The Classification and Coding of Social Interactions
Introduction
With the cast of characters introduced and
listed on the dream program, attention can now be devoted to the unfolding of
the play. Lines will be spoken, characters will move about the stage, and the
plot will develop. The relative emphasis given to dialogue as contrasted with
actions will depend upon the author of the dream and the message he or she
wishes to express. A character's remarks may serve to insult, flatter, or
"proposition" another character, or a character may act by assaulting,
supporting, or seducing another character. These social interactions may
occur between individual characters or sometimes groups of characters may be
involved.
In treating the social interactions present in dreams, we code three classes:
aggressive, friendly and sexual interactions. Coding procedures are identical for
these three classes and the same notational system is also followed for some
of the the activities that will be discussed in
the next section. This section will deal only with social interactions.
Aggressive Interactions
The first class of social interaction to be described is that of
aggression. We code eight subclasses of aggression, which are numbered
from 1 to 8. Those numbered from 1 to 4 involve various forms of non-physical
aggression. Verbal remarks comprise the most frequent form of nonphysical
aggression, although on occasion, expressive behavior may be used for the
same purpose. Feelings of aggression which the character experiences but
which do not reach any overt level of expression are also included within
this grouping. The subclasses numbered from 5 to 8 involve various forms of
physical aggression. Included are those acts where a character kills, hits,
chases, or robs another character.
It should be noted that in all the subclasses that follow, except for Al, the
situations involve a deliberate, intentional act on the part of one
character to harm or annoy some other character. The classification of
Misfortunes, which will be discussed in a later section, is used to handle
those situations where injury, mishap, or adversity occurs to a character
through chance or environmental circumstances over which it is impossible to
exert personal control.
Subclasses of Aggressions
- A8: An aggressive act which results in the death of a
character.
- "This dark stranger sprang at the blonde woman and HACKED HER TO PIECES
with a big knife."
- "I SQUASHED the bug with my foot."
- A7: An aggressive act which involves an attempt to
physically harm a character. The attempt may be carried out through personal
assault or through use of a weapon. Threatening a character with a weapon is
also included in this subclass.
- "I SLAPPED him in the face."
- "These two boys were THROWING STONES at each other."
- "He POINTED A GUN at me and told me to hurry up."
- A6: An aggressive act which involves a character being
chased, captured, confined, or physically coerced into performing some act.
- "I kept trying to run faster but the gorilla was CATCHING UP with me.
- "The little baby had been KIDNAPPED by someone."
- "The police PUT the suspect IN JAIL."
- "HE HELD MY WRIST AND HE PULLED ME ALONG the street with him."
- A5: An aggressive act which involves the theft or
destruction of possessions belonging to a character.
- "My room was all messed up and the TV WAS MISSING."
- "He SET FIRE to the farmer's barn."
- "She THREW her father's spectacles INTO THE LAKE."
- A4: An aggressive act in which a serious accusation or
verbal threat of harm is made against a character.
- "This old lady kept SHOUTING THAT I WAS THE MAN THE POLICE WERE LOOKING
FOR."
- "Jim told his boss that if he didn't stop, he was GOING TO PUNCH HIM ON
THE NOSE."
- A3: This subclass covers all situations where there is
an attempt by one character to reject, exploit, control, or verbally coerce
another character. Such activity may be expressed through dismissals,
demands, refusals, disobedience, or any other type of negativistic or
deceitful behavior.
- "My boyfriend from back home sent me a letter saying that HE WASN'T GOING
TO WRITE ME ANYMORE."
- "She TURNED HER BACK on her husband and WALKED OUT OF THE ROOM."
- "This fat lady INSISTED that the crying child finish all his supper."
- "My roommate's parents WOULDN'T ALLOW her to go to New York."
- "I found out that my brother HAD LIED ABOUT ME to my teacher."
- A2: Aggression displayed through verbal or expressive
activity. Included are such activities as one character yelling or swearing
at another or when a character criticizes or scowls at another.
- "I could hear the couple next door ARGUING."
