Dreaming, Vol.
10, No. 2, 2000
The
Consistency and Continuity Hypotheses
Revisited
through the Dreams
of
Women at Two Periods of their Lives
Monique
Lortie-Lussier
Lucie
Côté & Julie Vachon
School
of Psychology
University
of Ottawa - Canada
Monique Lortie-Lussier, Ph.D.
School of Psychology,
University of Ottawa,
l45 Jean-Jacques Lussier,
C.P. 450, Station A,
Ottawa (Ontario) K1N 6N5 Canada
Abstract
The purpose of the present longitudinal study
was to determine the extent of consistency in dream content at two periods of
adulthood as well as continuity with the psychosocial development of the
dreamers. Twenty-one women kept a dream
diary for a few weeks at intervals of 10, 15 or 17 years. ANOVAs for repeated measures were performed
on the mean frequencies per dreamer of different dream elements or ratios of
these elements. No significant changes
were found. Pearson moment correlations
yielded high and significant internal consistency for friendly and aggressive
interactions. None of the others were
significant. Ratios and indices
calculated on subclasses of characters, settings, interactions and emotions
revealed significant deviations from female norms, at one or the other of the
phases. These different findings are
discussed within the theoretical perspective of continuity with developmental
stages in women=s lives.
KEYWORDS: dream content - longitudinal - consistency -
continuity - women
The continuity and consistency hypotheses are
mainstays of Calvin Hall=s
cognitive theory of dreams (Hall, 1953a, 1953b). Continuity refers to the relationship between concerns expressed
in dreams and a person=s concerns
and conceptions in the waking state.
Consistency, to the repetition of the same elements in a person=s dream over a long period of time. Based on quantified regularities and patterns
in the manifest content of home collected dreams, these hypotheses provided
Hall with empirical foundations to explore the meaning of dreams. The continuity hypothesis has been
extensively tested to compare, for instance, groups of people or to verify
specific hypotheses about the functions of dreams. There is considerable evidence that dreams incorporate waking
concerns (see Domhoff, (1996), Lortie-Lussier, De Koninck & Roy (1994), and
Van de Castle (1994) for reviews).
In contrast, consistency has not benefited from
similar scholarly interest although Hall made the analysis of long dream series
a major focus of his research in the 1950s and 1960s and found support for this
hypothesis. A laboratory study of REM
dreams by Kramer and Roth (1979) provides additional evidence in support of
it. The reported study will reexamine
this notion within the perspective of continuity.
Domhoff (1996) sums up the major findings of
these studies, including some by Hall that had never been published
before. He states: AThere is considerable consistency of dream
content in categories with large frequencies@ (i.e. hundreds) (...), while there are Asometimes changes in some content categories in
each series that make sense in terms of the person=s altered life circumstances@ (p. 131).
Domhoff identifies three forms of consistency. It can be absolute when the frequency of a class or classes of
dream elements remains the same; relative when the proportions of certain
elements are stable. It can also take
the form of developmental regularity, defined as patterned increases or
decreases of certain elements over prolonged periods. While relative consistency is the most frequently encountered
form of consistency, followed by absolute constancy, developmental regularity
is a rare occurrence. Closer
examination of the findings reported by Domhoff (1996) suggests that each kind
of consistency is dependent upon the nature of the dream elements. Absolute constancy prevails mainly for broad
categories such as characters, including the percentage of human characters,
single or plural, male and female. These large categories represent in fact the
building blocks of most dream narratives in any given population of
adults. Breakdowns into subclasses of
characters, such as immediate family, known characters or strangers, suggest
that the other kinds of consistency, relative and developmental, reveal the
individual signature of dream content.
The findings of the long dream series, to which
Kramer and Roth=s (1979)
laboratory study added controlled evidence, show that dream elements reoccur
over time in recognizable, if not always similar patterns. What are their implications with respect to
the individualized elaboration and construction of dreams, apart from
dismissing the notion that they are random and chaotic combinations of
images? Taking into account the
premises Hall built his theory of the meaning of dreams upon, how does
consistency relate to continuity?
