Dreaming and Daydreaming about Dreadful Possibilities: Primal Fears versus Existential Fears

Abstract

One hundred eighteen subjects, on average, reported the frequency of dreams portraying primal fears to be higher than either the frequency of dreams portraying existential fears or the frequency of daydreams portraying primal fears. For the 25 subjects seeking “symbolic immortality” through their children's and grandchildren's memories of them, primal fears of death were significantly less intense than existential fears of having no offspring or of being predeceased by offspring. For the 18 subjects seeking “symbolic immortality” through work products presumed to have lasting value, primal fears of death were marginally less intense than existential fears of goals not being achieved or of work products having no impact.