Mental Health

Jealous Dreams Can Wreck Relationships

By Christine Hsu | Update Date: Dec 20, 2013 06:38 PM EST

Your dreams may be damaging your relationships, according to a new study.

Researchers believe that dreams could manifest reality, after they discovered that jealous dreams often lead to arguments among couples.

"These results provide evidence for the first time that specific dream content predicts subsequent behavior with relationship partners," researchers wrote, according to the Daily Mail.

"These results deepen our understanding of dreams, as a previously unstudied factor that contributes to important relationship processes - particularly love/intimacy and conflict," they added.

The latest study involved 61 men and women who were asked to record details of their dreams immediately after waking.  Participants, who were all in relationships, were also asked to complete personality questionnaires and details of their waking day. Details included the time they spend with their significant other, how often they argued and how loving they were.

The findings revealed that people reported more fights and problems in their relationships after having jealous or conflict dreams about their partner.

Interestingly, the study also revealed that participants displayed less affection and intimacy toward their partners the morning after dreaming about committing infidelity.

Because the findings could not be explained by what participants had done before dreaming, researchers said dreams might influence life more than the other way round.

"When recalling a dream after waking, the content and/or emotions are active in the mind, and once they are active, may influence subsequent behavior," researchers wrote.

However, not all the findings were negative. The study found that people spent more time with their partners and were closer to them in real life when they had positive dreams about their partner.

Researchers said the latest findings suggest that dreams can encourage bonding as well as conflict.

The findings are published in the journal Social, Psychological and Personality Science.

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