Emotions Before, During, and After Dreaming Sleep

Calvin Kai-Ching Yu
Hong Kong Shue Yan University

The aim of this study was to provide a preliminary overview of the emotions
before, during, and after dreaming sleep in Chinese people. One hundred
Chinese participants were included in the study. Cheerful emotions, including
interest, exhilaration, and enjoyment, were pervasive in the collected dreams,
although anxiety was also a common type of emotion. Positive correlations
were found between the intensities of dream, presleep, and postsleep emo-
tions. Significant reductions in intensity were noted in the analyses of emo-
tions preceding dreaming sleep versus emotions following dreaming sleep.
KEY WORDS: affect regulation, Chinese, dream emotions, presleep mood, postsleep
mood

Some researchers believe that dreaming serves an adaptive function in the form of
emotional-cognitive integration (Ellman & Weinstein, 1991; Hartmann, 1996, 1998a,
1998b) or affect regulation (Cartwright, 1986, 1991; Greenberg & Pearlman, 1993;
Kramer, 1993). On the strength of his clinical observations, Kramer (1993) developed
the Selective Mood Regulatory Theory of Dream Function. The theory asserts that
dreaming can function as a vehicle for the regulation of affect by engaging emotional
concerns and disturbing feelings. Two routes of dream processing in reaction to
unresolved problems are proposed in this model. The “progressive sequence” route
resolves emotional problems by working through them step by step and by comparing
them to previous challenges that at some point or another, the dreamer triumphs over
the problem. On the other hand, the “repetitive sequence” route repeats unresolved
problems metaphorically without necessarily making any progress. If the mood regu-
latory theory is true, affective experiences preceding, during, and following dreaming
sleep should be one way or another connected with each other.

EMOTIONS IN DREAMS

Congruent with the affect regulation theory, the narrative content of dreaming
seems to have a significant bias toward threatening elements and perhaps toward
negative emotions. This belief is built upon abundant empirical evidence

Calvin Kai-Ching Yu, Department of Counseling and Psychology, Hong Kong Shue Yan Univer-
sity, Hong Kong.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Calvin Kai-Ching Yu, Department
of Counseling and Psychology, Hong Kong Shue Yan University, 10 Wai Tsui Crescent, Braemar Hill
Road, North Point, Hong Kong. E-mail: calyu2000@hotmail.com

73
Dreaming Copyright 2007 by the American Psychological Association
2007, Vol. 17, No. 2, 73– 86 1053-0797/07/$12.00 DOI: 10.1037/1053-0797.17.2.73
74 Yu

(Revonsuo, 2000). In an early normative study by Hall and Van de Castle (1966),
it was found that 80% of emotions in dream reports were negative and 20% were
positive. Around half of the negative emotions experienced by the dreamers were
classified as “apprehension,” and the other half were made up of “sadness,”
“anger,” and “confusion.” The most frequent type of social interaction that was
reported to occur in dreams was aggression. About 45% of the dreams in the
normative sample contained at least one aggressive interaction. Dreamers were
involved in about 80% of the aggressive interactions in their dreams, and when they
were involved, they were more often the victims than the aggressor (see Domhoff,
1996, for a review).
Although early quantitative content analyses were in favor of the negativism of
dreaming, accumulated evidence subsequently demonstrated that this was not
necessarily the case. The extensive data collection by Strauch and Meier (1996)
illustrated that positive and negative emotions were balanced in dreams. Similar
findings have been documented by other researchers (e.g., Kahn & Hobson, 2002;
Schredl & Doll, 1998; Stepansky et al., 1998). Kahn and Hobson (2002) also
suggested that positive and negative emotions were balanced for both sexes.
Similarly, Stairs and Blick’s (1979) analysis of dream diaries produced by under-
graduates found no significant gender differences in the emotional content of
dreams. Moreover, their analysis indicated that interest, fear, surprise, enjoyment,
and distress were the most prominent dream emotions, whereas anger, shame,
disgust, and contempt were the least prominent affects.

