Aj. Bell et H. Cook, EMPIRICAL-EVIDENCE FOR A COMPENSATORY RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DREAM CONTENT AND REPRESSION, Psychoanalytic psychology, 15(1), 1998, pp. 154-163
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.