Personality characteristics influencing archetypal dream recall in vivid dream types

Abstract

This study examined the overlap and differences among three classes of vivid dreams: nightmares, lucid dreams, and archetypal dreams, with special emphasis on archetypal dreams. Archetypal dreams, the least studied class of vivid dreams, were postulated by Jung, to contain material that arises from "collective" instinctual levels of the mind. In two separate experiments, information about the personality characteristics and psychological health of frequent vivid dreamers was also obtained. The primary target variables were Ego Strength, Psychosocial Development, Neuroticism, Daily Hassles, Life Events, Psychopathology, and Introversion/Extraversion. Participants (N = 228) in Experiment One completed self-report dream and personality measures, while participants in Experiment Two (n = 54) also completed a 30-day dream diary. The results of this study are consistent with Jung's observational findings that archetypal dreams and psychological health and growth are related. Specifically, Ego Strength, Self-Actualization, and Psychosocial Development were positively related to Archetypal Dream Recall; whereas Neuroticism, was found to be inversely related. Archetypal and everyday dream recall were found to be influenced by different factors, suggesting real differences in archetypal versus everyday dreams. Archetypal dreams were also found to have significantly more impact on the dreamer than everyday dreams. In addition, significant differences were found between vivid dream categories, as well as types of "overlap dreamers" (e.g. High Lucid Archetypal Dreamers; Neurotic High Archetypal Dreamers). This finding may have general implications for research of vivid dreams and vivid dreamers, Study results, relevance of the findings to the existing dream research literature, and proposals for future research were discussed. The findings of the present study suggest that archetypicality of dreams is clearly an important dimension of dreaming, which can be reliably related both to individual differences in the incidence or recall of dreams, and to similarities among the three classes of vivid dreams.