PRESLEEP AND DREAM EMOTIONS

The effect of presleep mood on dream emotions is perhaps best characterized

by the continuity hypothesis of dreaming. Much empirical work has been devoted
to figuring out the relationships between waking emotional experience and night
dreaming. Cohen’s (1974a) early investigation found that negative presleep mood
was associated with unpleasant dreams. This led the author to postulate that
presleep mood influences the salience of the dream experience and its ability to be
recalled. Echoing Cohen’s salience hypothesis, a wide range of evidence suggests
that dream recall becomes more frequent when negative emotions are involved,
regardless of whether such emotions arise from dreaming or waking (e.g., Cooper,
1999; De Gennaro et al., 2003; McNamara, Andresen, Clark, Zborowski, & Duffy,
2001; Nielsen, Ouellet, Warnes, & Cartier, 1997; Punamäki, 1997; Schredl & Doll,
1998; Wolcott & Strapp, 2002).
A number of comparable assertions founded on the correlation between
negative waking emotional experience and night dreaming have been proposed in
the past few decades. For instance, increases in dreaming are related to stressful
events or upsets (Cartwright, 1979). Presleep stress heightens arousal and affective
experience during dreaming sleep (Goodenough, Witkin, Lewis, Koulak, & Cohen,
1974). Recurrent dreams are manifestations of general psychological discomfort
(Robbins & Houshi, 1983). This latter assertion was based on the findings that the
most common type of recurrent dream is an anxiety dream of being threatened or
pursued, and recurrent dreamers tend to have more personal problems and physical
symptoms, and higher scores on the Beck Depression Inventory than do individuals
Emotions and Dreaming Sleep 75

without recurring dreams (Robbins & Houshi, 1983). These findings were more or
less replicated in a later study (Duke & Davidson, 2002), which also suggested that
the experience of emotional stress is a critical factor in the onset, frequency, and
persistence of recurrent dreams. Interestingly, the reverse is perhaps also true.
Individuals who typically experience pleasant dreams generally experience more
positive emotions and fewer negative emotions than individuals who typically
experience unpleasant dreams (Kallmeyer & Chang, 1998).
The continuity hypothesis of dream functioning, which suggests a connection
between waking experience and night dream imagery, may also apply to clinical
conditions. The dreams of depressed patients exhibit themes of depression (e.g.,
death themes) more often (Schredl & Engelhardt, 2001). Aggression toward the
dreamer is more common in anxious-neurotic outpatients (Gentil & Lader, 1978).
Patients with narcolepsy experience a higher frequency of dream recall and more
dreams that are negative in affect (Schredl, 1998).

DREAM AND POSTSLEEP EMOTIONS

According to Kramer and Brik (2002), it is the affect in dream reports that
associates most often with both presleep and postsleep mood. In Kramer’s series
of sleep laboratory experiments which required subjects to rate their mood
before and after sleep, he argued that mood altered throughout the night along
with changes in dream content (Kramer & Barasch, 2000; Kramer & Brik, 2002;
Kramer & Roth, 1980). Along this train of thought, Kramer’s clinical studies
furthermore demonstrated that affects manifested in dreams reported by pa-
tients altered over the course of psychotherapy, corresponding to their clinical
progress (Glucksman & Kramer, 2004; Kramer & Glucksman, 2006). Specifi-
cally, Kramer and Glucksman (2006) investigated the valence of affect in the
first and last manifest dream reports of patients who had completed psychoan-
alytically oriented psychotherapy. The valence of affect in dream reports be-
came more positive during the course of treatment—from 19.2% in the first
manifest dream report to 53.3% in the last. According to the authors, this shift
in dream report affect valence reflects the psychological improvement in waking
life. This finding appears to be consistent with the mood regulatory theory of
dreaming in view of the dramatic synchronization between waking and dream-
ing affect valence. However, the psychological improvement does not necessar-
ily signify the “carry over” effect of dream emotions on waking mood, but
instead it is a consequence of the treatment process.
Similar evidence for the mood regulatory function of dreaming can be found in
Cartwright’s line of research (e.g., Cartwright, 1996; Cartwright, Baehr, Kirkby,
Pandi-Perumal, & Kabat, 2003; Cartwright, Luten, Young, Mercer, & Bears, 1998;
Cartwright, Newell, & Mercer, 2001; Cartwright, Young, Mercer, & Bears, 1998).
For instance, Cartwright et al.’s (2003) study of patients with depression showed
that the variation of remission could be partly explained by the degree of overnight
reduction in depressed mood following interruptions of REM sleep and the quality
of dream reports from these awakenings.
76 Yu

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

As outlined above, the continuity between presleep experience and night dream
imagery has received considerable attention. There are also studies that investigated
emotions during dreaming and correlated the dream emotions with those after sleep.
Most of these studies focused on a specific type of emotion (e.g., depression) rather
than general emotional patterns before and after dreaming sleep. Moreover, there has
thus far been no systematic study about dream emotions in Chinese culture, although
a few Asian studies have been conducted (e.g., Domhoff, Nishikawa, & Brubaker,
2004; Fiske & Pillemer, 2006; O’Nell & O’Nell, 1977; Schwitzgebel, Huang, & Zhou,
2006; Shimizu & Inque, 1986; Takeuchi, Miyasita, & Inugami, 1996; Yamanaka, Morita,
& Matsumoto, 1982; Yu, 2006). In view of these, the present study investigated the
affective experiences preceding, during, and following dreaming sleep in Chinese
participants. It is hypothesized that if the theory of affect regulation is correct, dream
emotions may have some “carry over” effect on postsleep mood, and the emotions
following dreaming sleep are perhaps less intense than those preceding dreaming sleep.