- "My father SAID I WAS A LOUSY DRIVER."
- A1: Covert feeling of hostility or anger without any
overt expression of aggression.
- "I KEPT GETTING MADDER AND MADDER at him but never said anything."
- "I FELT LIKE SPANKING my son but I didn't."
Terminology Employed for Aggressive Interactions
In order for an aggressive act to occur, some character usually initiates the
activity and some character has this aggressive activity directed against him.
The character who initiates the aggression is called the aggressor, and
the person who is the recipient of the aggression is called the victim.
If the victim responds with any type of counteraggression, it is called a
reciprocated aggression. In those cases where no aggressor or victim
can be clearly identified because the characters are engaging in the same
aggressive activity at the same time, the interaction is called a mutual
aggression.
It will be recalled that in the preceding section, the dreamer was not listed
as a character because he or she is present in virtually every dream. The
dreamer is coded (coding symbol: D), however, for interactions,
because he or she is a participant in many of them. Aggressions in which the
dreamer is not a participant are called witnessed aggressions. When a
character aggresses against himself or herself, this is called a
self-directed aggression.
Procedure for Coding Aggressive Interactions
In the examples given below, it will be seen that the coding symbol for the
aggressor is written first. The type of aggression displayed by the aggressor
is then indicated by placing the number of the appropriate subclass after the
coding symbol for the aggressor. This is followed by a "sideward V"
(>) pointing toward the coding symbol for the character who is the
victim. Reciprocated aggressions are designated by placing the letter
R after the aggressive subclass number rather than a sideward V.
Mutual aggressions are indicated by an equal sign (=). If more than
one character is involved, either as aggressor or victim, the coding symbols
for the characters are joined by plus signs (+). Self-directed aggressions
are denoted by placing an asterisk (*) after the number of the
aggressive subclass.
| "I HIT my brother with all my might on the head."
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| "My girl friend SAID I WAS A TIGHTWAD."
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| "This fellow and I started to TRADE PUNCHES."
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| "This tough-looking guy started to TIE UP the policeman."
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| "The two boys... I should judge they were about 15... were CALLING EACH
OTHER BAD NAMES."
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| "As I entered my bedroom, my mother who had been sweeping the floor and
my sister who had been cleaning the woodwork suddenly took all my clothes out
of the closet and began THROWING ALL MY CLOTHES OUT the window."
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| "This sinister-looking man LUNGED AT ME with a club in his hand so I
KICKED HIM in the groin."
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| "I CALLED HER A SIMPLETON, and she GRABBED MY BLOUSE AND TORE IT."
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| "She told her husband she WAS GOING TO GET A DIVORCE. Then he grabbed a
gun from the drawer and KILLED HER."
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| "I SAID that I WAS A LOUSY DANCER."
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| "The old man started to SLASH HIS OWN WRISTS."
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Coding Rules
- 1. It is considered an aggressive act even though the aggressor may
be a sanctioned agent of punishment or professionally employed for such a
purpose.
| "My nine-year-old cousin Tommy was BEING SPANKED BY HIS MOTHER."
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| "The POLICEMAN CAPTURED THE ITALIAN MOB LEADER."
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- 2. Criticism of a character's possessions is treated as criticism
of the character himself.
| "My sorority sister said that MY NEW FORMAL LOOKED VERY UNATTRACTIVE."
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| "My 16-year-old brother Jack said MY CAR SHOULD BE IN A JUNK YARD."
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- 3. If the aggressor or the victim is unknown, use a Q to indicate
this lack of identification.
| "The miners REFUSED to go to work."
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| "The company FIRED me."
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- 4. If there is a continued sequence of aggressive acts between the
same aggressor and victim and these acts are identical as to the subclass of
aggression involved, only one aggression is coded.
| "This big sailor PUSHED the little sailor, then began hitting him,
and after he had knocked him down, he began to kick him."
