EMPIRICAL-EVIDENCE FOR A COMPENSATORY RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DREAM CONTENT AND REPRESSION

The present study empirically examines the expression of 4 drive-relat ed themes (feeding, aggression, avoidance, and sexual activity) in the manifest content of repressors' and nonrepressors' dreams. The result s revealed that repressors generated more aggressive and less avoidant thematic dream content than nonrepressors. Given repressors' denial o f aggression and their focus on an avoidant style of coping (D. Weinbe rger, 1990), the findings are discussed in terms of a compensatory rel ationship between repressors' waking and dreaming modes of adaptation. Examination of the manifest content of the dream narrative may add to understanding the motivational underpinnings of the repressive coping style.