Considering the person in the waking state, is dream consistency the
reflection of crystallized preoccupations and conceptions that evolve little
over time? If so, the dreamer could
then be thought of as a writer who keeps rewriting the same novel or play all
over again, with only minor variations.
Such a deterministic view of what we dream about and how we construct
our dreams is not in keeping with stage theories of developmental change over
the life cycle presented by Erikson (1982); Jung (1933); and Neugarten
(1979). The interface of consistency
and continuity is therefore an issue that warrants further research.
One approach would be to conduct more long
dream series research, at the condition dreamers supply the kind of relevant
psychological information lacking in past studies (Domhoff, 1996). Such investigations would yield the large
data base necessary to obtain significant statistical results. Orienting research in that direction would
not, however, dispel concerns about the influence of a possible practice effect
of keeping a dream diary.
The present longitudinal study proposes an
alternative approach, based on a comparison of dreams reported by women at two
different periods of their lives. To
our knowledge, this type of study has never been done before. Its objective is to determine the degree and
form of consistency as well as changes in dream content over time, in view of
the changes that took place in the dreamers= lives, at intervals of 10, 15 or 17
years. The sample consists of 21 women
who had taken part in earlier studies conducted at the University of Ottawa
(Lortie-Lussier, Schwab & De Koninck, 1985; Rinfret, Lortie-Lussier &
De Koninck, 1991; Sirois-Berliss & De Koninck, 1982). What the sample lacks in size is compensated
by substantial biographical information collected at both phases of the
project, and by the record of activities and events on the days before dreams
were reported. Diary keeping was in
each instance spread over a few weeks.
None of the participants kept dream diaries.
Continuity was the focus of the original
investigations in which these women participated. Dreams were analysed with Hall and Van de Castle=s (1966) coding system and various other
scales, while their themes were reconstructed from certain dream elements for
the purpose of our theory-driven investigations. They focused alternately on menstrual stress among university
students (Sirois-Berliss & De Koninck, 1982), on the influence of social
roles on the dreams of professionally active mothers compared to those of
housewives (Lortie-Lussier et al., 1985) or of single university students
(Rinfret et al., 1991). Continuity with
waking life was reflected by the characters with whom dreamers interacted, by
self-conceptions and concerns about significant others mainly drawn from the
family and/or professional environment.
Support for the continuity hypothesis was also drawn from studies which
examined the influence of age (Côté, Lortie-Lussier, Roy, & De Koninck,
1996; Lortie-Lussier & Delorme, 1990), consistent with earlier investigations
by Brenneis (1974) and Howe and Blick (1983).
Côté et al.=s (1996) study, which compared the dreams of
three groups of women ranging in age from the middle 20s to the middle 50s, is
of particular relevance for the present one.
Findings can be summarized as follows.
There were no significant differences among the groups in manifest dream
content relative to most of Hall and Van de Castle=s categories.
Some differences among the age groups were found though. For example, the activity level and
participation of the dreamers in their dreams increased as a function of
age. After the three groups were
collapsed into two, below and above 40 years, additional differences were
identified. They included greater
autonomy and achievement striving among the older group, but less emotions and
less negative dream outcomes. These
changes were congruent with the findings of
the longitudinal study of the Mills College graduates, which was based
on stage theories of adult development.
From the second half of the 30s on, these women were found to become
more independent and dominant, to have more adaptative skills, and to integrate
masculine characteristics (Helson & Moane, 1987; Helson & Wink, 1992;
Helson, Stewart & Osgrove,
1995). The
present study is in a sense a follow up of that one which concluded that Athe impact of age on dreams remains an
unsettled issue. It would be of the
greatest interest to
conduct longitudinal studies of dreams, parallel to
those of Helson, in order to identify and assess dream commonalities among
different cohorts@ (Côté et
al., 1996, p. 198).
Turning to predictions for the present
exploratory investigation, some degree of consistency is expected, regardless
of the interval between the two periods, as was found in long dream
series. Following the logic of
continuity, however, we also expect to find changes in the dreams of our
participants as they reach the age range when changes in waking development are
assumed to take place. The changes,
consistent with those observed by Côté et al (1996), would include a decrease
in emotions and negative dream outcomes, an increase in the participation level
of the dreamer and in her autonomy.
