Empathy and frequency of answers to questions about dreams after September 11th.
Jerry Kroth, Stephanie Bush, Jennifer Frost, Asceneth Paez, Ronika Prakash, May Raft
Psychological Reports June 1, 2003 DOI: 10.2466/pr0.2003.92.3c.1065 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Correlational study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 31 |
| Population | Counseling graduate students and residents of the San Francisco Bay Area |
| Measures | KJP Dream Inventory, Emotional Empathy Scale |
| Keywords | Humans Empathy Dreams Terrorism Adult Female |
| Key points | Rated empathy correlated significantly with reported frequency of dream occurrence (.39), frequency of repetitive traumatic dreaming (.38), and frequency of dream discontentedness (.37) among 31 counseling graduate students and Bay Area residents following the September 11, 2001 attacks. The authors suggest highly empathic individuals may have reacted differently to the events than less empathic subjects. |
Abstract
The investigators sought to examine correlations for 31 men and women, counseling graduate students and residents of the San Francisco Bay Area and their relation to the attacks on the USA on September 11, 2001. Empathy and traumatic dream reports have been examined in studies primarily on relations between therapists and clients. Studies of the effects of traumatic events on empathy and on dreams have been minimal. It was hypothesized that highly empathic individuals might have reacted differently to these events than less empathic subjects. Using the KJP Dream Inventory and the Emotional Empathy Scale, rated empathy correlated significantly with reported frequency of dream occurrence (.39), frequency of repetitive traumatic dreaming (.38), and the frequency of dream discontentedness (.37).