Dreamingisbelieving,claimresearchersofanewstudy,whofoundthatdreamshaveaneffectonpeople’sbehavior,judgmentandtheymightcontainimportanthiddentruthsaswell.

“Psychologists’explanationsofthemeaningofdreamsvarywidely.Butourfindingsshowthatpeoplebelievetheirdreamsprovidemeaningfulinsightintothemselvesandtheirworld,”saidaleadauthorofthestudyCareyMorewedge,anassistantprofessoratCarnegieMellonUniversity.

Insixdifferentstudies,researcherssurveyednearly1,100peopleabouttheirdreams.Oneofthestudiesfocusedongeneralbeliefsaboutdreamsandinvolved149universitystudents.Allstudentswereaskedtoratedifferenttheoriesaboutdreams.Theexpertsfoundthatasurprisingmajorityoftheparticipantssupportedthetheoryaboutdreamsrevealing(揭示)thehiddentruthsaboutthemselvesandtherestoftheworld.

Inasecondexperiment,theysurveyed182peopleataBostontrainstation,andaskedthemtoimagineoneoutoffourpossiblesituationthatcouldhaveoccurredthenightbeforeascheduledairlinetrip.Mostoftheparticipantssaidthatdreamingofaplanecrashwouldbemorelikelytoaffecttheirtravelplansthanwouldjustthinkingaboutacrash,orbeingwarnedbythegovernmentofaterrorismrisk.Theysaidadreamedcrashwouldinfluencetheirtravelplansjustasmuchaslearningaboutarealcrashontheirplannedroutewould.

Anotherexperimentinvolved270menandwomenfromacrosstheUnitedStates.Inashortonlinesurvey,theywereaskedtorecalloneofthedreamstheyhadseenaboutanypersontheyknew.

Thefindingsshowedthatpeopleweremorelikelytorememberanddescribepleasantdreamsaboutapersontheyliked,ratherthanapersontheydisliked.Meanwhile,inmostcasestheytendedtoconsideranunpleasantdreamasmoremeaningfulifitwasaboutapersontheydisliked.

“Inotherwords,”saidMorewedge,“peopleattributemeaningtodreamswhenitcorresponds(与……一致)withtheirpre-existingbeliefsanddesires.”

Theresearcherssaythatmoreinvestigationisneededtofullyunderstandhowpeopleinterprettheirdreams.AccordingtoMorewedge,mostpeoplerealizethatdreamsarenotpredictingtheirfuture,buttheystilltrytofindsomemeaninginthere.

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