‘No Man is an Island’: Effects of social seclusion on social dream content and REM sleep
2022 (English)In: British Journal of Psychology, ISSN 0007-1269, E-ISSN 2044-8295, Vol. 113, no 1, p. 84-104Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Based on the Social Simulation Theory of dreaming (SST), we studied the effects of voluntary social seclusion on dream content and sleep structure. Specifically, we studied the Compensation Hypothesis, which predicts social dream contents to increase during social seclusion, the Sociality Bias – a ratio between dream and wake interactions – and the Strengthening Hypothesis, which predicts an increase in familiar dream characters during seclusion. Additionally, we assessed changes in the proportion of REM sleep. Sleep data and dream reports from 18 participants were collected preceding (n = 94), during (n = 90) and after (n = 119) a seclusion retreat. Data were analysed using linear mixed-effects models. We failed to support the Compensation Hypothesis, with dreams evidencing fewer social interactions during seclusion. The Strengthening Hypothesis was supported, with more familiar characters present in seclusion dreams. Dream social interactions maintained the Sociality Bias even under seclusion. Additionally, REM sleep increased during seclusion, coinciding with previous literature and tentatively supporting the proposed attachment function for social REM sleep.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
John Wiley & Sons, 2022. Vol. 113, no 1, p. 84-104
Keywords [en]
compensation hypothesis, dreaming, REM sleep, social seclusion, Social Simulation Theory, adult, article, compensation, controlled study, human, human experiment, major clinical study, male, simulation, social interaction, theoretical study
National Category
Psychology Neurosciences
Research subject
Consciousness and Cognitive Neuroscience
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:his:diva-19971DOI: 10.1111/bjop.12515ISI: 000659241900001PubMedID: 34107065Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85107589070OAI: oai:DiVA.org:his-19971DiVA, id: diva2:1573002
Note
CC BY 4.0
© 2021 The Authors. British Journal of Psychology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Psychological Society
First published: 09 June 2021
2021-06-242021-06-242022-01-17Bibliographically approved