Grand old nightmares examined
Conservatives' Dreams Scarier than Liberals'
John Wildermuth / SF Chronicle 11jul01
The midnight hours are a lot scarier for Republicans than for Democrats, according to a new study by an East Bay dream researcher.
Conservative Republicans have three times as many nightmares as liberal Democrats, and those nightmares tend to feature aggression, misfortune and physical threats, said Kelly Bulkeley, who teaches at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley.
"The prevalence of nightmares among people on the right was striking," said Bulkeley, who described himself as a Democrat raised in a Republican family.
Bulkeley is the first to admit that his study, which he will present today at a meeting of the American Association for the Study of Dreams at the University of California, Santa Cruz, is not the most comprehensive project ever done. The results are based on dreams reported by 56 college students, half who identified themselves as Republicans on the right and half who called themselves left-leaning Democrats.
"The sample size is small, but the people involved are highly committed ideologically, so that makes a difference," Bulkeley said.
Nightmares in general are characterized by fear and other negative emotions,
he said, and often include a feeling of helplessness in the face of threats. They can be so intense that people wake up sweating and gasping for breath.
Nightmares among the group studied included examination fears, fighting a corpse in a car and being trapped in a public bathroom with bears and a gun that doesn't work.
Republicans also were much more likely to have lifelike dreams that resembled their daily lives, while the Democrats often had bizarre dreams, with unfamiliar characters and settings and events that are improbable or impossible.
Does that mean that conservatives are more realistic while liberals are more imaginative, or are Republicans more insecure, anxious and repressed and Democrats more irrational, deluded and utopian?
Any or all of that could be true, Bulkeley said.
"I'm trying to see how dream content reflects cultural phenomena, like politics," he said.
This isn't Bulkeley's first attempt to find the stuff political dreams are made of. Since 1992, he's worked to interpret dreams dealing with the presidential elections.
In 1992, for example, he found that people were experiencing "Dreams of Bill," casual, intimate and sometimes romantic thoughts of the incoming president, which Bulkeley said indicated a feeling of comfort with Clinton's policies and an emotional connection with him.
The bizarre 2000 election brought with it what Bulkeley believes was "the single most troubled night's sleep in the country's history," when election day came and went without a new president.
By the time George W. Bush was finally named president nearly a month later,
there was a sharp drop-off in reports of politically related dreams, Bulkeley said.
"People seemed sick of the whole thing," he said in his paper.
Dreams and the 2000 Election
Kelly Bulkeley, Ph.D.
Santa Clara University Association for the Study of Dreams Annual Conference Santa Cruz, California 11jul01
Introduction
Dream researchers get used to strange looks. When I tell dream researcher friends about this project, they give me strange looks. So some explanation, justification is called for:
This project is quite different from my usual type of research. My training is in religion and psychological studies, and my primary focus is on the spiritual and creative dimensions of dreaming as they have emerged in history, in non-Western cultures, and in contemporary society. My talk on Friday on the dreams and nightmares of Rene Descartes is much more representative of the basic thrust of my work.
At the same time, this connection between dreams and politics has intrigued me for quite a while. I first got interested in role of dreams in communal life while in graduate school. As I studied the dream beliefs and practices of other cultures and periods of history I found that in many places-the ancient civilizations of China, India, Greece, and Egypt, and the indigenous cultures of Australia, Africa, and N. and S. America-dreams were regarded as an important resource in collective decision-making. Dreams influenced decisions on war, ceremonial/ritual practice, resolving disputes, and choosing leaders. These cultures see dreams as not only about the individual; dreams also saying something about the social world in which the dreamer is living.
Another big influence on me was Charlotte Beradt's 1966 book The Third Reich of Dreams: dreams as accurate reflections of a horrifying, viciously oppressive social environment.
From the beginning, I felt this idea that individual dreams are meaningfully related to cultural life made good sense in light of claims of major psychologists (Erikson, Winnicott, Gilligan, Kegan, Pinker) that human development can only be understood in terms of dynamic interplay between the individual and the cultural environment. Likewise, I felt this idea was consistent with the arguments of cross-cultural psychologists (Kakar, Roland, Doi) and psychological anthropologists (Shweder, Obeysekere, Crapanzano, Stephen, Kracke), all of whom emphasize the deeply mutual influence of psychological development and cultural context.