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- 5. If more than one aggressive act takes place between the same
aggressor and victim, code each aggression where a different subclass of
aggressions occurs and indicate this linkage by placing a { mark in front of
the linked aggressive interactions.
| "This wild-looking fellow came out of the alley and approached my
boyfriend Sam and me. He CALLED SAM YELLOW, then he said he WAS GOING TO CALL
HIS GANG TO TAKE CARE OF SAM. We didn't say or do anything, and then he TOOK A
KNIFE AND STARTED TOWARD Sam."
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1MSA | 2> | 1MKA |
| 1MSA | 4> | 1MKA |
| 1MSA | 7> | 1MKA |
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- 6. When aggressive acts are separated in time through intervening
events, code each aggression even if the same subclass of aggression is
involved between the same aggressor and victim.
| "I RIPPED UP some of my husband's love letters from an old girl friend
that were up in the attic but then thought about it and quit. I went
downstairs and started to sew. After awhile I turned on TV but I kept
thinking about the other letters so I went back up to the attic and RIPPED UP
all the rest of them."
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- 7. Reciprocated aggressions are coded according to the same rules
that are applied to initiated aggressions.
Friendly Interactions
The second type of social interaction that we code is friendliness.
Seven subclasses of friendliness are distinguished below. These subclasses
cannot be grouped as easily as the aggressive ones into physical versus
nonphysical or verbal forms of expression. Once again, we urge that the
numbers associated with the subclasses not be treated as if they represented
some measure of intensity or strength of response. The various subclasses
discussed below all involve a deliberate, purposeful attempt on the
part of one character to express friendliness toward another. This may
eventuate in some pleasant outcome for the person receiving the friendliness.
The classification of Good Fortunes, to be discussed in a later section, is
used to handle those situations where some pleasant outcome (e.g., finding
money) occurs as the result of environmental circumstances rather than as a
result of personal interaction with another character.
Subclasses of Friendliness
- F7 Friendliness expressed through a desire for a
long-term close relationship with a character. Included in this subclass are
getting married, becoming engaged, and falling in love.
- "I dreamed my boyfriend and I WERE GETTING MARRIED in this
unusual-looking church."
- "I was so happy because my boyfriend had just GIVEN ME A BEAUTIFUL
ENGAGEMENT RING."
- F6 Friendliness expressed through socially acceptable
forms of physical contact. Included in this subclass are such acts as shaking
hands, cuddling a baby, and dancing. Kissing and embracing are also included
when they are clearly nonsexual in intent. Sexual activity is not included
here but is treated later in this section as a separate interaction.
- "My son began TO PET the new puppy."
- "I was so glad to see Mom that I GAVE HER A BIG KISS."
- "My brother gave me A PAT ON THE SHOULDER."
- F5 Friendliness expressed by taking the initiative in
requesting a character to share in a pleasant social activity. Included are
situations where one character requests another to accompany him to some
event, asks for a date, and visits someone. In the latter case, friendliness
is coded because visiting implies someone is taking the initiative or an
active role in furthering a relationship with another character. Simply
associating with a character or jointly participating in an activity is not
coded as a friendly act.
- "My roommate ASKED ME TO SPEND THE WEEKEND at her home."
- "I phoned Judy to ASK FOR A DATE."
- "The boy I had a date with and I went bowling."
- F4 Friendliness expressed through extending assistance
to a character or offering to do so. Included in this subclass are helping,
protecting, and rescuing acts.
- "When we received the news, our family BEGAN TO PRAY FOR HIS RECOVERY."
- "I found out where the poor child lived and TOOK HER HOME."
- F3 Friendliness expressed by offering a gift or
loaning a possession to a character.
- "John GAVE ME A LOVELY BLANKET for our anniversary."
- "I let my brother BORROW MY CAR for the trip."
- F2 This subclass covers a wide variety of expressions
of friendliness that may be conveyed through either verbal or gestural means.
Included are such activities as welcoming, greeting, waving hello or goodbye,
introducing one person to another person, smiling at someone, phoning or
writing someone for a friendly purpose, and sympathizing with or praising
someone.
- "He TOOTED THE CAR HORN IN RECOGNITION as he passed me on the street."
