Assessing dreams through self-report questionnaires: Relations with past research and personality.
Daniel M. Bernstein, Brent W. Roberts
Dreaming March 1, 1995 DOI: 10.1037/h0094420 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Measures | Five Factor Model (FFM) personality ratings |
| Citations | 45 |
| Key findings | Self-reported dream themes and character were mostly consistent with Hall and Van De Castle's (1966) norms from dream diaries and laboratory reports. Agreeable participants reported more dream characters, and participants open to experience reported more unfamiliar dream characters. The authors present this as preliminary support for retrospective self-report questionnaires as measures of dream content. |
Abstract
A questionnaire approach to investigating dream content was developed and compared to personality ratings of the Five Factor Model (FFM). The themes and overall character of self-reported dreams were examined to determine whether they differed markedly from the dream norms obtained by Hall and Van De Castle (1966). Findings were mostly consistent with past norms obtained from dream diary reports and laboratory reports. Some significant correlates between personality and dream content were found. For example, agreeable subjects reported more dream characters, while subjects who were open to experience reported more unfamiliar dream characters. The findings offer preliminary support for the use of retrospective, self-report questionnaires as measures of dream content.