However, I found that in the field of dream research, this idea was not widely accepted: Freud's "Count Thun" dream: A political leader symbolizes his father. Jung's distinction between objective and subjective levels of analysis; although he had dreams of WW I, his distinction has influenced psychotherapeutic practice, so a dream of a President is often interpreted as a symbol of the "executive" part of the dreamer. Calvin Hall: People usually don't dream about current affairs "like Presidential elections."
So, I embarked on a research project beginning in 1992 that has continued on through the present.
1992 and 1996 Studies
Basic findings: People DO dream about current affairs like Presidential elections. Dreams can be BOTH "objective" and "subjective" in their meanings: both about external and internal worlds.
I grouped the dreams I gathered into three types: "Political cartoons" "Playing Golf with Bill Clinton" 36, man from FL Personal symbols "Clinton Teaches Me about Alcohol" 55, woman from NM New political perspectives "Clinton Expertly Confronts the Bear" 44, man from NJ [note: copies of these dreams not included in draft]
"Dreams of Bill"
Quite a phenomenon after election in 1992. What these dreams were like: casual, intimate, sometimes romantic. My interpretation: feeling of comfort with Clinton's policies, empathetic connection with him as leader, sense that he knows people, cares about them-"feels their pain." In this light, dreams as index of a politician's charisma (in sociologist Max Weber's sense of the term). People's dreams of Clinton may have changed toward the end of his second term.
2000 Election
I was looking forward to the 2000 election as an opportunity to see what would happen in people's dreams in the "Post-Clinton" era. Of course I didn't expect such a wild election process…. (And evidently no one else did; I haven't heard of any precognitive dreams that anticipated what actually happened.)
How I gathered the dreams in this sample: wide net It turned out to be a largely, though not exclusively, liberal group of people; this a significant point, I'll come back to it.
The dreams I gathered during the 2000 campaign were generally similar to those from the previous two election cycles: dreams of Gore, Bush, Bradley, Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Where things got interesting was on election night. I would argue this was the single most troubled night's sleep in the country's history. Indeed, a vast number of people, including the entirety of the country's political leadership, did not sleep at all, staying up all night in a state of anxiety and confusion. That was certainly my experience: glued to TV, swatting my children aside, until two a.m., then checking the TV again at 5 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. The next day was almost certainly the most sleep-deprived the U.S. as a whole has ever been; actually, this a very vulnerable time, given what we know about effects of sleep deprivation. I wonder if there was a measurable rise in accidents and/or drop in productivity.
Immediately I started hearing reports from people saying they'd had bizarre sleep and dream experiences that night. [note: full text of these dreams begins on p. 21]
General Distress:
35 F, teacher, MA: electoral maps
58 F, VA: radio results
30 M, OR: all weekWish-fulfillments:
21 F, student, MD: gore wins, on computer
52 F, CT: ex-husband says gore wins
27 M, MT: Bush doesn't want itCriticism from Democrats:
53 F, school administrator, WA: aliens
56 M, minister, TX: Benz regret
32 M, doctor, CA: car drives off road
18 F, student, CA: bush steals chipsRecount in Florida:
36 F, repub., MI: chads (11-21)
37 M, writer, AZ:
2 vampires (11-12)
44 M, TX: 2 pit bulls (n.d.)
45 F, green, CO: "train of votes" (10-18; anticipating?)
47 F, community organizer, OH: towel (11-20)
36 F, lawyer, CA: sharks (12-12)Closure:
27 F, actress, NY: poor gore (election night)
42 F, graphic designer, PA: breakfast with Bush (11-3)
After Bush wins, sense of exhaustion, relief for some, disgust for others; a sharp drop-off in reports of politically-related dreams. People seemed sick of the whole thing. It's interesting to note that there was no "Dreams of W." phenomenon comparable to "Dreams of Bill" in 1992.
Why?
Do people on the political right not dream as much? Or not talk as much
about their dreams? Or, are dream researchers like myself less likely to have
access to the dream lives of people on the political right?
Research on Dream Content and Political Ideology
These questions lead to the last piece of research I want to share, and the newest. In this research I looked at the connection between dreams and politics from a different angle: is there any fundamental difference between conservatives and liberals in terms of the content of their dreams? It's at least plausible to ask the question. Consider the findings of Hall and Domhoff regarding the strong continuities between dream content and waking life. With their research in mind, if a person is strongly committed to a particular political ideology, and if that ideology is a prominent element in a person's waking world identity and sense of self, it seems reasonable to suppose that aspects of that political ideology will be reflected in the person's dreams.
