Journal article 1832 views 203 downloads
Testing the Empathy Theory of Dreaming: The Relationships Between Dream Sharing and Trait and State Empathy
Frontiers in Psychology, Volume: 10, Start page: 1351
Swansea University Authors:
Mark Blagrove , Michelle Carr
, Alex Jones
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DOI (Published version): 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01351
Abstract
In general, dreams are a novel but realistic simulation of waking social life, with amixture of characters, motivations, scenarios, and positive and negative emotions.We propose that the sharing of dreams has an empathic effect on the dreamer andon significant others who hear and engage with the tel...
Published in: | Frontiers in Psychology |
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ISSN: | 1664-1078 |
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2019
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URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa50563 |
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Study 1 teststhree correlations that are predicted by the theory of dream sharing and empathy:that trait empathy will be correlated with frequency of telling dreams to others, withfrequency of listening to others’ dreams, and with trait attitude toward dreams (ATD)(for which higher scores indicate positive attitude). 160 participants completed onlinethe Toronto Empathy Questionnaire and the Mannheim Dream Questionnaire. Pearsonpartial correlations were conducted, with age and sex partialled out. Trait empathywas found to be significantly associated with the frequency of listening to the dreamsof others, frequency of telling one’s own dreams to others, and attitude towarddreams. Study 2 tests the effects of discussing dreams on state empathy, using anadapted version of the Shen (2010) state empathy scale, for 27 pairs of dream sharersand discussers. Dream discussion followed the stages of the Ullman (1996) dreamappreciation technique. State empathy of the dream discusser toward the dream sharerwas found to increase significantly as a result of the dream discussion, with a mediumeffect size, whereas the dream sharer had a small decrease in empathy toward thediscusser. A proposed mechanism for these associations and effects is taken fromthe robust findings in the literature that engagement with literary fiction can induceempathy toward others. We suggest that the dream acts as a piece of fiction thatcan be explored by the dreamer together with other people, and can thus induceempathy about the life circumstances of the dreamer. 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2020-10-22T13:41:02.1236829 v2 50563 2019-05-29 Testing the Empathy Theory of Dreaming: The Relationships Between Dream Sharing and Trait and State Empathy 8c78ee008e650b9f0a463bae56a5636c 0000-0002-9854-1854 Mark Blagrove Mark Blagrove true false 892af5142bbe0a6c3dbb1f26f325ab02 0000-0003-0399-0196 Michelle Carr Michelle Carr true false a24e1e2a89b0a9120fe03b481a629edd 0000-0003-3600-3644 Alex Jones Alex Jones true false 2019-05-29 PSYS In general, dreams are a novel but realistic simulation of waking social life, with amixture of characters, motivations, scenarios, and positive and negative emotions.We propose that the sharing of dreams has an empathic effect on the dreamer andon significant others who hear and engage with the telling of the dream. Study 1 teststhree correlations that are predicted by the theory of dream sharing and empathy:that trait empathy will be correlated with frequency of telling dreams to others, withfrequency of listening to others’ dreams, and with trait attitude toward dreams (ATD)(for which higher scores indicate positive attitude). 160 participants completed onlinethe Toronto Empathy Questionnaire and the Mannheim Dream Questionnaire. Pearsonpartial correlations were conducted, with age and sex partialled out. Trait empathywas found to be significantly associated with the frequency of listening to the dreamsof others, frequency of telling one’s own dreams to others, and attitude towarddreams. Study 2 tests the effects of discussing dreams on state empathy, using anadapted version of the Shen (2010) state empathy scale, for 27 pairs of dream sharersand discussers. Dream discussion followed the stages of the Ullman (1996) dreamappreciation technique. State empathy of the dream discusser toward the dream sharerwas found to increase significantly as a result of the dream discussion, with a mediumeffect size, whereas the dream sharer had a small decrease in empathy toward thediscusser. A proposed mechanism for these associations and effects is taken fromthe robust findings in the literature that engagement with literary fiction can induceempathy toward others. We suggest that the dream acts as a piece of fiction thatcan be explored by the dreamer together with other people, and can thus