American psychologists from Arizona State University have proven that what we think about while awake is closely related to the content and features of our dreams. The study was published in the scientific journal magazine Scientific Reports (SciRep).
To examine the relationship between dreams and waking thoughts, researchers conducted an experiment with 719 teenagers. They had to download a smartphone app called “Mind Window” that allowed them to answer questions about their thoughts and feelings throughout the day for a week.
Psychologists have divided wakefulness thoughts into four categories: spontaneous thoughts without task- or stimulus-related thoughts, stimulus-dependent and task-irrelevant thoughts, task-dependent but stimulus-unrelated thoughts, and both stimulus- and task-related thoughts.
The most extraordinary finding of the study was the significant similarity between dreams and task-unrelated, specifically stimulus-independent, thoughts. Participants perceived their dreams as similar to these thoughts in terms of vividness, self-focus, and social content.
Additionally, scientists have found that task-unrelated thoughts, especially emotionally charged ones, are positively related to dream characteristics at the individual level. This suggests that people with more pronounced emotional problems while awake tend to experience the same emotional content both during sleep and during the day.
Another aspect showed that people who ruminated (repetitively and passively focusing on anxious thoughts) had more negative and abstract dreams. The experiment found that individuals who were brooding were more likely to have anxious dreams, especially when they were highly worried about global issues like the pandemic.
The study’s findings are consistent with the dream continuity hypothesis, which states that there is a fundamental connection between waking cognitive processes and dreams, implying that the thoughts, concerns, and experiences that people experience during their waking hours are often reflected in their nightly dreams.
Previous scientists refuted The myth about the dangers of using a smartphone before bed.