- "I CALLED my father TO TELL HIM THE GOOD NEWS."
- "I COMPLIMENTED Jean on her new dress."
- F1 Friendliness is felt toward a character but it is
not expressed overtly.
- "I FELT SO GOOD INSIDE just to be with Tom."
- "I FELT VERY SORRY when I heard what happened to Mrs. Smith."
- "I THOUGHT that the new girl LOOKED VERY ATTRACTIVE."
Terminology Employed for Friendly Interactions
The initiator of a friendly act is called the befriender, and the
recipient of a friendly act is called the befriended. If the
befriended responds with any type of friendliness, it is called
reciprocated friendliness. In those cases where no befriender or
befriended can be clearly identified because the characters are engaging in
the same friendly exchange at the same time, the interaction is called
mutual friendliness. If the dreamer does not participate in the
friendly interaction, it is called witnessed friendliness. When a
character may express friendliness to himself or herself it is called
self-directed friendliness.
Procedure for Coding Friendly Interactions
The procedures are exactly the same as those for coding aggressive
interactions. The coding symbol for the befriender is written first, followed
by the number of the appropriate subclass. Next the "sideward V" (>)
appears and points toward the coding symbol for the befriended character.
Reciprocated friendliness is denoted by placing the letter R after the
friendly subclass number rather than a sideward V. Mutual friendliness is
indicated by an equal sign (=). If more than one character is
involved, either as befriender or befriended, the coding symbols for the
characters are joined by a plus sign (+). Self-directed friendliness is
indicated by placing an asterisk after the number of the friendly subclass.
| "I noticed this little kitten meowing high in the tree. I CLIMBED UP AND
BROUGHT IT DOWN."
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| "Mother had sent some kind of CONGRATULATORY CARD to the Browns on the
birth of their new son."
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| "Jim and I rushed toward each other, then STARTED TO SHAKE HANDS AND SLAP
EACH OTHER ON THE BACK."
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| "The principal came from the burning school building CARRYING a little
girl. Just before he put her down, SHE GAVE HIM A BIG HUG."
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| "My cousin ASKED ME TO GO TO THE FAIR with him, and I SAID I WOULD BE
GLAD TO GO."
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| "I SMILED AT MYSELF IN A PLEASED WAY in the mirror."
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Coding Rules
- 1. It is considered to be a friendly act even though the befriender
may be acting in a societal or professional role.
| "I dreamed our house caught on fire and a FIREMAN HELPED ME CLIMB DOWN A
LADDER from the second floor."
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| "The DOCTOR SET my baby's broken leg."
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- 2. If a character treats another character's possessions in a
friendly manner, it is coded as a friendly treatment of the character himself.
| "My girl friend ADMIRED MY NEW CAR."
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- 3. If the befriender or the befriended is not specified in the
dream report, use Q to indicate this lack of identification.
| "The WELCOME WAGON left some gifts for me."
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| "I gave the CHURCH a hundred dollars."
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- 4. If there is a continued sequence of friendly acts between the
same befriender and befriended characters and these acts involve the same
subclass of friendliness, only one friendly act is coded.
| "After class, she SMILED, said 'Hello,' and then began to tell the
professor how much she enjoyed his lecture."
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- 5. If more than one friendly act takes place between the same
befriender and befriended characters, code each different subclass of
friendly acts separately and indicate their linkage by placing a { mark in
front of the linked interactions.
| "The truck driver gave me a BIG SMILE and then he HELPED me change the
tire."
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1MOA | 2> | D |
| 1MOA | 4> | D |
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- 6. When friendly acts are separated in time through intervening
events, code each friendly act even if the same subclass of friendliness is
involved between the same befriender and befriended characters.
| "I WAVED HELLO to Sally as I walked into Grants. I bought some records,
watched part of a TV show, and ate lunch at the snack bar there. As I walked
out the door I saw Sally again and WAVED HELLO a second time."
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- 7. Reciprocated friendliness is coded according to the same rules
that are applied for initiated friendliness.