Method
Participants
With the help of the Alumni Office of the
University of Ottawa, 69 of the 102 French Canadian graduates who took part in
one of our earlier investigations were sent invitations in the mail to
participate in the second phase of the project. Eleven letters did not reach
destination. Despite repeated attempts
to sustain the motivation of those who had difficulty recalling their dreams,
nine volunteers dropped out, leaving 21 participants who completed all the
requirements of the study. All this to
explain the small size of the sample.
The composition of the sample takes into
account the age of the participants, at phases 1 and 2 of dream collection and
the interval between these phases. The
mean age of the participants at phase 1 was 29 years, at phase 2, 44. At phase 2, the seven women who were between
the ages of 30 and 39, had kept a dream diary in 1977-1978 for the
Sirois-Berliss and De Koninck (1982) study or in 1985-1986 for the Rinfret et
al. (1991) one. The intervals for them
were therefore 17 and 10 years, respectively.
Ten women were between 40 and 49, four between 50 and 55. Their original dreams were collected in
1981-1982 for the Lortie-Lussier et al.=s (1985) and Rinfret et al.=s (1991) projects, with an interval of 15
years.
The personal information questionnaire for the
second phase of the study included questions about general health, sleep
habits, actual and past employment, major life events and changes since their
first participation. The sample is remarkably homogeneous in many respects. All the participants were or had been
married, including three divorcees who had new spouses. All, but one, had children. All women were gainfully employed at phase
2. The majority had been trained in
traditionally feminine or gender-neutral university programs, such as humanities,
education, psychology and connected fields.
A number of them worked in administrative positions. A few were lawyers and physicians. Among the oldest women, four were looking
forward to early retirement, in order to pursue more challenging activities. Many reported the death of parents and
siblings in recent years. Apart from
the deaths of loved ones, no recent major crisis was reported.
Data Collection
Dream diary forms for three days and the personal information questionnaire were
mailed to each participant along with a request to return the material in a
prepaid envelope within a month. The
standard dream diary procedure (Hall & Van de Castle, 1966) was
explained. Participants were asked to
date their dreams and mention the day of the menstrual cycle. A consent form was signed by all
participants.
Dream content measures
Two or three dream reports per subject per
phase were content analysed, for a total of 117 dreams, 55 for phase 1 and 62
for phase 2. The dreams had to be from
different nights and contain a minimum of 60 words and a maximum of 300. A combination of scales and categories was
used. They included Hall and Van de
Castle=s (1966) categories
for characters (with the addition of subclasses for spouses/boyfriends, and
co-workers), settings, emotions, aggressive and friendly interactions. Emotions were scored only for the dreamer as
character, as were the participation (Foulkes, Larson, Swanson & Rardin,
1969) and autonomy (Lortie-Lussier et al., 1985) scales which were used in Côté
et al.=s (1996) study. The hedonic tone of the dream (Foulkes,
Spear & Symonds, 1966) was also rated.
Thematic analysis of the dream narratives was
done as well. Themes were classified
as: family, spouse/boyfriend, work/studies, friends, others (which include
bizarre dreams based on strange, nonhuman or fantastic characters, actions and
settings or dreams related to the past).
The classification was achieved through the identity of the characters,
settings, action and events. If the dreamer
faced a problem in the dream, the resolution, or outcome, was scored as
positive, negative, or neutral.
The scoring for 100 of the dreams was done by
the same two judges as in the study by Côté et al. (1996). Interjudge reliability was calculated for
each dream element, including the thematic elements. The percentage of perfect
agreement was in all instances above 89%, and within the range of 94% and 100%
in most cases. One of these judges
scored the remaining 17 dreams which were returned after the other judge was
unavailable.
Results
Different statistical analyses were performed
in order to assess the consistency of the various dream elements at phase 1 and
phase 2 of the investigation. First,
ANOVAs for repeated measures were done on the mean frequencies per dreamer of
the selected variables. Mean
frequencies and standard deviations of all the Hall and Van de Castle (1966)
categories, mean scores of the autonomy (Lortie-Lussier & al, 1985) and
participation (Foulkes et al., 1969) scales are presented on Tables 1 and
2. The ANOVAs yielded no significant
changes on any of these variables. It
should be noted that the mean frequencies of negative emotions and aggressions
were lower at phase 2, and the mean scores of autonomy higher, consistent with
expectations.