METHOD

Participants

A total of 100 Chinese participants from Hong Kong constituted the current
sample. The sample included 26 male and 74 female participants, with a mean age
of 24.68 years (SD ⫽ 7.26, range ⫽ 11–50).

Design

Participants’ dream recall frequency, general dream experience, and general con-
cept and misunderstandings concerning dreams were clarified in the initial interview.
All participants were required to report at least one nocturnal sleep and dream
experience (up to three nights, dependent on their availability) subsequent to the initial
interview. Along with the dream diary, instruction on dream recall techniques was
provided to the participants to increase their ability to remember dreams. Apart from
the dream report, the participants were required to fill in an inventory of their emotions
and other relevant information preceding, during, and following each sleep. Degree
and type of presleep affect, dream affect, and morning mood were measured. In
contrast to the previous research, which focused on the negative aspect of emotion, in
particular depression, the current study aimed to explore general emotions of both
positive and negative types in relation to dreaming sleep.

Materials

Dream Diary

The Most Recent Dream Report (Domhoff, 1996) was adopted as guidance for
participants to report their dreams. In addition, questions about each human
Emotions and Dreaming Sleep 77

sensation were probed after participants described their dream contents, for in-
stance, “Did you really see anything in your dream?” (see Appendix). By adopting
follow-up questions, participants’ dream experiences were clarified and four con-
ditions were distinguished: (1) they had dreamed, (2) they claimed that they did not
have any dreams, (3) they had dreamed but had forgotten the dream content, and
(4) they did not remember whether they had dreamed or not.

Dream Recall Instruction

Guidelines were provided to the participants for aiding their dream recall. The
instruction included seven steps, including, for instance, lying still while going over
the dream, and hovering between sleeping and waking. Details about the dream
recall instruction are available in Yu (2006).

15 Discrete Emotion Scale

In addition to the dream report protocol and the dream recall instruction, an
inventory was established for measuring the participants’ emotions during waking
and dreaming. Three sources of reference are Izard (1977); Izard, Libero, Putnam,
and Haynes (1993), and Huang and Guo (2001). Izard (1977) suggested that there
were 10, relatively exhaustive, types of human emotions, including interest, enjoy-
ment/joy, surprise, distress/sadness, anger, disgust, contempt, fear, shame/shyness,
and guilt. Izard, Libero, Putnam, and Haynes (1993) later offered 12 emotions in
their Differential Emotions Scale (DES-IV). The inventory used for the current
study contained 15 emotion types in addition to the item “other” in the inventory.
Shame and shyness were separated, and types including exhilaration, excitement,
jealousy, and anxiety were added. In completing the inventory, the participants
used a 10-point scale, from 0 (none) to 10 (the highest) to indicate the intensity of
each emotion. In addition, the participants needed to describe and briefly explain
the emotions that they identified as corresponding with their waking and dreaming
experiences. The participants were required to assess their emotional states imme-
diately before and after sleep as well as during dreaming, using the scale (postsleep
mood was measured immediately after the dream ratings).

Analyses

The current analyses were based primarily on the first nocturnal experience of
the participants because the frequencies of some emotion categories in the second
and third nights were insufficient for running statistical analyses (e.g., no report of
“jealousy” in the third night). However, essentially similar patterns of affect va-
lence and changes in emotions across waking and sleeping states were captured in
all three nights.
78 Yu

RESULTS

Presleep, Dream, and Postsleep Emotions

Seventy-nine of the 100 participants reported a dream experience for the night
immediately after the initial interview. Seventy-three could provide detailed con-
tents of their dreams (DreamRecall), while six could not, although they were aware
of their dream experience (DreamAware). Fifteen participants claimed to have no
dreams (No Dream). Six were uncertain whether they had dreamed or not (Un-
certain).
The presleep affective state of the participants was characterized by a trend of
positive moods. Eighty-one percent of the participants described their feelings as
enjoyable (see Table 1). This most frequent emotion was followed by the emotional
categories Exhilaration and Interest. Anxiety was also a common type of presleep
emotion, experienced by 38% of the participants. On the other hand, Contempt,
Shyness, Shame, and Jealousy were four categories that were rarely reported by the
participants.
The affective experiences during the dreaming and postsleep states were very
much reminiscent of the presleep pattern of emotions. No single emotion-free
dream was found among the collected dreams on either the interview reports or
the 15 Discrete Emotion Scale. The cheerful emotions, including Interest, Enjoy-
ment, and Exhilaration, and the negative emotion Anxiety were the leading cate-
gories of dream emotion. Enjoyment was almost invariably the most frequent
emotion in the presleep, dream, and postsleep reports, while the frequencies of the
emotional categories Shyness and Shame were consistently low across all states.
The prevalence of positive emotions repeated in the dream and postsleep reports
reflect high consistency in the pattern of emotions. It is worth noting that, with the
exceptions of Enjoyment and Surprise, the frequencies of all postsleep emotions
were lower than both their presleep and dreaming counterparts. In particular, six of
the presleep versus postsleep discrepancies reached significance, including Exhila-

