Dream recall frequency, attitude towards dreams and openness to experience.
Michael Schredl, Petra Ciric, Simon GÖtz, Lutz Wittmann
Dreaming September 1, 2003 DOI: 10.1023/a:1025369311813 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Lucid dreaming Dreaming |
| Keywords | Openness to experience Recall Psychoanalysis Cognitive psychology Psychotherapist Traditional medicine |
| Citations | 59 |
| Key findings | Confirms that openness-to-experience and thin boundaries correlate with dream recall frequency, but correlations are small. Attitude towards dreams and a scale measuring different aspects of dream recall show much larger correlations. Proposes that attitude towards dreams, not recall frequency, is part of a broader life style. |
Abstract
The question whether personality dimensions explain the interindividual differences in dream recall frequency has often been investigated by dream researchers. The present findings confirm previous research which has shown that traits such as openness-to-experience and thin boundaries correlate substantially with dream recall frequency. However, correlation coefficients are small and are much larger if attitude towards dreams or a scale measuring different aspects of dream recall are considered. Thus, future studies should consider the differentiation between items measuring dream recall and related aspects and items measuring attitudes towards dreams. Schonbar's life-style hypothesis should be revised slightly: not dream recall frequency but attitude towards dreams and the way to deal with dreams are part of a broader life style.