scholarly journals Testing the Empathy Theory of Dreaming: The Relationships Between Dream Sharing and Trait and State Empathy

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Blagrove ◽  
Sioned Hale ◽  
Julia Lockheart ◽  
Michelle Carr ◽  
Alex Jones ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dream Sharing

Dream-Sharing and Human Self-Domestication

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Blagrove ◽  
Julia Lockheart
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Reactivity ◽  
Social Evolution ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Neural Mechanisms ◽  
The Social ◽  
Primary Driver ◽  
Group Members ◽  
Human Social Evolution ◽  
Dream Sharing ◽  
Experimental Findings

There are many theories of the function of dreams, such as memory consolidation, emotion processing, threat simulation and social simulation. In general, such theories hold that the function of dreams occurs within sleep; occurs for unrecalled dreams as well as for dream that are recalled on awakening; and that conscious recall of dreams is not necessary for their function to occur. In contrast, we propose that dreams have an effect of enhancing empathy and group bonding when dreams are shared and discussed with others. We propose also that this effect would have occurred in history and pre-history and, as it would have enhanced the cohesiveness and mutual understanding of group members, the fictional and engaging characteristics of dream content would have been selected for during human social evolution, interacting with cultural practices of dream-sharing. Such dream-sharing may have taken advantage of the long REM periods that occur for biological reasons near the end of the night. Dream-production and dream-sharing may have developed alongside story-telling, utilising common neural mechanisms. Dream-sharing hence would have contributed to Human Self-Domestication, held by many researchers to be the primary driver of the evolution of human prosociality, tolerance and reduced intragroup emotional reactivity. We note that within-sleep theories of dream function rely on correlational rather than experimental findings, and have as yet untested and speculative mechanisms, whereas post-sleep effects of dream-sharing are easily testable and have mechanisms congruent with the social processes proposed by the theory of Human Self-Domestication.

Dream sharing as social interaction.

Dreaming ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 111-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Vann ◽  
Neil Alperstein
Keyword(s):  
Social Interaction ◽  
Dream Sharing

Dream-sharing groups, spirituality, and community

1996 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-66
Author(s):  
Kelly Bulkeley
Keyword(s):  
Dream Sharing

scholarly journals DreamThrower: Creating, Throwing and Catching Dreams for Collaborative Dream Sharing

2010 ◽  
pp. 20-31
Author(s):  
Noreen Kamal ◽  
Ling Tsou ◽  
Abir Al Hajri ◽  
Sidney Fels
Keyword(s):  
Dream Sharing

Dream sharing and positive mental health in Iranian culture.

Dreaming ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 252-261
Author(s):  
Fahimeh Askari ◽  
Iran Davoudi ◽  
Abdolkazem Neysi ◽  
Yadollah Zargar
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Positive Mental Health ◽  
Dream Sharing

Sharing Dreams: Sex and other Sociodemographic Variables

2009 ◽  
Vol 109 (1) ◽  
pp. 235-238 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Schredl
Keyword(s):  
Social Class ◽  
Sociodemographic Variables ◽  
German Sample ◽  
Common Experience ◽  
Dream Sharing

Dream sharing is a common experience for most people. Factors which might be related to dream sharing in a representative German sample were investigated in the present study. As expected, the frequency of positively toned and neutral dreams and the frequency of negatively toned dreams were related to dream sharing. In addition, an effect of sex was found: women shared their dreams more often than men. Dream sharing differing by social class and education might point to class-specific attitudes toward dreams which have not yet been studied in detail.

Community Dream Sharing in Sausalito, California

1983 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 89-91
Author(s):  
John Van Damm
Keyword(s):  
Dream Sharing

‘That’s what the dream says’: The use of normalizing devices in dream reports

2021 ◽  
pp. 146144562110016
Author(s):  
Svetlana Bardina
Keyword(s):  
Discursive Construction ◽  
Contrast Structures ◽  
External Character ◽  
Everyday Interaction ◽  
Constructionist Approach ◽  
Dream Narratives ◽  
Dream Sharing

The paper examines the discursive construction of dream reports. Based on a discursive constructionist approach, the study reviews problematic aspects of constructing dream narratives. Particularly, dream-tellers need to display the external character of their reports and to demonstrate that – although in their dreams they saw and did strange things – they are normal and reliable agents. Subsequently, particular ways in which people report on unrealistic content of their dreams are explored. For this purpose, the use of normalizing devices in dream reports published on dream-sharing websites is analyzed. The study demonstrates that several normalizing devices, including contrast structures and two-part structures – such as ‘At first I thought X. . . but then I realized Y’ and ‘I was just doing X… when Y’ – are employed in dream reports. The study also suggests that the proper use of these devices might possibly contribute to the trustworthiness of dream reports in everyday interaction.

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