Table 1. Frequencies of Presleep, Dream, and Postsleep Emotions

Emotions Presleep (N ⫽ 100) Dream (N ⫽ 75) Postsleep (N ⫽ 100)
Interest 51 47 (62.7%) 35
Exhilaration 53 44 (58.7%) 25
Enjoyment 81 40 (53.3%) 45
Surprise 32 41 (54.7%) 35
Distress 17 19 (25.3%) 15
Anger 19 13 (17.3%) 8
Disgust 30 17 (22.7%) 15
Contempt 9 7 (9.3%) 7
Fear 21 25 (33.3%) 20
Shame 12 4 (5.3%) 3
Shyness 9 5 (6.7%) 1
Guilt 11 11 (14.7%) 10
Excitement 24 26 (34.7%) 10
Jealousy 9 6 (8.0%) 4
Anxiety 38 31 (41.3%) 23
Other 8 10 (13.3%) 3
Note. % ⫽ Valid Percent; Three most frequent emotions are bolded.
Emotions and Dreaming Sleep 79

ration ( p ⬍ .01), Enjoyment ( p ⬍ .01), Disgust ( p ⬍ .05), Shame ( p ⬍ .05), Shyness

( p ⬍ .05), and Excitement ( p ⬍ .05).
The 15 discrete emotional categories were classified into three major groups of
emotions: positive emotions (Interest, Exhilaration, and Enjoyment), negative
emotions (Distress, Anger, Disgust, Contempt, Fear, Shame, Shyness, Guilt, Jeal-
ousy, and Anxiety), and neutral emotions (Surprise and Excitement). Although the
number of the negative emotional categories was a triple of the number of the
positive emotional categories, the ratio for the frequencies of the positive and
negative emotions reported were balanced across presleep (Positive : Negative :
Neutral ⫽ 1 : 0.95 : 0.30), dreaming (1 : 1.05 : 0.51), and postsleep states (1 : 1.01
: 0.43).
Similar circumstances were identified by the intensities of the emotions, which
were indicated by the mean scores (see Table 2). The mean scores of Enjoyment
were highest in both presleep (4.62) and postsleep (2.06) reports. The emotional
category Interest had the highest mean score (3.01) in the dream reports. On the
other hand, Shyness and Shame had the lowest mean scores, implying that these
were the two least prominent affects throughout the presleep, dreaming and
postsleep states. In general, the participants seemed to experience stronger emo-
tions during dreaming than before sleep. Ten of the 15 emotional categories showed
higher mean scores during dreaming than prior to sleep. The mean scores of all 15
postsleep emotions were lower than the presleep and dreaming counterparts. There
were no obvious discrepancies between the Dream Recall, Dream Aware, No Dream,
and Uncertain groups with respect to the aforementioned affective patterns ac-
cording to their mean scores of the presleep, dream, and postsleep emotions.

Correlations of Emotions Before, During, and After Dreaming Sleep

Although the correlations between the intensities of the emotions preceding

dreaming and sleep and the intensities of emotions during dreaming were signifi-
cant, the correlations between the intensities of emotions during dreaming and the
intensities of the emotions immediately following dreaming sleep were far more
obvious, with high correlation coefficients and significant levels (Table 3). All of
these correlations were positive.

Changes in Emotion Before and After Dreaming Sleep

The Wilcoxon signed-ranks test of the emotions preceding dreaming sleep

versus the emotions following dreaming sleep indicated that the participants
experienced significant emotional changes in 13 (86.67%) of the 15 discrete
emotion types (excluding the category Other; see Table 4). The Distress and
Contempt types were exceptions and did not reach significance. All changes, as
indicated by the corresponding mean scores before and after sleep, were char-
acterized by a reduction in intensity, and with more negative ranks postsleep
across the 15 types of emotion. For instance, with regard to Interest, 37
respondents experienced less interested feelings after dreaming sleep as com-
pared to the level of interest experienced prior to sleep (a negative rank), while
80 Yu