Sexual Interactions
The remaining class of social interactions is sexual. Five subclasses
of sexual interaction are described below. The most frequent form of sexual
expression involves some type of physical contact, although we have one
subclass to handle sexual fantasies.
Subclasses of Sexual Interactions
- S5 A character has or attempts to have sexual
intercourse with another character.
- "My girl was willing and I was just getting ready to INSERT MY PENIS when
I woke up."
- S4 This subclass involves the various types of
non-intercourse activities often preceding intercourse. Included are handling
another character's sex organs and related fondling and petting activities.
Masturbation is also included in this category.
- "I dreamed I looked in the window across the street and I saw this man I
didn't recognize FONDLING THE NEIGHBOR LADY'S BREASTS."
- S3 This subclass covers necking and "nonplatonic"
kissing. Kissing as a form of greeting, e.g., between family members, is
coded under friendliness.
- "And then my boyfriend KISSED me long and hard."
- S2 A character makes sexual overtures to or
"propositions" another character.
- "This good-looking woman who was a stranger to me SUGGESTED WE GO TO HER
APARTMENT AND MAKE LOVE."
- S1 A character has sexual thoughts or fantasies about
another character.
- "I IMAGINED what it would be like to SLEEP WITH Elizabeth Taylor."
Terminology Employed for Sexual Interactions
The character who takes the initiative in starting a sexual interaction is
called the initiator; the character who is the object of the sexual
interaction is called the recipient. If the recipient responds with
any type of sexual activity, it is called reciprocated sexuality. When
no initiator or recipient can be clearly identified, the interaction is called
a mutual sexuality. If the dreamer does not participate in the sexual
interaction, it is called a witnessed sexuality. When a character
indulges in solitary sexual activity, it is called self-directed
sexuality.
Procedure for Coding Sexual Interactions
The procedure is exactly the same as that for coding the other social
interactions. The coding symbol of the initiator is written first, followed
by the subclass number and a > pointing toward the coding symbol
for the recipient. Reciprocated sexuality is designated by placing the letter
R after the sexual subclass number rather than a sideward V. Mutual
sexual interactions are indicated by an equal sign. If more than one
character is involved, either as initiator or as recipient, the coding
symbols for the characters are joined by a plus sign. Self-directed sexuality
is denoted by placing an asterisk after the number of the sexual subclass.
Coding Rules
- 1. It is considered a sexual act even though the initiator is
acting in a professional role.
| "A red-headed PROSTITUTE walked up and ASKED ME if it were worth fifty
dollars for a little fun up in her room."
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- 2. If there is a continued sequence of sexual activities between
the same initiator and recipient and these activities involve the same
subclass, only one sexual activity is coded.
| "I dreamed that J.R. and I were married and it was our wedding night. WE
WERE MAKING LOVE and trying out different positions. First J. R. lay on
top of me, then we had relations lying on our side, and then
finally I got on top of him."
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- 3. If more than one sexual activity takes place between the same
initiator and recipient, code each different subclass involved and indicate
their linkage by placing a { mark in front of the linked interactions.
| "I was in a hotel room with some gorgeous-looking blond wearing a flimsy
nightgown. I walked over to the bed where she was and started to KISS HER. I
got into bed and began to RUN MY HANDS OVER HER BODY. Just as I started to
ENTER HER, I woke up and had to change my pajamas."
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D | 3> | 1FSA |
| D | 4> | 1FSA |
| D | 5> | 1FSA |
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- 4. When sexual activities are separated in time through intervening
events, code each sexual activity even if the same subclass of sex is involved
between the same initiator and recipient.
| "My boyfriend and I WERE NECKING on my living room couch. My parents came
home and we all watched TV for a while and had some coffee later. After they
went upstairs to bed, we BEGAN TO NECK AGAIN."
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- 5. Reciprocated sexual acts are coded according to the same rules
that apply to initiated sexual acts.
(Return to top)
 Go back to the coding rules index.
 Move on to the coding rules for activities.
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