Sleep, Dreams and Affect: A study of How Post-Sleep Affect is Determined by Emotions in Dreams

Abstract

The function of dreams has been a topic of interest for researchers through decades. More recent research has devoted attention especially to the possible connection between dreams and affect. The results are optimistic in the direction towards a possible affect regulative function of dreams and dream sleep. The current study aimed to investigate the relationship between emotional dream content and immediate affect post-sleep. Sixty-one participants submitted self-report questionnaires of sleep measures, dream content and affective state (PANAS) for four subsequent mornings. The main findings suggest that negative emotional content in dreams is followed by an increase both positive and negative affect in the morning. Moreover, neutral emotional content in dream recall were associated with less affect in the morning. Dream recall itself did not seem to influence affect. The conclusion implies that other predictors and explanatory perspectives are favourable to include in future research.