Insert
Tables 1 and 2
In addition, percentages and ratios were
calculated to correct for differences in dream length. They concern subclasses of the following
categories: characters, settings, aggressive and friendly interactions,
emotions, hedonic tone and
outcomes. Their means and standard
deviations are presented on Table 3.
The results of the ANOVAs performed on these ratios and percentages show
no significant changes either.
Insert
Table 3 here
Additionally, Pearson product moment
correlations were done on these percentages and ratios in order to assess the
degree of internal consistency among dreamers between the two phases. Their coefficients are presented on Table 3. The coefficients reached significance for
aggressions over all characters, (r(20) = .48, p < .05) and friendly
interactions over all characters (r(20) = .48, p < .05). None of the others were significant. The ratio of positive outcomes over all
outcomes had the highest, but not significant, correlation coefficient (r(5) =
.65).
Despite the small size of the dream sample,
another analysis was performed to compare certain elements of the dreams with
the Hall and Van de Castle (1966) norms for female college students. It concerns characters, settings,
aggression, friendliness and emotions.
The calculation of these ratios was done on the total of dreams
collected at phase 1 (N = 55) and at phase 2 (N = 62). Cohen=s (1977) test of significance for differences
between independent samples yielded significant differences from the norms for
the following ratios at one or/and of the two phases. At phase 1, adult characters percent (h = -.42 p = .001),
outdoors settings percent (h = -.37 p < .01), and aggression with all
characters percent (h = .23 p < .01) were significantly lower than the
norms. At phase 2, the unfamiliar
settings percent (h = .42 p < .01) was significantly higher than the norms
whereas the adult characters percent (h = -.31 p = .001), aggression percent (h
= -.47
p < .001), aggression with all characters (h = .38
p < .001) and dreamer=s negative
emotions percent (h = .-28 p < .02) were all significantly
lower. The male percent and friendly
interactions index were the only ones not to differ significantly from the
norms at either phase. Figure 1
illustrates the pattern of deviations from the norms.
Table 4 presents the percentages of dreams
according to their main themes.
Insert
Table 4 here
Discussion
The present study was undertaken to examine the
relationship between the consistency of dreams collected from the same women at
intervals of 10, 15, or 17 years and their continuity with concerns assumed to
have undergone changes in the meantime.
Based on the findings of long dream series, some degree of consistency
was expected, but changes were predicted as a function of aging. While the results of the ANOVAs performed on
all the selected variables indicate stability of dream content over time for
the group as a whole, the variations in the correlation coefficients of dream
ratios suggest that stability is a matter of degree, depending on the dream
dimension. These findings are congruent
with those of the long dream series. On
the other hand, support for continuity can be derived from changes in the
expected direction for a few variables, as well as for the dream themes. Moreover, deviations from the female norms
at one and/or the other phase of the study suggest continuity with psychosocial
changes in female adulthood. In view of
the small set of data and of the different statistical procedures we adopted,
discussion of our findings commands a cautious approach. It will focus first on consistency.
The correlations relative to the identity of
the dreams protagonists, settings, emotions and hedonic tone show variations
across dreams and/or dreamers. They
reached significance only in the case of the percent of interactions, friendly
and aggressive, with all characters.
This is an example of relative consistency that could be interpreted as
a reflection of the personality coherence of the dreamers. Although the high correlation for positive
dreams outcomes was not significant, due probably to the small number of
dreamers who reported dreams with problems to solve, it is an interesting finding,
suggestive of consistent coping strategy.
Apart from these instances of consistency, our findings are hardly
comparable to those of the individual dream series, in which the frequencies of
certain content categories were in the hundreds. Methodologically speaking, our longitudinal study fell short of
one of its objectives.
