They Worry in Dreams Too

Women have more nightmares than men, who are more likely to dream about sex.

Women have more nightmares than men, who are more likely to dream about sex. Psychologist Jennie Parker of the University of the West of England asked 100 women and 93 men between the ages of 18 and 25 to fill out dream diaries, priming participants before dreams occurred to record them. They found that women in general experience more nightmares than men. Broadly, their nightmares are: fearful dreams (being chased or life threatened), losing a loved one and confused dreams. Anxieties about past occurrences recur as ‘emblem’ dreams. Men’s dreams contained more references to sexual activity and actual intercourse, while women reported more kissing and sexual fantasies about other dream characters. Women’s dreams also contained more family members, negative emotion, indoor settings and less physical aggression than men’s. Men saw more attacks or serious threats, but reported fewer verbally aggressive or covert acts of aggression.