Pass or Fail? Examination dreams in a long dream series

Abstract

Examination dreams had being classified as typical dream because many people have them. The literature focused on the negatively toned dreams, e.g., failing the exam, being obliged to take the exam again, being unprepared. The present findings analyzing 10,713 dreams of an academic indicate that examination dreams show high variability in content, i.e., there are examination dreams including positive emotions and knowledge about the subject of the exam and dreams about examinations without being examined. Furthermore, examination dreams were found more often in periods when the dreamer was facing a lot of exams in his waking life – supporting the continuity hypothesis of dreaming. To expand the present findings, it would be interesting to study examination dreams in persons with different educational background and in faculty staff who are examiners.