Age Differences in Dreams. I: Men's Dreams and Thematic Apperceptive Fantasy

Abstract

Is there a covert, middle-age shift towards passivity and lowered ego energy? Age differences were investigated in dreams recalled from REM sleep by fifty-eight well-educated men age twenty-seven to sixty-four, and also in their TAT stories and dreams recalled from sleep at home. There was no confirmation of previous findings, although there was evidence of a slight age-related decline of aggression in dreams. These results raise the possibility that previous findings reflect cohort differences rather than age changes. Dreams and TAT stories failed to correlate sufficiently to warrant any assumption that they are interchangeable or that they tap covert processes.