German scientists have determined the difference between the dreams of men and women. Studies were carried out from 1956 to 2000, with the participation of several thousand people.
Based on the results, German men most often dreamed of work, sex and physical aggression, while German women's dreams contained mostly things from their everyday life, family or clothes.
The entire results from the study were published in the magazine Psychologie heute. The official data were presented by the head of the project, Dr. Michael Schredl. He is a professor at the Institute of Mental Health in Munich.
The head of the department for sleep disorders in the psychiatric hospital in Germany, Hans Gunther Vis, explains that unfamiliar persons appeared more often in men's dreams, while generally more friends and relatives were present in women's dreams.
According to the experts who held the study, the emancipation of women in no way affected their dreams during that studied period.
Other studies have shown that men dream of representatives of their own sex more often than the opposite sex. Research has shown that 70% of the characters in men's dreams were other men. In women, the ratio of men and women in their dreams was nearly the same.
The main purpose of dreams is to give the brain an opportunity to recover and rest. Finnish scientists have concluded that the lack of sleep is just as harmful as too much of it. They claim that about 8 hours of sleep per night is plenty and that it prevents people from falling sick.
This, according to the scientists, is the most suitable amount of sleep duration. For those who sleep less than 6 hours or more than 9, there is a greater risk of missing work due to illness.
It's best for women to sleep for 7 hours and 38 min, while men should get a few extra minutes - 7 hours and 46 min. 3760 people participated in the Finnish study, all between the ages of 30 and 64. All of these people worked during the past year.
