Dream recall and repression: Evidence for an alternative hypothesis.

Attempted to demonstrate a significant association between dream recall frequency and external locus of control, field dependence, and "poor inner life" in 5 experiments with undergraduates (N = 298). Instruments used included self-rating scales, a sociometric measure, and a battery of personality tests (e.g., Rotter's Internal-External Control Scale). Results of Exp I-III and previous studies do not provide strong support for the inner-rejectant (repression) formulation. Exp IV demonstrated that a brief, psychodynamically neutral postsleep distraction has a strong inhibitory effect on dream recall. Exp V included the same postsleep distraction and in addition used presleep dream attitude inductions designed to maximize (high salience) or minimize (low salience) a belief that dreams reveal personal problems. The inhibitory effect of the postsleep distraction was replicated. The high-salience induction did not inhibit dream recall, even for infrequent dream recallers. Results suggest that a distinction should be made between life-style variables conceptually related to repression that may correlate with dream recall frequency and factors unrelated to repression that directly determine the process of dream recall. (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)