Dream experiences of people living in Van province and content analysis of their dreams

This thesis aims to analyze the dream experiences and the content of dreams of individuals living in the Van province. Dream content is a valuable data source for understanding a culture's social values, beliefs, and individual thoughts. Dreams can reflect the influence of a culture on individuals and the symbolic meanings embedded within a society's collective unconscious. Therefore, the content analysis of dreams is an important method in cultural research. This study was conducted using the Hall/Van de Castle dream content analysis method to reveal the gender differences in dream content and the cultural reflections of these differences. In the research, the dreams of 250 participants residing in Van province were collected and analyzed. These participants consist of 125 women and 125 men. The dream contents were categorized and evaluated using the standard dream content analysis method developed by Hall/Van de Castle. With this method, dreams were examined under main themes such as gender, social roles, aggression, misfortune, success, family relations, and other key themes. The findings of the study reveal significant differences in the dream content of women and men. Women tend to have dreams related to social relationships and family dynamics, while men more frequently have dreams focused on work life, competition, and power. Comparisons made with Hall/Van de Castle's American norms show that cultural and societal factors have a significant impact on the dream content of Turkish participants. It was found that the dreams of Turkish participants differ markedly from American norms, and these differences are linked to cultural norms and social roles. This study demonstrates that the content analysis of dreams is a powerful tool for understanding gender and cultural differences and emphasizes the necessity of considering cultural perspectives in dream analysis.