Dreaming about a colleague
The purest demonstration of the availability finding in the database. People report dreaming about colleagues they barely think about, and are troubled by it, and the explanation is simply that they see them constantly.
Also searched as: someone from work, a coworker, a workmate, somebody i barely know
The reported puzzle is always the same: why them. Dreamers describe someone they have no feelings about appearing more than people they love.
The answer is exposure. Dream characters follow how often somebody is encountered rather than how much they matter, which is one of the more robust findings in content analysis.
Romantic or sexual content involving a colleague is common and produces disproportionate waking awkwardness, which the kissing entry covers and which is equally unearned here.
Colleagues from old jobs appear for years, in the same way old teachers do.
Common associations
- Availability, not significance, which is the whole entry.
- Waking awkwardness, which is unearned.
- Old jobs, persisting for years.
- A person with no emotional weight, appearing anyway.
Positive readings
The reassurance is the point and it lands well: a dream about a colleague is not a disclosure of anything, and dreamers are usually relieved to hear the mechanism.
It is also a good test of the finding: log your cast for a fortnight against how often you actually see each person.
Difficult readings
The awkwardness is real and can affect how somebody behaves at work the next day, which is worth naming so it can be recognised as ordinary.
Where work is stressful, colleagues appear more, along with the office and boss material.
Psychological perspectives
Dream character frequency tracking waking encounter frequency is well supported, and this entry is where it is easiest to demonstrate, because the emotional weight is close to zero and the exposure is high.
That combination isolates the variable in a way family and partners cannot.
So a colleague dream is evidence about how dreams are cast rather than about the colleague, and saying that plainly is the useful thing.
Cultural and historical
No tradition. Workplaces of the modern kind are recent, as the office entry notes.
What exists is a modern anxiety about what a dream discloses, and it is that anxiety rather than the dream that this entry is answering.
What the sleep science says
Well established: dream character frequency follows waking encounter frequency rather than emotional importance.
Well established: dream content does not disclose attraction or intent.
Not established: any significance in who appears.
Your own context
- How often do you actually see them?
- Do you have any feelings about them awake?
- Was it awkward the next day?
- Which job were they from?
If this recurs
Log the cast against real contact frequency for two weeks. It is the single cleanest self-experiment in this database and it usually settles the question.
Emotions often reported
- embarrassment
- confusion
- detachment
- surprise
- unease
- curiosity
Specific a colleague dreams
Each of these is written separately, not generated from this page.
Questions for reflection
These are for your journal, not for us. Nothing you write is shared.
- How often do I actually see them?
- Do I have any feelings about them awake?
- Was it awkward afterwards?
Dream interpretation is subjective. Nothing here is a diagnosis, a prediction, or medical advice.
Sources and reviewed references
3 references. What these labels mean
- 1.The Scientific Study of Dreams: Neural Networks, Cognitive Development and Content AnalysisAcademic book
G. William Domhoff (2003) · American Psychological Association
Cited for: The continuity hypothesis (that dream content largely reflects waking concerns) and a sustained critique of symbolic dream interpretation as an evidential method.
- 2.The Content Analysis of DreamsAcademic book
Calvin Hall and Robert Van de Castle (1966) · Appleton-Century-Crofts
Cited for: The standard coding system for dream content, and the normative frequencies that later studies are compared against. The reason claims like "aggression is more common in dreams than friendliness" can be stated numerically at all.
- 3.Gender Differences in Dream Recall: A Meta-AnalysisPeer-reviewed research
Michael Schredl and Iris Reinhard (2008) · Journal of Sleep Research
Cited for: Dream-recall frequency as a measurable, individually stable trait, and the factors that move it.
Dreamers’ accounts
How dreams of a colleague have gone for other people, in their own words. Nothing here is an interpretation of anyone else's dream. It is a record of what happened and what it was like.
Nothing here yet. Be the first to say how this has gone for you.
Related records
- PlaceOfficeDreaming about work is extremely common and is one of the clearest demonstrations of the continuity hypothesis available: people dream about where they spend their days. The version worth attention is the one set in a job the dreamer left years ago.
- PersonBossA boss appears in dreams for the same reason a colleague does, which is availability rather than significance. The reports cluster on being assessed, and they belong with the examination material more than with the people material.
- PersonFriendFriends appear in dreams in proportion to how often they are seen rather than how much they matter, which is why a colleague can outrank somebody the dreamer loves. That is the most useful and least intuitive fact here.
- ActionKissingKissing dreams are reported far more for who than for what, and the most common complaint is that the person made no sense. That mismatch is the whole subject of this entry.
- PersonNeighbourNeighbours are a good demonstration of the availability rule at its plainest: people who matter very little and are seen constantly appear far more than the frequency of the relationship would suggest.
- PersonPartnerThe person a dreamer lives with is among the most frequent dream characters, which is exactly what the continuity finding predicts. The reports worth attention are the ones where the partner is present but wrong.