Social Functions of Dreaming
The importance of dream narratives
Sleep studies have shown that we dream more dreams than we remember, and even some dreams we remember immediately after waking up are quickly forgotten. Why do we remember some dreams and not others? It seems that the most vivid and emotionally charged dreams had just prior to waking are remembered the best. We give special attention in our lives to events that provoke emotions in us, and emotions were certainly an important evolutionary trait. If a person dreamt he was being chased, and woke up in a cold sweat and his heartbeat racing, of course he would think on it. On the individual level, dream analysis can be understood as attempts at understanding our emotional problems and personal preoccupations, which is why they are more unpleasant than pleasant, (Moffitt 1993) or at least, why we remember more unpleasant emotional dreams. According to Moffitt there are two functions of traditional dream interpretations, "they might be used directly to represent a preoccupation of the dreamer, as if forming a kind of code for the expression of emotional concerns in dreams; or conversely, they may be used to deflect attention from the dream's content, as a kind of reassuring denial that the dream does not mean what it seems to." So, in the example above, the man might interpret the dream negatively, maybe as an indication of too much stress in his life or to predict something bad is going to happen, or he might interpret it conversely. Maybe the last time he dreamed about getting chased he got a promotion at work, and so such dreams are a good omen.
To some extent, dreams are by and large personally relevant, "an overall view [of the dream process] would suggest that dreams are made up of a combination of present and past experiences. These experiences are meaningfully connected by the emotional tone of the present experience…Because dreams are made up of each dreamer's unique memories, there can be no universal dream vocabulary…what we portray in our dreams is a reflection of our unique concerns and interests based on what is important to us now and what was important to us in the past." (Natterson 1980)
Our interpretations give us a sense of control, over just the meaning of the dream itself, or perhaps over our environment in general. Dreams are sometimes considered premonitions of the future, the ability to foresee the outcome of our present actions. Maybe the feeling of deja vu reinforces that idea. Dream analysis may provide control over emotional upset, or in the case of psychoanalysis, to find out what the source of our anxiety is in order to alleviate it and to take responsibility over our own emotional welfare.
The role that dreams narratives play can easily be understood by looking at what the individual has to gain by sharing it with other people. (Moffitt 1993) Exchanging personal information can strengthen social ties, validate concerns, and gather new insight into oneself by seeking other people's interpretations. Dream analysis is subjective but usually involves collaboration between two people in an attempt to understand (and give meaning to) a dream to the dreamer. (Moffitt 1993) Since our waking moods can be expressed in dream content, explaining a dream to someone might be an easy way of addressing what has been on your mind lately. A nice constructive response may not be necessary, just getting it off our chest makes us feel better. Sharing dream narratives might also earn us notoriety if the dream seemed to predict something that later came true. Or, maybe we just tell them for a laugh.
Dreams are socially significant because they are the objects of self-reflection. They are perceived as having symbolic meaning, and the way the individual interprets her dream for herself is subjective to her personal concerns and values. In the same way, cultural dream interpretations reflect social concerns and values. Pick up any pop media dream dictionary at a bookstore. The "translations" of items seen in a dream are generally considered important. They reflect the dreamer's relationships with other people, successes and failures in life, and private concerns and fears. They are usually very personal to the dreamer; I have never read a dream interpretation like: if you dream about a dog, Costa Rica will have a very long rainy season this year.