Design and Methodology
The study involved a total of 56 people: 14 MR, 14 ML, 14 FR, 14 FL. Most recent dream form, plus questionnaire about political beliefs. College students from around country, teens or early twenties. These dreams a subset of surveys I've gathered since 1996; most respondents not strong on either political side. Highest number of "partisans" in the total set was female lefts; smallest number was male rights. I took total number of male rights (14) and randomly chose a group of 14 from each of other three groups. This raises question of sampling bias in dream research: skewed toward the female left? Does this reflect the personal political inclinations of dream researchers? This the place to note my political stance: I'm a Republican by birth, but now usually vote Democrat, although I like many elements of the Libertarians and also of the Greens-so I'm kind of a mixed breed, and this influences my research to the extent that it makes me curious about the unconscious depths out of which people's political passions emerge.
The dream reports were analyzed using Hall and Van de Castle categories for characters, social interactions, emotions, settings, misfortunes, color, intensity, and evaluation. In addition they were coded using a revised good fortunes scale I am developing. Each dream was coded by myself and 1-2 blind researchers. The statistics I am providing were generated by the DreamSAT program developed by Bill Domhoff and Adam Schneider, at www.dreamresearch.net. Guided by that quantitative analysis, I then analyzed the dreams in terms of narrative themes and patterns, identifying similarities and contrasts that can be related on one hand to basic findings of dream research and on the other hand to the major ideological principles affirmed by members of the two political camps.
Limitations to this study:
Notoriously nonpolitical college students
Small sample size
But: Highly committed college students, so some insight into formation of ideology
Bigger study would be nice, and seems justified by these results I'm eager to hear suggestions on future research design
Content Analysis Results
Please see handout for basic numbers [note: see p. 31] Overhead summarizes what I see as the major points of interest [note: see p. 30]
Narrative Analysis
The most interesting differences between the two ideological groups emerge in a narrative analysis that is guided by these content analysis findings. The numbers are important, but they do not, by themselves, tell the full story.
Pregnant/Caring for Children
Reading through the 56 dreams, I was immediately struck by a theme in the reports from the women: theme of being pregnant or caring for young children. 2 FL (1 mildly anxious, about a niece; 1 ecstatically happy, about new life growing within womb) 3 FR (1 moderately anxious, about baby turning into a kitten; 2 highly anxious, about unwanted pregnancy) Prominence of this theme makes sense in life cycle terms: these are young women anticipating experience of bearing and caring for children. Interesting in light of abortion politics and women's traditional role in family; female rights seem more anxious.
Murder of Family Members
Another striking theme in women's reports was dreams involving murder of family members. 1 FL (mother and father killed by cook) 3 FR (policeman father is murdered; burglar kills father; dreamer kills brother) Again, this theme makes sense in terms of life cycle issues, symbolism of going to college, "death" of usual family relations Intriguing difference, though: FL is not overwhelmed; dad comes back to life, she calls 911, and talks to killer; FRs, by contrast, are overwhelmed and helpless, have carry-over fears on awakening No males have dreams with this theme: gender implications?
Nightmares
Several dreams in the set are nightmares in terms of being disturbing, negatively toned dreams involving threats, dangers, and/or misfortunes, with an overarching atmosphere of helplessness (see Hartmann) 1 FL, 4 ML; 7 FR, 7 MR This the single biggest difference in dream content between people on left and people on right: In this study, people on the right have many more nightmares This corresponds to content analysis findings regarding higher levels of aggression and misfortune among people on the right From the perspective of narrative analysis, what's striking is that the nightmares of people on the right are more nightmarish: more physical danger, fear, and impotence in sense of not being able to do anything about the threats; by contrast, "bad dreams" of people on the right had more elements of hope, power, and agency amid the nightmare scenario
Examples:
FL: Cook kills her mother, already mentioned
MR: Exam nightmare
ML: Exam, girlfriend, tiger and elephant
ML: Weird telephone keypad; friends help
ML: Fighting corpse in car
MR: Chased and paralyzed
MR: Going bald, can't stop it
MR: Bears in public bathroom, gun won't work
Boyfriends and Girlfriends
A big difference between dreams of college students and older adults: frequency of boyfriends and girlfriends as characters 5 FL, 6 ML; 4 FR, 1 MR Uneven distribution, especially among males; only one MR, and in that one the girlfriend is a bit player Can't tell from this if MRs do not have as many girlfriends, or do not dream as much about their girlfriends, as MLs In either case, this may be connected to so-called "gender gap," the differing gender tones of two political groups, with left more women-oriented and right more man-oriented
Bizarre and Lifelike Dreams
Difficulty of defining "bizarreness" in dreams. Easier, I think, to define "lifelikeness": dreams that are so similar to actual daily experience that if the reports were not framed as dreams, couldn't distinguish them from ordinary life. Lifelike dreams, in this sense, involve familiar characters and places and are usually involve a single short, coherent scene.
