On the Psychometric Properties of Retrospective Dream Content Questionnaires
Daniel M. Bernstein, Kathryn Belicki
Imagination Cognition and Personality June 1, 1996 DOI: 10.2190/r1fr-yhf7-evg9-udjt (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Psychometric validation study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 106 |
| Population | University students |
| Duration | Fourteen-day dream diary, completed on two separate occasions |
| Measures | dream content questionnaire, fourteen-day dream diary, trait personality inventories, measures of spatial ability, measures of imaginativeness |
| Topics | Dreaming |
| Citations | 49 |
| Key points | The dream content questionnaire had acceptable reliability and discriminant and construct validity, whereas dream diary content was inconsistent over time and unrelated to personality traits. This diary inconsistency prevented adequate appraisal of the questionnaire's concurrent validity. The authors argue that measurement issues may explain prior problems mapping personality to dream content. |
Abstract
The present study examined the psychometric properties of retrospective questionnaires as measures of dream experience. One hundred and six university students filled out a dream content questionnaire and kept a fourteen-day dream diary on two separate occasions, in addition to completing two trait personality inventories and measures of spatial ability and imaginativeness. The dream content questionnaire's reliability was acceptable, as was its discriminant and construct validity. In contrast, dream diary content was inconsistent over time and unrelated to personality traits. The questionnaire's concurrent validity could not be adequately appraised due to this inconsistency in diary content. The results suggest that greater attention must be paid to the psychometric properties of all measures of dream content. In addition, prior problems with mapping the relationship between personality and dream content may be due to measurement issues.
Citations in the library
Cited by 18
- The relationship of nightmare frequency and nightmare distress to well‐being Journal of Sleep Research May 26, 2004
- Questionnaires and diaries as research instruments in dream research: Methodological issues. Dreaming March 1, 2002
- Dream content and personality: Thick vs. Thin boundaries. Dreaming December 1, 1999
- Dream content analysis: Basic principles heiDOK (Heidelberg University) 2010
- Phenomenal qualities of nightmare experience in a prospective study of college students. Dreaming June 1, 2002
and 13 more in the library
Cites 9
- Assessing dreams through self-report questionnaires: Relations with past research and personality. Dreaming March 1, 1995
- Jungian personality typology and the recall of everyday and archetypal dreams. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 1986
- California Women and Their Dreams: A Historical and Sub-Cultural Comparison of Dream Content Imagination, Cognition and Personality September 1, 1990
- Do Creative People Have More Bizarre Dreams? A Reconsideration Imagination, Cognition and Personality September 1, 1989
- The multiplicity of dreams: cognitive-affective correlates of lucid, archetypal, and nightmare dreaming. Perceptual and Motor Skills October 1, 1990
and 4 more in the library