Table 2. Presleep, Dream, and Postsleep Emotion Mean Scores Between Different Dream Groups
(N ⫽ 100)
Emotions DreamRecall DreamAware Total
Presleep interest 2.77 ⫾ 3.129 3.67 ⫾ 3.204 2.73 ⫾ 3.117
Dream interest 3.10 ⫾ 3.005 0.00 ⫾ 0.000 3.01 ⫾ 3.007
Postsleep interest 2.15 ⫾ 2.717 0.00 ⫾ 0.000 1.65 ⫾ 2.504
Presleep exhilaration 2.89 ⫾ 3.191 2.00 ⫾ 3.098 2.61 ⫾ 3.094
Dream exhilaration 2.71 ⫾ 2.951 3.00 ⫾ 4.243 2.72 ⫾ 2.953
Postsleep exhilaration 1.04 ⫾ 1.989 0.00 ⫾ .000 0.86 ⫾ 1.809
Presleep enjoyment 4.78 ⫾ 2.931 4.83 ⫾ 3.371 4.62 ⫾ 3.031
Dream enjoyment 2.93 ⫾ 3.177 0.00 ⫾ .000 2.85 ⫾ 3.170
Postsleep enjoyment 2.19 ⫾ 2.680 1.00 ⫾ 1.673 2.06 ⫾ 2.755
Presleep surprise 1.34 ⫾ 2.376 3.33 ⫾ 3.724 1.38 ⫾ 2.420
Dream surprise 2.92 ⫾ 3.139 0.00 ⫾ 0.000 2.84 ⫾ 3.132
Postsleep surprise 2.22 ⫾ 2.835 0.00 ⫾ 0.000 1.66 ⫾ 2.606
Presleep distress 0.55 ⫾ 1.590 0.50 ⫾ 1.225 0.49 ⫾ 1.432
Dream distress 1.11 ⫾ 2.366 1.00 ⫾ 1.414 1.11 ⫾ 2.340
Postsleep distress 0.63 ⫾ 1.875 0.50 ⫾ 1.225 0.51 ⫾ 1.642
Presleep anger 0.71 ⫾ 1.671 0.33 ⫾ 0.816 0.76 ⫾ 1.804
Dream anger 0.90 ⫾ 2.274 0.00 ⫾ 0.000 0.88 ⫾ 2.248
Postsleep anger 0.33 ⫾ 1.472 0.50 ⫾ 1.225 0.36 ⫾ 1.508
Presleep disgust 1.19 ⫾ 2.032 1.50 ⫾ 3.674 1.19 ⫾ 2.168
Dream disgust 1.10 ⫾ 2.439 0.00 ⫾ 0.000 1.07 ⫾ 2.412
Postsleep disgust 0.73 ⫾ 2.335 1.67 ⫾ 3.204 0.82 ⫾ 2.359
Presleep contempt 0.18 ⫾ 0.733 1.17 ⫾ 2.401 0.23 ⫾ 0.908
Dream contempt 0.55 ⫾ 1.826 0.00 ⫾ 0.000 0.53 ⫾ 1.803
Postsleep contempt 0.34 ⫾ 1.565 0.17 ⫾ 0.408 0.27 ⫾ 1.347
Presleep fear 0.75 ⫾ 1.913 1.67 ⫾ 2.875 0.93 ⫾ 2.157
Dream fear 2.19 ⫾ 3.377 0.00 ⫾ 0.000 2.13 ⫾ 3.350
Postsleep fear 1.56 ⫾ 2.981 1.17 ⫾ 2.858 1.23 ⫾ 2.696
Presleep shame 0.44 ⫾ 1.500 0.17 ⫾ 0.408 0.40 ⫾ 1.371
Dream shame 0.11 ⫾ 0.542 0.00 ⫾ 0.000 0.11 ⫾ 0.535
Postsleep shame 0.05 ⫾ 0.468 0.83 ⫾ 2.041 0.11 ⫾ 0.665
Presleep shyness 0.27 ⫾ 1.017 0.00 ⫾ 0.000 0.26 ⫾ 0.960
Dream shyness 0.22 ⫾ 0.975 0.00 ⫾ 0.000 0.21 ⫾ 0.963
Postsleep shyness 0.00 ⫾ 0.000 0.00 ⫾ 0.000 0.01 ⫾ 0.100
Presleep guilt 0.45 ⫾ 1.365 0.50 ⫾ 1.225 0.42 ⫾ 1.273
Dream guilt 0.55 ⫾ 1.625 0.00 ⫾ 0.000 0.53 ⫾ 1.605
Postsleep guilt 0.26 ⫾ 0.850 0.83 ⫾ 2.041 0.27 ⫾ 0.897
Presleep excitement 1.45 ⫾ 2.688 1.50 ⫾ 3.674 1.19 ⫾ 2.505
Dream excitement 1.71 ⫾ 2.705 0.00 ⫾ 0.000 1.67 ⫾ 2.683
Postsleep excitement 0.53 ⫾ 1.582 0.00 ⫾ 0.000 0.40 ⫾ 1.371
Presleep jealousy 0.34 ⫾ 1.346 0.17 ⫾ 0.408 0.33 ⫾ 1.264
Dream jealousy 0.25 ⫾ 1.024 0.00 ⫾ 0.000 0.24 ⫾ 1.011
Postsleep jealousy 0.14 ⫾ 0.751 0.00 ⫾ 0.000 0.11 ⫾ 0.650
Presleep anxiety 2.15 ⫾ 3.012 2.33 ⫾ 3.011 2.02 ⫾ 2.916
Dream anxiety 2.44 ⫾ 3.420 3.50 ⫾ 2.121 2.47 ⫾ 3.387
Postsleep anxiety 1.68 ⫾ 3.166 2.33 ⫾ 3.615 1.39 ⫾ 2.906
Presleep other 0.56 ⫾ 2.108 0.83 ⫾ 2.041 0.50 ⫾ 1.904
Dream other 0.82 ⫾ 2.207 0.00 ⫾ 0.000 0.80 ⫾ 2.181
Postsleep other 0.21 ⫾ 1.054 0.00 ⫾ 0.000 0.15 ⫾ 0.903
Note. Total was calculated based on all DreamRecall, DreamAware, No Dream, and Uncertain sub-
groups.