0 FL, 2ML; 3 FR, 4 FR
Seems, then, that when people on the right are not having nightmares, they are likely to be having lifelike dreams that deviate in no perceptible way from their present waking lives. The notion of "lifelike" dreams suggests that what makes certain dreams "bizarre" is:
Unfamiliar characters and settings
Elaborate, multi-scene plots
Sudden shifts and changes
Events that are improbable or impossible
This is tied in to greater frequency of good fortunes among people on the left. Much more could be said about the question of dream bizarreness; but as a general matter, it seems fair to say that in this study the dreams of people on the left tend to be more bizarre than those of people on the right.
Conclusion
Reemphasize the limitations of this study. What future research might investigate: long-term dream journals combined with personal interviews would be ideal.
In closing, some speculations on what these findings may say about the deep psychological dimensions of people's waking world political beliefs and activities:
Could it be that people on the right are more realistic, grounded, aware of human finitude and frailty; more interested in protecting the good things in present life? Or, are people on the right more insecure, anxious, conflict-ridden, repressed? Do people on the right seek a kind of power through their political views that, as their dreams reveal, they fear they lack within themselves?
Could it be that people on the left are more creative, progressive, and imaginative, more confident in their abilities, seeking to make things better than they are now? Or, are people on the left more naïve, irrational, utopian, and deluded by their own fantasies? Do people on the left seek a kind of power through their political views that, as their dreams reveal, they wish to have within themselves?
Or, a third possibility: could all of this be true?
In any case, it is interesting to think of these findings in connection with current political issues and events. These dreams open a unique psychological window onto the deep motivations underlying people's political attitudes, and may help us better understand why, for example, people on the right are so drawn to traditional moral values, a strong national defense, and a missile shield, while people on the left champion the causes of women's rights, environmentalism, and universal healthcare.
"The night of the election, I had to go to sleep before the west coast results were in. I kept dreaming about those stupid electoral college maps on the television turning red and then blue and then red again. It was a fitful night of sleep" 35-year old woman from MA
"I think I'm hearing the 'results' on my clock radio. I start arguing with the dream radio, which of course can't hear me and doesn't care." 58-year old woman from VA
"I have never experienced an entire week in which I repeatedly dreamed about political/world events before this week. I feel the whole recount situation so dominates my waking life that it is reflected in my dreaming life. The dreams are almost exclusively about counting votes." 30-year old man from OR
"After watching the election results on TV, I dreamed that I turned on my computer and Al Gore had won the election. I was very happy. My dream was in color and it was weird-it was like I woke up in the middle of the night and turned on my computer to see who won. It was very real and I was the only character. -Bizarre, huh?" 21-year old woman from MD
"I stayed up late the night of the election to find out the results and was disappointed that there were none. With this on my mind I fell asleep and dreamed that in the midst of doing work on some project my ex-husband walks in. I casually ask him if he knows who was elected President. He answers, 'Al Gore.'" 52-year old woman from CT
"I dreamt, on election night itself, that secretly George Bush did not want to be President, and was kind of trapped/forced into the whole thing. I woke up, wondering if he still 'would' be President, only to learn his 'victory' had been recalled while I slept." 27-year old man from MT
"I've never had a dream like this before, and I attribute it to my anxiety about Bush getting elected. A space ship lands and little Martians get out. They look like children in ghost outfits-little shapes with no features. But they have this weapon that can instantly vaporize people. It slowly dawns on me that I could actually lose my freedom and live in a society that they control. And that this is a likelihood and that the days of freedom are running out." 53-year old woman from WA
"I have just bought a new Mercedes Benz-I'm excited and delighted to have this fantastic car. However-I somehow begin to realize that the 'new' car is actually a used car with more than 50,000 miles on it. I am very disappointed-I begin to see all the flaws in the car and try to decide if I can return the car and get my money back." 56-year old man from TX
