Dream Behavior and Dream Content in Healthy Persons

Abstract

Dream-related behaviors like sharing dreams are best measured via questionnaires whereas dream content analysis provides information about dream content, for example, bizarreness of dreams, emotional tone of dreams. The main focus of this chapter is the so-called continuity hypothesis of dreaming, stating that dreams reflect the waking-life experiences of the dreamer. Research had identified factors that affect this continuity between waking and dreaming, for example, emotional intensity of the waking-life experience or the type of the waking-life activity (studying vs. meeting with friends). Also, gender differences in dream content seem to be continuous to gender differences found in waking life.