only seven felt more interested (a positive rank) and seven were unchanged (a
tied rank). Along the same lines, in all 15 emotion types, more respondents
rated 0 (a complete absence of the type of emotion) after dreaming than before
Emotions and Dreaming Sleep 81

Table 3. Correlations Between Emotions Before, During, and After Dreaming Sleep
Emotions Before and during dreaming During and after dreaming
Interest rs ⫽ 0.41, p ⬍ .0001 rs ⫽ 0.41, p⬍ .0001
Exhilaration rs ⫽ 0.29, p ⬍ .05 rs ⫽ 0.43, p⬍ .0001
Enjoyment rs ⫽ 0.25, p ⬍ .05 rs ⫽ 0.45, p⬍ .0001
Surprise rs ⫽ 0.26, p ⬍ .05 rs ⫽ 0.53, p⬍ .0001
Distress rs ⫽ 0.49, p ⬍ .0001 rs ⫽ 0.57, p⬍ .0001
Anger rs ⫽ 0.30, p ⬍ .01 rs ⫽ 0.48, p⬍ .0001
Disgust rs ⫽ 0.17, p ⫽ .148 rs ⫽ 0.43, p⬍ .0001
Contempt rs ⫽ 0.24, p ⬍ .05 rs ⫽ 0.82, p⬍ .0001
Fear rs ⫽ 0.24, p ⬍ .05 rs ⫽ 0.83, p⬍ .0001
Shame rs ⫽ 0.08, p ⫽ .496 rs ⫽ 0.28, p⫽ .814
Shyness rs ⫽ 0.27, p ⬍ .05 —
Guilt rs ⫽ 0.11, p ⫽ .353 rs ⫽ 0.55, p⬍ .0001
Excitement rs ⫽ 0.32, p ⬍ .01 rs ⫽ 0.45, p⬍ .0001
Jealousy rs ⫽ 0.29, p ⬍ .05 rs ⫽ 0.71, p⬍ .0001
Anxiety rs ⫽ 0.47, p ⬍ .0001 rs ⫽ 0.75, p⬍ .0001
Other rs ⫽ 0.33, p ⬍ .01 rs ⫽ 0.34, p⬍ .01
Note. The frequency of Shyness after dreaming is too low to calculate correlation.

sleep. For example, if we look to Interest once again, 49 participants scored 0

before dreaming, and 65 participants rated 0 after dreaming. Other examples
included the Anxiety scale with 62 ratings of 0 before dreaming and 77 after, the
Disgust scale with 70 before, and 85 after, and the Excitement scale with 76
before, and 90 after. These findings, of more negative ranks than positive, and
greater numbers of 0 ratings after dreaming indicate that all categories of
positive and negative emotions invariably decreased in intensity upon waking
from dreaming sleep, as compared to the emotions experienced the preceding

