Lucid Dreaming: A Diary Study

Abstract

Most studies looking into the relationship between lucid dream frequency and personality were based on questionnaire measures of lucid dream frequency. Thus, the aim was to investigate the effect of keeping a dream diary on lucid dream frequency and the correlates of the frequency of lucid dreams in the diary with the Big Five personality factors. The study included 1,612 dreams reported by 425 persons. The present findings showed that lucid dreams are quite rare (1.36%) in an unselected student sample. The frequency of lucid dream in the 2-week diary period was lower than the retrospectively estimated lucid dream frequency. Whereas the negative association between lucid dream frequency and agreeableness was reported previously, the negative correlation between lucid dream frequency and neuroticism is a new finding. Furthermore, the exploratory analysis showed that a considerable number of lucid dreams did not include some form of dream control. Furthermore, it would be very interesting to study the relationship between personality, especially neuroticism and agreeableness, and lucid dreaming in a more detailed way.