Dreams about Interpersonal Relations
Since humans are a social species, humans are biologically disposed to form bonds with other humans. Humans rely upon humans from earliest childhood through adulthood and old age. An early manifestation of the biological imperative to form bonds is illustrated by a vast literature on “attachment”, the need of the infant for the presence and availability of the mother or attachment figure. Other dispositions have been emphasized by Freud and his followers. Sexual attraction and display, anger and aggression when frustrated are biologically based dispositions that accompany and condition human relations. As a person matures, dreams grapple with these dispositions, cultural definitions and constraints, and the bigger picture of how the self’s purpose in relation to reality.
“Dreams about human relations arise from innate dispositions that potentiate and organize interpersonal associations. These dreams address social interactions and commonly entail themes which involve the interplay of dispositions, expectations and norms. Dreams occur at various levels of organization and sophistication, beginning with natural dispositions and concluding with transformational and archetypal dreams. This family of dreams is given variable recognition and emphasis within different clinical theories. One aspect or another is often highlighted, but few theories recognize any commonality to this group (van den Daele, 1992).”
Dreams about Interpersonal and Social Relations
Dream Type by Order of Complexity |
Brief Description |
| Interpersonal Needs | Expresses inchoate embodiment of species imperatives. |
| Abandonment/Loss | Involves affect associated with attachment or loss. |
| Punishment | Arise from fear and guilt and flight for safety. |
| Idealization | Embodies some relation, state, or object as an exemplar. |
| Social Normative | Provides a schematic framing of interpersonal relations and expectations by reference to “natural” or “fundamental” expectations. |
| Object-Relational | Addresses the relation of the self or aspects of the self to other persons with emphasis upon expectations, hopes, norms, and idealizations. |
| Complex Social Scenarios | Considers the complex interrelation of multiple actors in relation to the self’s status and purpose. |
| Philosophical | Reflects on human situation. Displays irony toward social expectations and norms. |
| Archetypal | Expresses an allegorical formulation of universal issues that pertain to human purpose (Jung, 1930). |
Table reproduced from van den Daele, L.D. (1992). Direct interpretation of dreams: Typology. American Journal of Psychoanalysis, 52, 307-326.
The developmental progression of relational dreams corresponds to the order in the table. Interpersonal imperative dreams are earliest and provide the “ground” for later relational dreams. Idealization and punishment dreams entail the application of fundamental interpersonal schema to human relations. Object relational dreams are more fully developed and involve complex interactions and expectations. Philosophical and archetypal dreams necessitate general frameworks within which the self and its relations to others and society are examined (van den Daele, 1992).