Turning to the continuity hypothesis, how do
these results relate to the developmental changes that had been reflected in
those of the women, aged 25 to 55 years, who had participated in the Côté et
al.=s (1996) study? Before discussing them, it should be noted that during the first
phase of the study a third of the participants were single and just entering
adulthood, while the others were in their 30s and early 40s. By phase 2, the younger dreamers were in
turn in their 30s. The mix of ages, in
such a small and highly homogeneous sample, may have offset the influence of
age, and inherent developmental changes, on dream content, since these changes
are not necessarily linear. For
instance, the non significant decrease in emotions, aggressions, and number of
friends, and the increase in autonomy and frequency of coworkers might have
reached significance, had the sample been larger.
The comparison of selected indices with the
Hall and Van de Castle norms for female college students provides indicators of
the influence of age and of continuity with waking experience. The patterns of deviations from the norms
include significantly lower ratios of negative emotions and aggressions, and
adult percent and, on the other hand, a significantly higher percent of unfamiliar
settings. These tendencies to a
developmental regularity continuous with waking life are consistent with the
statistically significant findings in the Côté et al.=s study (1996). The decrease in emotions and aggression had then been interpreted
as reflecting greater personal and social competence, and the increase in
unfamiliar settings as indicating masculinity orientation. Not only are these findings meaningful in
terms of age, but also in terms of concerns linked to social roles. Changes are noticeable in the themes of the
dreams, which focus more often at phase 2 on work-related issues than at phase
1 and less on intimate or romantic involvement with spouse and/or
boyfriend. Family related issues, however,
constitute the main themes of the dreams at both phases, suggesting the lasting
influence of the parental role.
These findings concur with the tenets of stage
theories of development throughout adulthood, for which Helson (Helson &
Moane, 1987; Helson et al., 1995; Helson & Wink, 1992) had found empirical
support. Increased masculinity
orientation, independence, and adaptive
skills emerging in the course of the 30s and accentuated later on, result in
waking life not only from the influence of external factors, or life circumstances,
but also from the intrapsychic dynamics of
change toward maturity. As an
answer to the question raised in the conclusion of the Côté et al=s (1996) investigation, these changes might be
reflected in the dreams of women, as they advance in age, irrespective of
cohorts. The relatively small number of
dreams collected here prevented finding stronger evidence for the kind of
developmental regularity Domhoff (1996) described and that is suggested here. In combination, relative consistency and
significant deviations from female norms show that consistency does not exclude
variability.
The findings of the present study broaden the
examination of consistency and its relation with continuity. They legitimate pursuing longitudinal studies
with different groups of dreamers, as a complement to studies of individual
long dream series. Such studies should
focus on factors that might account for consistencies and variations across
groups. Better, they should also
attempt to differentiate intrapersonal consistency as an individual
characteristic, from consistency as a characteristic of cohorts. To do so, it would be necessary to identify
more clearly the dream elements and dimensions that are most sensitive to
individual and developmental changes.
The present findings, combined with earlier ones (Brenneis, 1975; Côté
et al, 1996; Howe & Blick, 1983), suggest that interactions, aggressive
ones particularly, emotions and outcomes fall within those dimensions. Results related to the aggression index are
a point in case. The high correlation
between its measure at the two phases, combined with the increasing deviation
from the female norms is a phenomenon that we have attributed tentatively to
aging, better, to the progression toward maturity. Other studies may provide a more definitive answer to this
issue. The dynamics of continuity and
change throughout adult life have been the object of developmental theories worth
transposing to dreaming. Although the
Hall and Van de Castle (1966) classification system is an invaluable starting
point for orienting research in this direction, additions might be useful in
order to test theories concerning continuity between waking and dreaming. Adding categories borrowed from other
researchers or devising specific categories, as we did, may help develop a
better theoretical understanding of consistency and its patterning in dream
content. But they first and foremost
are likely to be useful in finding developmental regularities that relate to
new stages in adult development.
