Consuming violent media linked to 13x surge in violent dreams

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-11/osu-cvm111516.php

Public Release: 15-Nov-2016
Consuming violent media linked to 13x surge in violent dreams
Study finds sexual media content also affects dreams
Ohio State University

The violent and sexual media you consume during the day may infiltrate your dreams at night, new research suggests.

People who reported consuming violent media within 90 minutes of bedtime were 13 times more likely to have a violent dream that night, the study found. Those viewing sexual media were six times more likely to have a sex-related dream.

The study of more than 1,000 Turkish residents also found that the more violent media content they reported consuming on a regular basis, the more often they said they had violent dreams in general.

The same link was found between sexual media content and sexual dreams, although the connection wasn't as strong.

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The results can't reveal the direction of causality between dreams and media use, Bushman noted.

"It is at least possible that people who have more violent or more sexual dreams are more likely to seek out that content during the day. Another possibility is that causality may go both ways, or that some other factor is related to both media consumption and dream content.

"But I do believe that the most plausible explanation is that the media we consume influences our dreams," Bushman said.

Çetin said the results may be at least somewhat different for people in other countries, noting previous research has shown that media use and dream associations differ for people of varied cultural background.

The results suggest one obvious recommendation for those who are troubled by their violent or sexual dreams, according to Bushman.

"It would be good to avoid media with violent and sexual content, especially right before bed."