Dreams as the Expression of Conceptions and Concerns: A Comparison of German and American College Students
G. William Domhoff, Katrin Meyer-Gomes, Michael Schredl
Imagination, Cognition and Personality March 1, 2006 DOI: 10.2190/fc3q-2ymr-9a5f-n52m (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Comparative study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | College students in Germany |
| Keywords | Dream Parallels German Content measure theory Cognition Expression computer science Relation database |
| Citations | 37 |
| Key points | Argues that dream content in German college students is more similar than different to that of students in other industrialized democracies, supporting the idea that dreams reflect personal concerns rather than cultural differences. Proposes this continuity supports a cognitive theory of dreams. |
Abstract
Past research shows there are more similarities than differences in the dream content of college students in several industrialized democracies. This study uses new results from dreams collected in Germany to support this past finding and suggest that dreams are more similar than different because they dramatize people's conceptions and concerns in relation to personal issues, which probably do not vary as much from country to country as culture does. It is further argued that this continuity between dream content and waking concerns, when combined with other parallels between dreaming and waking cognition, can be used to develop a cognitive theory of dreams. In addition, suggestions for future research with college students in Germany, the United States, and other countries are presented as a way to link personal conceptions and cultural changes.
Citations in the library
Cited by 15
- Themes of Continuity International Journal of Dream Research 2011
- Dreams of Canadian Students Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology June 23, 2016
- Dream recall frequency and content in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy Epilepsia October 17, 2011
- Observer Dreams: Criteria and Frequency Journal of Sleep Research September 11, 2025
- Ontogenetic and Gender Dimensions in a Normative Study of the Dreams of Canadians uO Research 2017
and 10 more in the library
Cites 4
- REM Dreaming and Cognitive Skills at Ages 5-8: A Cross-sectional Study International Journal of Behavioral Development December 1, 1990
- Incorporation of concern- and nonconcern-related verbal stimuli into dream content. Journal of Abnormal Psychology February 1, 1981
- California Women and Their Dreams: A Historical and Sub-Cultural Comparison of Dream Content Imagination, Cognition and Personality September 1, 1990
- Linguistic Phenomena and Language Selection in the REM Dreams of German‐English Bilinguals International Journal of Psychology December 1, 1993