"I am with some friends in Japan, and we're in two cars driving up into some beautiful mountains. Suddenly the car in front of mine drove off the road into a ditch." 32-year old man from CA
"I was in my room watching the news on the election and eating chips and George W. Bush came into my room and stole my chips. I was surprised and caught off guard. I looked up at the TV and Gore won because they miscalculated the votes." 18-year old woman from CA
"I was involved in a discussion on chads. What were the differences of pregnant, dimpled, hanging types. We were also discussing which ones should be counted as a vote. This dream looped over and over again for most of the night." 36-year old woman from MI
"Last night I dreamed two King Vampires were battling it out for ownership of the human herd. Can't remember the exact details, but they were all standard Hollywood, 1½" fangs…." 37-year old man from AZ
"I dreamed Bush and Gore were pit bulls going at each other. Nader was walking away into the sunset." 45-year old man from TX
"I am driving my car alongside a freight train which carries votes. It is a long train. The flatbed cars carry huge crates full of votes and billboards about issues, particularly nuclear issues and bombs. I am excited about voting. Then, I am in line to vote in a place that resembles a voting place in a Third World country. I realize I am not in my precinct (in Colorado) and it is too late to get to my precinct. I realize I cannot vote. In the dream, I am shocked and wonder how I will ever live with this" 45-year old woman from CO
"I dream I am swimming in a big swimming pool. There are vegetables floating in the water, left loose by a disturbed or unthinking person. I ask someone to bring me a towel so I can get out and dry off. There are numbered hooks on the wall and I indicate where my towel is. I need it to get out of the pool to cover myself with though it doesn't seem I'm naked. I look to my right and see a beautiful woman in a light blue, loose fitting swimsuit. She reminds me of a newscaster in Florida. She is an exercise coach helping people in an exercise 'lane' next to where I am." 47-year old woman from OH
"I was in Florida, at the beach. The surf was stormy and choppy, threatening me. In the water near shore I see a small black Mako shark, and I'm scared." 36-year old woman from CA
"I am with George W. Bush. He is campaigning and/or visiting and I happen to be where he is. I end up next to him going through this breakfast buffet line in a large hall or auditorium. There are many offerings. Chafing dishes, lots of fruit, including melon, which we search out. I also end up next to him as we are eating. As we're chatting, I realize that he's really not a bad guy. I imagine myself telling this to people I know. The idea that he is not utterly without character brings me relief. Then I am telling someone that I have just been talking with George W. Bush, slightly aware of how odd that sounds." 42-year old woman from PA
"I am in a busy NYC street. The polls have closed and everyone is running around. It's late at night. We all know Gore has lost. I'm thinking, all that work for nothing. It doesn't seem fair. Then I see an image of Gore, crying. He looks exhausted, disheveled. Well, I think, he's probably having an emotional breakdown after all that work. Then I see Tipper grab his hand and pull him down the street. They are going into some building. I have to say something, I think to myself. I really want to at least tell Gore I think he should have won. So instead, Tipper catches my eye and I ask her, 'Does he want anything to eat? Or drink? Anything?' She says, 'No, sweetheart. That's OK.' And she pulls him off into privacy. I feel so upset and frustrated at our country." 27-year old actress from NY
Content Analysis Summary
Left RightLower male/female Higher male/female Fewer familiar More familiar Fewer friends More friends More family Fewer family Fewer animals More animalsLess aggressor More aggressor Less physical aggression More physical aggressionMore friendliness Less friendliness Less misfortune More misfortune More good fortune Less good fortune
Male right: lowest family and sexuality, highest aggressor and
animal
Male left: lowest male/fem ale and aggression
Female left: lowest aggressor, highest friendliness and GF Female right:
highest sexuality and physical aggression
Dreams and the 2000 Election
Kelly Bulkeley, Ph.D. -- Santa Clara University
Association for the Study of Dreams Annual Conference -- July 11, 2001 -- Santa
Cruz, California
Content Analysis Results
Male Left Female Left Female Right Male RightMale/Female 33 63 65 67 Familiarity 44 68 75 53 Friends 37 30 43 53 Family 7 33 28 0 Dead/Imaginary 3 0 0 0 Animal 7 0 5 13 Befriender 63 47 47 63 Aggressor 50 0 50 67 Physical agg. 44 56 80 50 Indoor 53 78 75 67 Familiar 70 73 82 67At least one:Aggression 29 43 43 36 Friendliness 43 86 71 36 Sexuality 7 7 14 0 Misfortune 43 29 36 50 Good fortune 29 50 14 7
Email: kellybulkeley@earthlink.com
Web site: www.kellybulkeley.com
Please do not cite without permission.
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