5 Things Your Dreams May Reveal About Your Personality

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What might your dreams reveal about your personality? Researchers have been interested in this question for decades and have explored correlations between dream content and personality characteristics. Here are some of their key findings.

1. Materialism

People with strong materialistic tendencies—who are low on generosity and high on envy—report that their most significant dreams involve themes of insecurity, like death or falling. Their dreams are also marked by family and romantic conflict, as well as fears related to self-esteem.

In contrast, those who scored low on materialism were more likely to have dreams about overcoming danger and experiencing greater intimacy in their relationships.

2. Introversion/Extraversion

If you have a lot of dreams most nights, you’re probably higher on introversion, meaning you tend to feel drained by social situations. On the other hand, extraverts (who feel energized by socializing) tend to have more dreams with female characters, as well as more dreams that are set at night.

3. Emotional Stability/Neuroticism

If you have a lot of dreams that are set outdoors, you’re more likely to score high on emotional stability, meaning you don’t tend to experience a lot of overwhelming negative emotions. Emotional stability is also significantly linked to the coveted flying dream—a not surprising finding given the sense of freedom and ease that characterizes these dreams.

Conversely, if you often feel frustrated or confused in your dreams, you’re more likely in your waking life to experience a lot of difficult emotions (a personality trait known as “neuroticism”)—again, a connection that’s easy to understand. Higher neuroticism is also associated with having sexual dreams that more often involve someone unknown rather than someone familiar.

4. Openness to Experience

Your flying dreams may also be a result of your openness to experience. Similarly, those who welcome new experiences tend to have more unfamiliar characters in their dreams, as if the door to their minds is open even during sleep.

5. Agreeableness

People who have a lot of different characters in their dreams tend to be easy to get along with. Highly agreeable people are also more likely not to be the central character in their dreams as if they’re willing to share the spotlight.

Why Do You Share Your Dreams?

Beyond the content of our dreams themselves, our personalities can also influence why we choose to share our dreams with others.

• Emotional relief: Telling your dreams—especially negative ones—in order to feel better is more common among those who score high on neuroticism.
• Self-expression: Extraverted individuals are more likely to share their dreams in order to express themselves to others, as well as to entertain people. This pattern is especially true for positive dreams.
• Dream interpretation: Those who are more open to experience often want to know what their dreams mean and what the person they’re telling thinks about them.

Keep in mind that the research findings described here are based on correlations from many research participants, so a single dream may say little about you. Look for overall patterns across many dreams.

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