The Role of Culture, Violence, and Personal Factors Affecting Dream Content
Raija-Leena Punamäki, Marja Joustie
Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology March 1, 1998 DOI: 10.1177/0022022198292004 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational cohort Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 205 |
| Population | Children aged 7-12 from Palestinian and Finnish groups |
| Duration | 7-day dream diary |
| Topics | Dreaming |
| Key findings | Living in a violent environment was associated with mundane, intensive, and vivid dreams incorporating persecution and aggression themes. Dreams of Palestinian children from Gaza had more external anxiety scenes, whereas Finnish children's dreams had more inner anxiety scenes. |
Abstract
The impact of culture, violent environment, gender, and age on dream content was studied among 205 children in three groups: a Palestinian group living in a violent environment (n = 80), and Palestinian (n = 45) and Finnish (n = 80) groups living in peaceful areas. They were matched for age (7-12) and gender. The method used was a 7-day dream diary in which the participants recorded the dreams they recalled every morning. Results showed that living in a violent environment affected dream content more than did culture and personal factors. The results confirmed our hypothesis that a violent and dangerous environment was associated with mundane, intensive, and vivid dreams incorporating persecution and aggression themes. As an indication of individualistic versus collective dream characteristics, results showed that the dreams of the Palestinian children from Gaza incorporated more "external scenes" of anxiety, whereas the Finnish children's dreams had more "inner anxiety scenes."
Comparable studies
Other observational and cohort studies on dreaming, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lucid Dreaming: a State of Consciousness with Features of Both Waking and Non-Lucid Dreaming Student volunteers trained to become lucid and signal lucidity with horizontal eye... | 2009 | Observational study | n = 6 |
| Nightmare Prevalence, Nightmare Distress, and Self-Reported Psychological Disturbance Young adults with a mean age of 20 years | 2002 | Prospective observational study | n = 116 |
| Long-term effects of extreme situational stress on sleep and dreaming Survivors of traumatic events who complained of sleep disturbances, compared with... | 1987 | Case-control study | n = 11 |
| The relationship of nightmare frequency and nightmare distress to well‐being Adults who reported dreams | 2004 | Observational cohort | n = 147 |
| The prevalence of nightmares and their independence from anxiety. Undergraduates | 1990 | Observational study using daily dream logs | n = 220 |
Citations in the library
Cited by 4
- War‐Related Dream Themes in Germany from 1956 to 2000 Political Psychology March 23, 2006
- Cognitive differences in dream content between Japanese males and females using quantitative content analysis. Dreaming July 24, 2017
- The threat simulation theory of the evolutionary function of dreaming: Evidence from dreams of traumatized children. Consciousness and Cognition March 1, 2005
- Complement to "ratio of male and female characters in a dream series". Perceptual and Motor Skills June 1998
Cites 3
- Dreaming and consciousness The European Journal of Cognitive Psychology 1990
- The Other as a Nightmare: The Israeli-Arab Encounter as Reflected in Children's Dreams in Israel and the West Bank Political Psychology September 1, 1989
- The Role of Culture in the Representation of Conflict in Dreams Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology December 1, 1991