induceempathy about the life circumstances of the dreamer. We discuss the speculation thatthe story-like characteristics of adult human dreams may have been selected for inhuman evolution, including in sexual selection, as part of the selection for emotionalintelligence, empathy, and social bonding. Journal Article Frontiers in Psychology 10 1351 1664-1078 dreaming, empathy, social simulation, dream sharing, human bonding, human evolution and behavior, human consciousness, consciousness 30 6 2019 2019-06-30 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01351 COLLEGE NANME Psychology School COLLEGE CODE PSYS Swansea University 2020-10-22T13:41:02.1236829 2019-05-29T15:52:36.7672329 Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences School of Psychology Mark Blagrove 0000-0002-9854-1854 1 Sioned Hale 2 Julia Lockheart 3 Michelle Carr 0000-0003-0399-0196 4 Alex Jones 0000-0003-3600-3644 5 Katja Valli 6 0050563-24062019105013.pdf 50563.pdf 2019-06-24T10:50:13.3170000 Output 331107 application/pdf Version of Record true 2019-06-23T00:00:00.0000000 Released under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY). true eng https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
title |
Testing the Empathy Theory of Dreaming: The Relationships Between Dream Sharing and Trait and State Empathy |
spellingShingle |
Testing the Empathy Theory of Dreaming: The Relationships Between Dream Sharing and Trait and State Empathy Mark Blagrove Michelle Carr Alex Jones |
title_short |
Testing the Empathy Theory of Dreaming: The Relationships Between Dream Sharing and Trait and State Empathy |
title_full |
Testing the Empathy Theory of Dreaming: The Relationships Between Dream Sharing and Trait and State Empathy |
title_fullStr |
Testing the Empathy Theory of Dreaming: The Relationships Between Dream Sharing and Trait and State Empathy |
title_full_unstemmed |
Testing the Empathy Theory of Dreaming: The Relationships Between Dream Sharing and Trait and State Empathy |
title_sort |
Testing the Empathy Theory of Dreaming: The Relationships Between Dream Sharing and Trait and State Empathy |
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8c78ee008e650b9f0a463bae56a5636c 892af5142bbe0a6c3dbb1f26f325ab02 a24e1e2a89b0a9120fe03b481a629edd |
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8c78ee008e650b9f0a463bae56a5636c_***_Mark Blagrove 892af5142bbe0a6c3dbb1f26f325ab02_***_Michelle Carr a24e1e2a89b0a9120fe03b481a629edd_***_Alex Jones |
author |
Mark Blagrove Michelle Carr Alex Jones |
author2 |
Mark Blagrove Sioned Hale Julia Lockheart Michelle Carr Alex Jones Katja Valli |
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In general, dreams are a novel but realistic simulation of waking social life, with amixture of characters, motivations, scenarios, and positive and negative emotions.We propose that the sharing of dreams has an empathic effect on the dreamer andon significant others who hear and engage with the telling of the dream. Study 1 teststhree correlations that are predicted by the theory of dream sharing and empathy:that trait empathy will be correlated with frequency of telling dreams to others, withfrequency of listening to others’ dreams, and with trait attitude toward dreams (ATD)(for which higher scores indicate positive attitude). 160 participants completed onlinethe Toronto Empathy Questionnaire and the Mannheim Dream Questionnaire. Pearsonpartial correlations were conducted, with age and sex partialled out. Trait empathywas found to be significantly associated with the frequency of listening to the dreamsof others, frequency of telling one’s own dreams to others, and attitude towarddreams. Study 2 tests the effects of discussing dreams on state empathy, using anadapted version of the Shen (2010) state empathy scale, for 27 pairs of dream sharersand discussers. Dream discussion followed the stages of the Ullman (1996) dreamappreciation technique. State empathy of the dream discusser toward the dream sharerwas found to increase significantly as a result of the dream discussion, with a mediumeffect size, whereas the dream sharer had a small decrease in empathy toward thediscusser. A proposed mechanism for these associations and effects is taken fromthe robust findings in the literature that engagement with literary fiction can induceempathy toward others. We suggest that the dream acts as a piece of fiction thatcan be explored by the dreamer together with other people, and can thus induceempathy about the life circumstances of the dreamer. We discuss the speculation thatthe story-like characteristics of adult human dreams may have been selected for inhuman evolution, including in sexual selection, as part of the selection for emotionalintelligence, empathy, and social bonding. |
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2019-06-30T06:12:57Z |
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