A comparison of attitudes towards dreams in Germany and Tunisia

Abstract

Former studies have shown that in many Islamic cultures people view dreams as a product of external sources and therefore have a high appreciation towards dreams in their waking-life. In contrast, people in Western cultures in general do not value their dreams strongly in their waking-life and mostly view them as a product from their inner reality. This study, which was carried out online, compared attitudes towards dreams in a country of the Islamic culture (Tunisia) with attitudes towards dreams in a country of the Western culture (Germany). Participants (N = 483) answered questions about their attitudes and mindsets towards dreaming. The findings are consistent with the hypotheses that people in Islamic cultures have a higher appreciation towards dreaming, and that dreams have a direct effect on their waking-life. In addition, the findings confirm that people from Germany appreciate their dreams less than people from Tunisia, even though the findings showed that the German sample had more intense dreams than the Tunisian sample. The findings confirm a tendency towards patriarchy in the Tunisian sample, and the Islamic religion itself was correlated with a higher appreciation towards dreams.