Hypnotic Susceptibility and Conformity: On the Mediational Mechanism of Suggestibility

Shames, Morris L.

doi:10.2466/pr0.1981.49.2.563

Cited by 10 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Highs may have responded to these social pressures to a greater extent than lows for several interrelated reasons. For instance, some evidence suggests that highs are more likely than lows to comply with social influence manipulations across a wide range of social situations (Graham & Green, 1981; Hajek & Spacek, 1987, Shames, 1981). Thus, the greater tendency of the highs to be led during interrogation and then to disavow under cross-examination may simply reflect a general tendency of highs to comply more than lows to social influence.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are hypnotically induced pseudomemories resistant to cross-examination?

Spaños

Gwynn²,

Comer³

et al. 1989

Law and Human Behavior

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Two experiments examined the effects of hypnotic procedures in response to interrogation and crossexamination in subjects who viewed a simulated robbery. Experiment 1 found that hypnotic and nonhypnotic leading interrogations were equally likely to produce misattributions and misidentification of mug shots. Moreover, under cross-examination subjects who had been given an hypnotic interrogation and those given nonhypnotic interrogations were equally likely to disavow their earlier misattributions and misidentifications. In both hypnotic and nonhypnotic treatments high hypnotizables were more likely than low hypnotizables to misattribute characteristics during interrogation and to disavow earlier misattributions during cross-examination. In Experiment 2 high hypnotizables given a cross-examination that legitimated their earlier errors as honest mistakes and that enabled them to disavow earlier testimony without discrediting themselves (hidden observer treatment) showed the highest and most consistent rates of disavowel. A stringent cross-examination that implied that subjects had been careless or dishonest during interrogation produced the lowest rates of disavowel.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are hypnotically induced pseudomemories resistant to cross-examination?

Spaños

Gwynn²,

Comer³

et al. 1989

Law and Human Behavior

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Arguments that the two constructs bear little resemblance to one another (Gudjonsson, 1987;Register & Kihlstrom, 1988) are challenged by others (Linton & Sheehan, 1994). The findings with respect to the relationship between hypnotizability and social susceptibility (operationalized as suggestibility, responses to the autokinetic effect or measures of conformity) point in a positive direction (Hayek & Spacek, 1987;Shames, 1981), although some results were inconsistent (for an overview see Gwynn & Spanos, 1996). One would expect a close relationship between interrogative suggestibility and social influence, because interrogative suggestibility is basically a special case of social suggestibility which stresses social pressure.…”

Section: Suggestibilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Field dependence, suggestibility and belief in paranormal phenomena

Hergovich

2003

Personality and Individual Differences

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This paper examines the relationships between field dependence, suggestibility and belief in paranormal phenomena. In Experiment 1, 91 subjects underwent an hypnosis session to determine their suggestibility. They also completed a paranormal belief scale and a computer test of field dependence. It was shown that suggestibility and field dependence had positive and significant correlations with the belief in paranormal phenomena. In a second experiment (n=39), the interrogative suggestibility of the subjects was assessed. Field dependence/independence was measured using the Embedded Figures Test (EFT) (Witkin, Oltman, Raskin, & Karp, 1971) and the degree of paranormal belief using the paranormal belief scale of Tobacyk and Milford (1983). The results confirmed the hypothesis that more field-dependent and suggestible subjects have a greater belief in paranormal phenomena than field-independent and non-suggestible subjects, although the relationship only held for the subscale ''Superstition''. The findings with respect to field dependence as measured with the EFT were replicated in a third study (n=150). Field dependence had a main effect on the amount of belief in ''Superstition'' across three different instructions. An effect of the different instructions suggesting that paranormal phenomena are scientifically proven (unproven) or an interaction between instructions and cognitive style of the subjects could not be found. In summary, the findings indicate a sustantial relationship between suggestibility and field dependence with belief in paranormal phenomena which could be explained by different coping mechanisms with regard to uncertainty in the external world. #

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“…Researchers who support the notion of demand characteristics in hypnotic responding (Coe & Sarbin, 1991;Spanos, 1991;Wagstaff, 1981Wagstaff, , 1991 might suggest that shifting sociopsychological factors have increased the demands of the hypnotic situation, leading to greater responsiveness. Indeed, a possible relationship between hypnotic susceptibility and conformity has been suggested (Shames, 1981). Although this explanation cannot be ruled out, it is weakened by the research showing a decrease in conformity since the 1950s.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Hypnotic susceptibility scales: Are the mean scores increasing?

Benham

Smith

Nash

2002

International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis

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The Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale, Form C (SHSS:C), developed and named 37 years ago, is arguably the "gold standard" of hypnotic susceptibility scales. However, it has been the impression of several researchers that means obtained on the SHSS:C are higher now than in previous years. The authors comprehensively review studies using the SHSS:C over a 4-decade period. The findings demonstrate a significant linear trend between year and SHSS:C scores, with higher obtained means in more recent work. The authors also report a similar analysis of research with the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, Form A. Although the mechanisms underlying this trend can only be speculated upon at present, these findings underscore the importance of using local control groups in research on hypnotizability.

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Hypnotic Susceptibility and Conformity: On the Mediational Mechanism of Suggestibility

Cited by 10 publications

References 5 publications

Are hypnotically induced pseudomemories resistant to cross-examination?

Are hypnotically induced pseudomemories resistant to cross-examination?

Field dependence, suggestibility and belief in paranormal phenomena

Hypnotic susceptibility scales: Are the mean scores increasing?

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