Library Dissertation Showcase

Do preferred and assigned music genres influence emotional and musical dream content?

  • Year of Publication:
  • 2024

Dreams are experiences that occur during sleep, while we are unconscious and external input from the environment is reduced. Music during waking life has thus been shown throughout research to influence sleep quality and dream content. However, little research has used the continuity hypothesis of dreaming to determine whether this varies depending on music genre preference. Considering this, the current study aims to explore whether preferred and assigned music genres influence the emotional and musical dream contents of individuals. A volunteer sample of 80 participants were randomly allocated to a preferred music genre listening group or an assigned music genre listening group. Participants completed the STOMP-Rand BFl-10 online before listening to music corresponding to their designated group every night for two weeks, as well as documenting any dreams experienced during this period. A non-significant difference was found between the prevalence of dream content in the preferred and assigned group. However, a significant association was found between musical dream content and positively toned dream content in the preferred group, suggesting that individuals experience higher frequencies of positively toned music content when listening to their own music preferences. Findings have important implications for music therapy settings, where the interaction between emotional and musical dream contents and music preference can allow researchers to gain insight into the understanding of individuals unconscious. However, future studies should compare the effect of daytime and night-time music listening on the relationship between preferred music genres and dream content, in addition to assessing the effectiveness of alternative scales that can be used across non-western samples.

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