They may rarely predict future events, but most people believe they are meaningful- Kevin McKeever
SUNDAY, March 1 (HealthDay News) -- People worldwide subscribe to the belief that you are what you dream, concludes a new series of studies published in February's Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
"Psychologists' interpretations of the meaning of dreams vary widely," lead author Carey Morewedge, an assistant professor at Carnegie Mellon University, said in an American Psychological Association news release. "But our research shows that people believe their dreams provide meaningful insight into themselves and their world."
For example, 149 university students in the United States, India and South Korea in one survey largely agreed that hidden truths present themselves in their dreams, a theory a nationally representative sample of Americans also supports.
Dreams also affect how people act when they awake, another study found.
Not all dreams are equal, though. When asked to recall a dream about a person they knew, 270 Americans taking an online survey gave more significance to pleasant dreams about someone they liked than bad dreams about someone they didn't like.
"In other words, people attribute meaning to dreams when it corresponds with their pre-existing beliefs and desires," Morewedge said.
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