Table 4. Changes in Emotion Before and After Dreaming Sleep (First Night)
Mean Mean
before after
Emotion dream dream Wilcoxon signed ranks/sign test
Interest 5.35 2.57 Z ⫽ 5.06; p ⬍ .0001 (37 negative ranks; 7 positive ranks; 7 ties)
Exhilaration 4.92 1.58 Z ⫽ 5.18; p ⬍ .0001 (43 negative ranks; 3 positive ranks; 7 ties)
Enjoyment 5.70 2.28 Z ⫽ 7.06; p ⬍ .0001 (68 negative ranks; 7 positive ranks; 6 ties)
Surprise 4.31 2.38 Z ⫽ 2.49; p ⬍ .05 (19 negative ranks; 10 positive ranks; 3 ties)
Distress 2.88 2.29 p ⫽ .12 (11 negative ranks; 4 positive ranks; 2 ties)
Anger 4.00 1.26 p ⬍ .05 (15 negative ranks; 4 positive ranks; 0 ties)
Disgust 3.97 1.33 Z ⫽ 3.25; p ⬍ .001 (25 negative ranks; 4 positive ranks; 1 ties)
Contempt 2.56 1.11 p ⫽ .13 (6 negative ranks; 1 positive ranks; 2 ties)
Fear 4.43 2.43 Z ⫽ 2.24; p ⬍ .05 (15 negative ranks; 4 positive ranks; 2 ties)
Shame 3.33 0.75 p ⬍ .05 (10 negative ranks; 2 positive ranks; 0 ties)
Shyness 2.89 0.11 p ⬍ .01 (9 negative ranks; 0 positive ranks; 0 ties)
Guilt 3.82 0.91 p ⬍ .05 (9 negative ranks; 1 positive ranks; 1 ties)
Excitement 4.96 1.04 Z ⫽ 3.94; p ⬍ .0001 (22 negative ranks; 2 positive ranks; 0 ties)
Jealousy 3.67 1.00 p ⬍ .05 (8 negative ranks; 1 positive ranks; 0 ties)
Anxiety 5.32 3.00 Z ⫽ 3.40; p ⬍ .001 (27 negative ranks; 8 positive ranks; 3 ties)
Other 6.25 0.63 p ⫽ .07 (7 negative ranks; 1 positive ranks; 0 ties)
Note. Mean scores were calculated by excluding the participants who had no experience of the
corresponding emotions.
82 Yu

day. The marked reduction in intensity of emotions appeared to be applicable

to both DreamRecall and DreamAware subgroups (see Table 2).
The current analyses were based mainly on the first nocturnal experience of
the participants because the frequencies of some emotion categories in the second
and third nights were insufficient for running statistical analyses. However, the
valence of affect observed in the second and third nights were very much reminis-
cent of those in the first night. For instance, the same tendency of decrease in
emotional intensity was evident when the second night was examined, although
fewer items reached significance due to the lower frequencies of some emotion
categories (see Table 5).

DISCUSSION

It should be at the outset noted that the repetitive measurement of emotions,

recording dream contents and emotions in the morning with brief delays, and
measuring postsleep mood immediately after the dream ratings can threaten the
validity of the current results due to practice effects. It can be argued that partic-
ipants’ ratings of emotions in one condition (e.g., postsleep) are potentially mod-
ulated by their ratings of emotions in the preceding condition (e.g., dreaming).
Nevertheless, this study provides encouragement for the crosscultural gener-
alization of empirical evidence on dream emotions. In line with the overwhelming
evidence accumulated in the West, this Chinese study suggested that the conscious
experience of dreaming is emotional in nature. Feelings were pervasive in the
collected dreams, and no single emotion-free dream was found. The participants
experienced more robust emotions during dreaming than before and after sleep.
According to Stairs and Blick’s (1979) study of Western college students, the
emotions of interest, fear, surprise, enjoyment, and distress were the most promi-
nent in dreams, while anger, shame, disgust, and contempt were the least prominent
dream emotions. Interestingly, the Chinese participants shared a similar pattern of

Table 5. Changes in Emotion Before and After Dreaming Sleep (Second Night)
Mean before Mean after Wilcoxon signed ranks/
Emotion dream dream sign test
Interest 5.35 3.06 Z ⫽ 3.03; p ⬍ .01
Exhilaration 5.42 2.94 Z ⫽ 2.99; p ⬍ .01
Enjoyment 5.93 2.77 Z ⫽ 4.21; p ⬍ .0001
Surprise 4.73 2.60 p ⫽ .27
Distress 2.17 0.17 p ⫽ .06
Anger 3.50 0.92 p ⬍ .01
Disgust 4.00 1.14 p ⬍ .001
Contempt 3.00 0.00 p ⫽ .13
Fear 3.30 0.90 p ⬍ .05
Shame 3.67 1.17 p ⫽ .38
Shyness 3.33 1.17 p ⫽ .06
Guilt 4.00 2.67 p ⫽ .22
Excitement 5.82 2.06 p ⬍ .001
Jealousy 2.83 0.67 p ⫽ .22
Anxiety 3.84 0.89 p ⬍ .001
Other 6.60 1.20 p ⫽ .06
Note. Mean scores were calculated by excluding the participants who had no experience of the
corresponding emotions.
Emotions and Dreaming Sleep 83

