{"id":1593,"date":"2026-09-15T14:35:50","date_gmt":"2026-09-15T14:35:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/bbc-sciencefocus\/?p=1593"},"modified":"2026-09-15T14:35:52","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T14:35:52","slug":"what-your-dreams-really-reveal-about-your-personality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/bbc-sciencefocus\/2026\/09\/15\/what-your-dreams-really-reveal-about-your-personality\/","title":{"rendered":"What your dreams really reveal about your personality"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Psychology<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What your dreams really reveal about your personality<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Our nighttime imaginings can reveal a lot more about us than we thought<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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By Dean Burnett<\/p>\n\n\n\n

–<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\"Head
Picture credit: Getty<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

If you ever found yourself on Sigmund Freud\u2019s couch as he attempted to look under the proverbial bonnet of your mind, there\u2019s a good chance you\u2019d end up talking about your dreams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of old Freud\u2019s theories are based on dreams and dreaming. His stance was that dreams are the brain\u2019s way of expressing subconscious desires and conflicts and so provide valuable insight into someone\u2019s unconscious thinking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To put it in his own words, \u201cthe interpretation of Dreams is the royal road to a knowledge of the unconscious activities of the mind\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Admittedly, this was over 120 years ago. Psychology, psychiatry and all other related disciplines have moved on since then. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dream interpretation \u2013 the notion that someone\u2019s dreams provide a consistent, reliable, and understandable report of what\u2019s happening in their subconscious \u2013 has, shall we say, fallen out of favour somewhat as a valid scientific discipline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The belief that your dreams reveal your \u2018true\u2019 self is, at best, a considerable oversimplification of what turns out to be a fiendishly complicated process. However, recent research suggests concluding that dreams are just a random hodgepodge of meaningless neurological noise may also be wide of the mark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This doesn\u2019t automatically suggest that people saying things like \u201cYou dreamed of a plucked chicken singing Ave Maria on a burning kayak, which reveals you resent your father\u201d are automatically correct. But there is now evidence which argues that the nature and content of dreams are shaped by, and so revealing of, certain aspects of our personality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what do your dreams really <\/em>reveal about you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What dreams are made of<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

To truly appreciate what our dreams uncover about our inner selves, it\u2019s important to understand what they are. Or, more appropriately, what they\u2019re for<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leaving aside the more esoteric beliefs about the nature of dreams, the neuroscientific explanation is that they\u2019re a key process for memory consolidation. When we experience something during our waking hours our brains turn that information into a memory through a process called encoding. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Neuron
Memories aren\u2019t just electrical signals. They are physically stored in the structure of our brain cells. Picture credit: Getty<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This involves the creation of a bundle of neuronal connections, which is how the brain stores information. This bundle of connections forms a new memory trace, often described as a memory engram<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>which are essentially the individual units of memories in the brain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But that\u2019s only part one of the process. Much like how new books delivered to a library need to then be filed onto the right shelves to be practically useful, new memories need to be consolidated<\/a>, where they are integrated into the existing long-term memory networks in our brains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This happens when we\u2019re asleep. As Prof Erin Wamsley<\/a> from Furman University explains, \u201cSleep provides an optimal neurophysiological state to facilitate this process, allowing memory networks to be repeatedly reactivated in the absence of new sensory input.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In lay terms, it\u2019s much easier for our brains to sort out memories when it\u2019s not still experiencing things, much like how it\u2019s much easier to repair a road when it\u2019s closed to traffic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During consolidation, new memories are regularly linked up to older, seemingly unrelated ones. Much like software can\u2019t be updated if there\u2019s no power running through the device, our memories can\u2019t be consolidated without activating the brain, effectively playing them in our heads. And so we dream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This explains why our dreams can be so fantastical, yet simultaneously so familiar. They\u2019re made of bits of memories. <\/em>They\u2019re put together according to some neurological pattern that we\u2019re currently unable to recognise, but memories all the same, meaning every element of a dream is something we have <\/em>encountered before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This also means that, when faced with a thorny or difficult problem, the advice to \u201csleep on it\u201d is sound, neuroscientifically speaking. Because when we dream, our brains integrate newly acquired information into our existing thinking systems, opening up different, unexpected pathways to do so, leaving us better equipped to think up solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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If you\u2019re stuck on a tough problem, pulling an all-nighter might be the last thing you want to do. Picture credit: Getty<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As Dr Alison Adcock of Duke University puts it, when we acquire new information, \u201cour brain knits it all together in memory to help us make better choices \u2013 and that neat trick happens overnight.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And what are we \u2013 what is our \u2018self\u2019, our personality \u2013 if not the sum total of our memories and experiences? Meaning, in the strictest possible sense, any and every dream is made up of the elements of who we are. So yes, they technically do reveal something about us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, \u2018technically\u2019 does not mean \u2018practically\u2019. Knowing the mechanisms of how dreaming works for everyone can be useful, but it is like knowing the dimensions of the box a package is delivered in \u2013 it doesn\u2019t tell you anything about what\u2019s inside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what can our dreams reveal about us specifically<\/em>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Read More:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n