A lucid dream (LD) is one in which the person in question realizes they are dreaming. If a dreamer can control their actions in a dream, they usually choose to engage in a pleasant activity: for example, flying or sex. Three scientists, including such well-known LD researchers as Michael Schredl, Remington Mallett, and Carla Fuchs, decided to analyze the emotions of people in ordinary dreams and LDs.
The authors studied the reports of one hundred volunteers. The results confirmed the conclusions that have been repeatedly suggested before: lucid dreams contain more positive emotions than ordinary ones. Accordingly, the plots of lucid dreams included fewer problematic situations: lucid dreamers were less often subjects to verbal aggression, and death themes were also less common.
The researchers add that lucid dream reports generally include fewer dream characters and less communication. This means that such dreamers usually choose activities that involve having fun by themselves.
In the future, the authors plan to supplement these results with larger dream content studies. In particular, they intend to compare the content of dreams and the emotional changes experienced by the dreamer before and after awareness in the same dream.
Do you usually have other people in your lucid dreams, or do you prefer to have fun alone?
The article was published in April 2022 in the journal Dreaming.
