Using the LIWC program to study dreams.

Bulkeley, Kelly; Graves, Mark

This article presents the results of an analysis of a large set of dream reports (N = 5,208) using the Linguistic Inventory and Word Count (LIWC) system of Pennebaker, Boyd, Jordan, and Blackburn (2015). The findings indicate that, in comparison with other kinds of texts studied by LIWC, dream reports are distinctive in having high frequencies of the following language categories: focus on the past, first-person singular words, personal pronouns, authenticity, dictionary words, motion, space, and home. The dream reports have relatively low frequencies of these LIWC categories: informal language, focus on the present, assent, positive emotions, clout, second-person references, affective processes, and quotation marks. In addition, the LIWC analysis was able to identify and distinguish between the key content features of recent dreams, nightmares, and lucid dreams. These results confirm earlier findings of McNamara (2008) and Hawkins and Boyd (2017) and support the further use of LIWC in dream research, in coordination with other empirical methods of study. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved)

Content Analysis; Dream Content; Linguistics; Words (Phonetic Units); Adulthood (18 yrs & older); Male; Female

Dreaming, 2018, Vol 28, Issue 1, p43

1053-0797

Journal

10.1037/drm0000071