Dreams may amplify rather than soothe emotional reactions to a painful election loss, study suggests

A recent study suggests that dreaming about the 2024 U.S. presidential election may amplify negative emotions instead of soothing them, unlike commonly believed. Published in PLOS One, the research reveals that on election night, Americans who dreamt of the presidential election reported feeling worse the following morning compared to those who did not dream.

This phenomenon was observed across Democratic and Independent groups, but not among Republicans. The study challenges the notion that dreaming helps soften emotional reactions to significant events. Large-scale, impactful events like terrorist attacks, pandemics, and national elections can influence sleep and dreams. Previous research has suggested that dreaming might aid in processing emotional experiences and regulating emotional responses, particularly during REM sleep when vivid dreams occur.

During REM sleep, brain regions involved in emotional processing, like the amygdala and medial prefrontal cortex, are highly active. Some studies have found that people become less strongly emotionally reactive to previously encountered emotional stimuli after sleeping, while others propose that dreaming about emotionally significant experiences could lead to improved mood and reduced distress.

Dreams might also impact how people envision their personal and collective futures. Researchers from the study, led by William H. Livingston, examined how the 2024 U.S. presidential election, a major collective event, appeared in Americans' dreams. They hypothesized that many would dream about the election due to its emotional weight and predicted that dreamers would feel less negatively about the election, and more positively about their personal and national futures the next day.

The study involved 931 U.S. adults, predominantly women and Democrats, who reported their political affiliation and emotions about the election and their personal and national futures on two consecutive days – Election Day and the following morning. Overall, 71% of participants remembered dreaming about the election, with 49% reporting election-related content in their dreams.

The researchers used AI to classify the dreams, finding a strong correlation with participants' own reports. Notably, those who dreamed about the election showed a larger negative shift in feelings about the election, their personal future, and the country's future compared to non-dreamers. This pattern was more pronounced among Democrats and Independents, with Republicans showing consistent emotional reactions regardless of whether they dreamed or not.