Summary: Although popular culture urges us to “dream big,” new research shows the need to temper those aspirations with an understanding of how social circumstances shape what people imagine for their futures.
Source: Rutgers University
“Social location” — the position a person occupies in society because of class, race, gender, age, life stage or disruptive events — shapes what people allow themselves to dream about, when they do it, and how realistic those dreams feel.
People may freely imagine becoming a film star, traveling the world, or climbing the career ladder, but not everyone has the same freedom to hope or the same likelihood of seeing those hopes realized. That is the central finding of Dreams of a Lifetime: How Who We Are Shapes How We Imagine Our Future, published this month.
Karen Cerulo, professor of sociology at Rutgers, co-authored the book with Janet Ruane, Professor Emerita of Sociology at Montclair State University. Together they interviewed nearly 300 people about their long-term dreams and the forces that shape those aspirations.
Their participants included people from a range of class backgrounds, racial and gender identities, and life stages — newlyweds, new parents, those beginning new jobs, recent immigrants, and people confronting hardships such as poverty, homelessness, severe medical diagnoses, or prolonged unemployment.
“Jiminy Cricket’s line, ‘When you wish upon a star, makes no difference who you are,’ may hold true for some,” Cerulo said. “But for others it is a misleading promise. Class, race, gender, age and unexpected life events create real barriers to opportunity. Our study shows that dreams are constrained in ways many of us do not fully recognize.”
Gender and Dream Themes
The research finds both similarities and gendered differences in how men and women imagine the future. Men and women were equally likely to include career achievements in their dreams and to express a desire to help others or gift money later in life. Yet the content of those dreams often followed traditional gender patterns.
Men were roughly twice as likely as women to describe adventure as a central theme (16 percent versus 9 percent), and they more frequently mentioned fame, wealth and power (15 percent versus 11 percent). Women, by contrast, were nearly twice as likely to center family in their dreams — especially motherhood and family unity (18 percent versus 10 percent) — and were more inclined to emphasize appearance, reflecting broader gender socialization.
Women also reported higher persistence and confidence in their dreams: 74 percent of women said they never give up on their dreams versus 63 percent of men, and 86 percent of women judged their dreams realistic compared with 63 percent of men. About two-thirds of women estimated at least a 70 percent chance their dreams would come true, while only 48 percent of men felt that level of confidence. More women than men insisted dreaming matters, with 93 percent of women endorsing the importance of dreaming versus 77 percent of men.
Racial and Ethnic Differences: Latinx Respondents Less Optimistic
Across most racial groups surveyed — Asian, Black, multiracial and White — more than two-thirds of respondents believed they had a 70 percent or greater chance of achieving their dreams, and most viewed their dreams as realistic. Latinx respondents, however, reported lower levels of optimism. Slightly more than half of Latinx participants considered their dreams realistic, and only 41 percent believed there was at least a 70 percent chance their dreams would come true.
Latinx respondents were also the most likely to report receiving negative cultural messages about dreaming, such as the belief that “the deck is stacked” or that the system is rigged — messages that discourage long-term imagining and lower expectations.
National Sentiment and the American Dream
Cerulo and Ruane examined how popular culture in the United States portrays dreaming, the positive and negative lessons people internalize, and how those messages intersect with personal circumstances. Their survey data showed that optimism about the nation’s future outpaced pessimism by about four to one, and 82 percent of Americans said their version of the “American Dream” was either already achieved or within reach. Sixty-seven percent of national respondents reported feeling optimistic about their personal futures.
Even among groups more likely to face structural barriers, levels of optimism were often high, at times matching or exceeding optimism among White respondents. Still, the researchers emphasize that cultural encouragement to “dream big” can clash with structural realities. Without an accurate understanding of how politics, money and power shape opportunities, well-meaning messages can set people up for frustration and self-blame when obstacles arise.
“If children are told, ‘You can be anything — even president,’ without context about how institutions and resources affect access to that path, those messages can foster feelings of failure or resentment later on,” Cerulo noted. Studying dreams, the authors argue, offers a valuable lens for understanding inequality that exists before actions are taken or outcomes are reached.
The book concludes that reducing structural inequalities — by addressing the social and economic barriers that limit opportunity — is essential to making the promise of equal possibility more than an ideal. Only by lifting those burdens can the cultural message that anyone can achieve their dreams become a reality for a broader range of people.
About this psychology research news
Author: Megan Schumann
Source: Rutgers University
Contact: Megan Schumann – Rutgers University
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