Nightmare frequency and feminine and masculine gender roles: an online survey.
Schredl, M., & Göritz, AS (2021) Nightmare frequency and the role of feminine and masculine gender: an online survey. Dreaming, 31(2), 164-172. https://doi.org/10.1037/drm0000162
Commentary
Past research has shown that there are gender differences in nightmare frequency, with women reporting nightmares more often than men.
Several explanations have been proposed for this, but there is little empirical research. In the current online survey, 1,808 participants (1,110 women and 698 men) with a mean age of 45.64±15.33 years were tested against this explanation.
The results showed that the effect of gender was no longer significant when statistically controlled for male/female sex, which was either negatively or positively correlated with nightmare frequency. This finding indicates that gender roles may explain, at least partially, gender differences in nightmare frequency.
It also suggests that having nightmares with respect to self-rated femininity may be attributable to female sexual roles, a clue that could also test whether this attribution is related to the fact that nightmare sufferers seldom seek professional help for their condition.