New Study Published!
Hildy Wen, of UMass Amherst, led a peer-reviewed paper, Daily feelings and the affective valence of daydreams in maladaptive daydreaming: A longitudinal analysis, published in Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice. The findings indicate that individuals who daydream to cope with negative memories, feelings, and realities experience more negative emotions following the daydream. In contrast, individuals who daydream about rewarding pastimes and as a means of wish fulfillment typically experience more positive emotions. From the abstract:
Individuals who experience higher levels of depression and daydream intensity experience greater levels of negative emotions after their daydreams. Individuals who daydream to cope with negative memories, feelings, and realities were found to experience more negative emotions following the daydream, whereas individuals who daydream about rewarding pastimes and as a means of wish fulfillment typically experience more positive emotions. We also noticed that enjoyment of the daydreams and perceived control of life both played a role in how individuals with MD felt after daydreaming.
Wen, H., Soffer-Dudek, N., & Somer, E. (2022). Daily feelings and the affective valence of daydreams in maladaptive daydreaming: A longitudinal analysis. Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/cns0000293
To read the full paper click HERE