dream emotions. This suggests that there is no substantial cultural difference in the
types of emotions that are typically experienced in dreams.
Moreover, the cheerful emotions, including interest, enjoyment, and exhil-
aration, were almost invariably the most frequent and intense emotions in the
dream reports, although the negative emotions like anxiety and fear were also
common. This prevalence of positive emotions is in stark contrast to the findings
of some quantitative content analyses (e.g., Domhoff, 1996; Hall & Van de
Castle, 1966), and Revonsuo’s (2000) proposition that dream content is biased
toward negative elements and emotions. Perhaps the mechanism of dreaming
tends to select events or elements imbued with strong emotions, which are not
necessarily negative. In an intriguing study, Schredl and Doll (1998) analyzed
emotions in diary dreams using three approaches to measure dream emotions:
dream intensity rated by the dreamer, intensity rated by a judge, and scoring of
explicitly mentioned emotions. Only in the case of external raters’ estimates did
negative emotions outweigh positive ones. This clearly shows that the external
rating method potentially underestimates positive affects. In the same vein, the
studies which used the external rating method (e.g., McCarley & Hobson, 1979;
Kramer & Brik, 2002) found far lower frequencies of affects in dream reports
than the studies which asked subjects explicitly to rate the affects in their
dreams (e.g., Foulkes, Sullivan, Kerr, & Brown, 1988; Howe & Blick, 1983;
Stairs & Blick, 1979; Strauch & Meier, 1996).
The prevalence of positive emotions in dreams was also observable in waking
states, reflecting high consistency in the pattern of emotions. Positive correlations were
noted between the intensities of dream, presleep, and postsleep emotions. These
findings are consistent with a hypothesis of continuity across dreaming and waking
states. However, the intensities of emotions during dreaming were correlated more
strongly with the intensities of the emotions immediately following dreaming sleep than
with those preceding dreaming sleep. While daytime emotions are not necessarily
directly associated with subsequent dream emotions, the emotions dreamers experi-
ence may extend to subsequent waking hours, albeit probably not of the same intensity.
There is an overwhelming body of evidence maintaining that dream content tends to
reflect the current emotional problems of the dreamer (e.g., Domhoff, 1996; Hartmann,
1998a, 1998b; Kramer, 1993). Nevertheless, emotions in dreams are not invariably
reminiscent of presleep moods. This may point to the dynamic nature of the association
between presleep and dreaming affect valence.
The participants typically found that such emotions experienced in dreams and
upon waking quickly dissipated to the extent that they felt almost “nothing” or
“peaceful” by the time they left their beds. The decrease in emotional intensity was
evident. Significant reductions in intensity were noted in the analyses of emotions
preceding dreaming sleep compared to emotions following dreaming sleep. Al-
though it is far too conclusive to suggest that sleep and dreaming have an effect in
reducing psychological distress and other negative psychological consequences
induced by real-life troubles and trauma, a lot of researchers have put forth
propositions that center on the notion that dreaming may have functional signifi-
cance for the regulation of emotion (Cartwright, 1996; Cartwright et al., 2003;
Cartwright, Luten et al., 1998; Cartwright et al., 2001; Cartwright, Young et al.,
1998; Cohen, 1974b; Hartmann, 1995, 1996, 1998a, 1998b; Maquet & Franck, 1997;
Nofzinger et al., 1997, 1999; Wu, Buchsbaum, & Bunney, 1999; Wu et al., 2001). It
84 Yu

seems that if the theory that dreaming sleep performs some kind of emotional
regulation function is correct, sleep regulates moods in general; that is, it calms both
positive and negative emotional upheaval.

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APPENDIX

DREAM DIARY

Did you dream last night?

If yes:
We would like you to write down the dream. But first please tell us the date this dream
occurred: __________________. Then tell us what time of day you think you recalled it:
__________________. Then tell us where you were when you recalled it:
___________________________________________.
Please describe the dream exactly and as fully as you remember it. Your report should
contain, whenever possible: a description of the setting of the dream, whether it was familiar
to you or not; a description of the people, their age, sex, and relationship to you; and any
animals that appeared in the dream. If possible, describe your feelings during the dream and
whether it was pleasant or unpleasant. Be sure to tell exactly what happened during the
dream to you and the other characters. Continue your report on the other side and on
additional sheets if necessary (Domhoff, 1996).

1. Did you really see anything in your dream?

2. Did you really hear anything in your dream?

3. Did you speak in your dream?

4. Did someone speak to you in your dream?

5. Did you experience anything in or on your body in your dream?

6. Did your body move in your dream?

7. Did you smell anything in your dream?

If no:
Do you think that you did dream last night even though you no longer remember any
dream details this morning?

1. I did not have any dreams;

2. I had dreamed but had forgotten the dream content;

3. I did not remember whether I had dreamed or not.