How do daydreams affect daydreamers? Just as a wandering mind makes us accident-prone at home, it leaves us vulnerable behind the wheel. In an unusual study, French researchers visited an ER to interview 955 patients involved in traffic accidents. The majority of them reported having daydreamed just before the crash; more than 10 percent considered the daydream’s content “highly disrupting/distracting.” [4] And many studies have shown that mind-wandering interferes with cognitive functions such as reading comprehension and memory retention. [5]

Yet other research suggests that daydreaming has benefits. For one, much mind-wandering is future-oriented, and researchers have found that it gives us a chance to think about our goals. [6] It also seems to bolster creativity. In one experiment, 145 undergraduates completed four “unusual uses” tasks, each requiring them to list as many uses as possible for an everyday object. After the first pair of tasks was completed, one group of subjects was assigned an undemanding activity intended to elicit mind-wandering. When the subjects proceeded to the second pair of tasks, the daydreamers performed 40 percent better than the non-dreamers. [7]

So what are people daydreaming about at any given moment? Most of us prefer not to say. One University of Minnesota survey found that 79 percent of adults would rather admit to a humiliating experience than divulge their daydreams. [8] Even more embarrassing than falling off a ladder, in other words, might be the thoughts that led you to do so.

The Studies:

[1] Killingsworth and Gilbert, “A Wandering Mind Is an Unhappy Mind” (Science, Nov. 2010)

[2] Sayette et al., “Lost in the Sauce” (Psychological Science, June 2009)

[3] Frank et al., “Validating Older Adults’ Reports of Less Mind-Wandering” (Psychology and Aging, June 2015)

[4] Galéra et al., “Mind Wandering and Driving” (British Medical Journal, Dec. 2012)

[5] Mooneyham and Schooler, “The Costs and Benefits of Mind-Wandering” (Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology, March 2013)

[6] Baird et al., “Back to the Future” (Consciousness and Cognition, Dec. 2011)

[7] Baird et al., “Inspired by Distraction” (Psychological Science, Oct. 2012)

[8] Klinger et al., “Disclosing Daydreams Versus Real Experiences” (Imagination, Cognition and Personality, Oct. 2004)

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