daytime events affect dreams). An interesting finding was a second-order effect; that is, the intensity of the negative effects of daytime events on dream content predicts—in addition to emotional intensity of the dream—the effect of that dream on daytime mood. The findings fit in within the framework of the continuity hypothesis, and pursuing this approach might shed further light on the function of dreaming.