Avaliação da relação entre a valência emocional dos sonhos e o desempenho acadêmico

Abstract

Dreaming about exams a few days before taking an important assessment is a recurring factor for students. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate whether there is a relationship between the emotional valence of dreams and academic performance. Using a printed questionnaire, data such as: age, gender, and use of medications were collected from 321 university students. Furthermore, with the SAM (Self-Assessment Manikin) pencil and paper instrument we accessed the emotional valence of the last dream. Evaluation took part in the moment before participants take an exam from an undergrad course. Furthermore, with the SAM (Self-Assessment Manikin) instrument, data were collected on the emotional valence of their last dream before the exam day, counting on three variables (pleasure, excitement and dominance). After exclusions for repetitions, uncomplete response a total of 260 questionnaires were used in the research. The sample consisted of 80.8% female individuals and an average age of 22.2 ± 5.1 years. We found an association between gender and emotional valence using the T test, indicating that male individuals tend to have more pleasurable dreams (p<0.001) and greater dominance (p=0.013), while female individuals present dreams with greater excitability (p=0.028). To test for association between dream emotional valence and academic performance Spearman correlation test were applied using the exam score (from 0 to 10) and the three variables for emotional valence (pleasure, excitement, and dominance) from a Likert scale. Only arousal variable (rho=-0.123; p=0.049) presented a statistically significant relationship, meaning that the higher the excitement of a dream, the higher the students’ scores. Thus, it was possible to conclude from the research that women tend to have dreams that are more excitable and have a negative content, while males have calmer dreams with a positive content. Furthermore, we also found that anticipatory dreams with higher levels of arousal are associated with better performance on tests.