Table 1
Mean Frequencies, Standard Deviations of Characters,
Settings and Interactions as a Function of Phases
Phases
|
|
Phase 1
|
|
Phase 2
|
|
Dream
variables
|
M SD
|
|
M SD
|
|
Characters
|
|
|
|
|
Males
|
1.08 (0.70)
|
|
1.07 (0.62)
|
|
Females
|
1.08 (0.69)
|
|
1.23 (0.68)
|
|
Adults
|
2.31 (1.20)
|
|
2.44 (1.24)
|
|
Children
|
0.65 (0.70)
|
|
0.53 (0.50)
|
|
Spouses
|
0.33 (0.30)
|
|
0.31 (0.30)
|
|
Friends
|
0.27 (0.34)
|
|
0.14 (0.27)
|
|
Coworkers
|
0.36 (0.43)
|
|
0.55 (0.69)
|
|
Family
|
0.89 (0.84)
|
|
0.90 (0.83)
|
|
Total
|
3.12 (1.33)
|
|
3.18 (1.37)
|
|
Settings
|
|
|
|
|
Indoors
|
0.87 (0.32)
|
|
0.79 (0.48)
|
|
Outdoors
|
0.26 (0.37)
|
|
0.34 (0.30)
|
|
Familiar
|
0.61 (0.37)
|
|
0.60 (0.43)
|
|
Unfamiliar
|
0.38 (0.52)
|
|
0.40 (0.49)
|
|
Interactions
|
|
|
|
|
Total aggressions
|
0.48 (0.40)
|
|
0.31 (0.37)
|
|
Total friendly
|
0.70 (0.56)
|
|
0.80 (0.78)
|
Table 2
Mean Frequencies or
Scores and Standard Deviations of Dream Variables Scored for the Dreamer as
Character, as a Function of Phases
Phases
|
|
Phase 1
|
|
Phase 2
|
|
Variables
|
M SD
|
|
M SD
|
|
Emotions
|
|
|
|
|
Joy
|
0.42 (0.50)
|
|
0.42 (0.57)
|
|
Negative Emotions
|
1.10 (0.86)
|
|
0.91 (0.62)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Participation a)
|
3.40 (0.51)
|
|
3.47 (0.40)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Autonomy a)
|
0.60 (0.36)
|
|
0.71 (0.32)
|
a) The values are mean scores
Table 3
Means Scores and
Standard Deviations of Ratios and Indices of Dream Variables as a Function of
Phases and Pearson Correlations between Them
Phases
Phase 1 Phase
2
Ratios M SD M SD Pearson
ra
Characters
Males 0.50 (0.21) 0.47 (0.36) -
0.25
Females & Males
Children 0.22 (0.19) 0.18 (0.03) -
0.12
Children & Adults
Family 0.67 (0.14) 0.60 (0.15) -
0.18
Family & Coworkers
Settings
Unfamiliar 0.35 (0.36) 0.37 (0.35) 0.09
Total Settings
Outdoor 0.19 (0.23) 0.28 (0.23) 0.18
Total Settings
Residential 0.83 (0.25) 0.66 (0.46) 0.25
Residential & Work
Interactions
Aggression 0.45 (0.34) 0.32 (0.37) 0.32
Aggression & Friendly
Aggression 0.18 (0.21) 0.12 (0.18) 0.48
*
Total
Characters
Friendly 0.23 (0.20) 0.26 (0.23) 0.48
*
Total Characters
Emotions
Negative 0.73 (0.27) 0.77 (0.26) 0.24
Total emotions
Hedonic mode
Unpleasant
dreams 0.80 (0.30) 0.83 (0.27) 0.26
Pleasant & Unpleasant
Outcomes
Positive 0.83 (0.35) 0.39 (0.49) 0.65
Positive & Negative
* p < .05
Table 4
Percentages of the
main themes of the dreams, at phases 1 and 2
Themes Phase
1 Phase
2
__________________________________________________________________
Family 29% 32%
Spouse/boyfriend 22% 16%
Work/studies 15% 23%
Friends
9% 4%
Others 25% 24%
__________________________________________________________________
Figure 1
h - Profiles of the
Women=s Dreams,
at Phase 1 and Phase 2 Compared to the Female Norms.
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Author=s Note
Completion of this
research was possible thanks to a grant from the Faculty of Social Sciences of
the University of Ottawa.
Copyright ©2003 Association for
the Study of Dreams. All Rights Reserved