title: Comparing the effects of real versus simulated violence on dream imagery.
abstract: Participants in the current study were 75 males, including 25 Canadian soldiers, 25 heavy gamers who play military based video games such as "Call of Duty," and a control group comprised of 25 males. One dream per participant was analyzed using Hall and Van de Castle content analysis guidelines, including aggression, threat, and previously established scales for intensity of aggression and emotion. The dreams of soldiers had a higher frequency of both aggression and threat, and were also more intense in aggression and emotion than both the heavy gamers and the controls. These findings suggest that exposure to real life violence and threat (as well as the emotional significance of the experience) is more frequently incorporated into dream imagery than simulated or virtual threat. Limitations and directions for future studies are discussed.
authors: 1 School of Psychology, University of Ottawa , Ontario, Canada .
authors: Allyson
authors: A
authors: Dale
authors: Anthony
authors: A
authors: Murkar
authors: Nicolle
authors: N
authors: Miller
authors: Joshua
authors: J
authors: Black
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000374:Aggression; D002170:Canada; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004325:Dreams / Q000523:psychology*; D004644:Emotions; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018910:Video Games / Q000523:psychology; D014754:Violence / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult