Response expectancies and beliefs about hypnosis: another look

Abstract

The present study found 266 undergraduates' pre‐induction beliefs about hypnosis and their self‐reported expectation of experiencing hypnosis to correlate with their performance on the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, Form A (Shor & Orne, 1962). Futhermore, participants tended to label their hypnotic experience (on a 7‐point scale employed by Radtke and Spanos, 1982) in a manner consistent with their pre‐induction beliefs and expectancies. Finally, the present study showed that pre‐induction expectancies about the likelihood of being hypnotized influenced post hoc ratings of participants apart from actual hypnotic performance. Findings are discussed as supporting Kirsch's (1985) expectancy model of hypnosis. Copyright © 1997 British Society of Experimental and Clinical Hypnosis

What the public think about hypnosis and hypnotherapy: A narrative review of literature covering opinions and attitudes of the general public 1996–2016

“…No information was found on this topic, other than that most people think it requires relaxation. 39 A number of studies have addressed the question of control (n=5 22,28,38,40,41 ) within the transition into trance, these have found that the majority of people reject the ideas that the hypnotist is in charge 40 , and that people can be hypnotized against their will. 22,28 Most believe that collaboration is required for hypnosis.…”

“…39 A number of studies have addressed the question of control (n=5 22,28,38,40,41 ) within the transition into trance, these have found that the majority of people reject the ideas that the hypnotist is in charge 40 , and that people can be hypnotized against their will. 22,28 Most believe that collaboration is required for hypnosis. 38,41 Of those papers which examined respondents' perception of their own, and other people's, hypnotizability (n=5), 22,28,[42][43][44] the majority reported that most people felt they could enter a hypnotic state.…”

“…18 However no review covers the public's conception of hypnotherapy, despite nearly 80 years of research. 19,20. The motivation behind previous public opinion research has varied, exploring how beliefs predict outcomes, [21][22][23] how changing attitudes may affect outcomes, 24,25 how a patient group perceive hypnotherapy 26 and gathering data towards a general picture of CAM. 27 Some research has tried to get a picture of the beliefs of the general public 28,29 but this is inevitably limited to a single population group or culture.…”

Hypnotic Responsiveness:Expectancy, Attitudes, Fantasy Proneness, Absorption, and Gender

“…Social cognitive theorists contend that expectations play a preeminent role in responding to hypnotic suggestions (e.g., Kirsch & Lynn, 1995;Page, Handley, & Green, 1997). Kirsch, Silva, Comey, and Reed (1995), for example, determined that response expectancy, relative to measures of absorption, fantasy proneness, and motivation, was the strongest single predictor of hypnotic responsiveness.…”

Beliefs and attitudes of Chinese regarding hypnosis and its applications

“…Kroger, 1963;Marcuse, 1964;Wallace, 1979;Crasilneck, 1985;Pratt, Wo od and Alman, 1988;Vingoe, 1995;Page, Handley and Green, 1997;Johnson and Hauk, 1999;Koizumi, 2001). According to Kroger (1963), the public's misperception and the concomitant fears cluster around the loss of control, for example, 'I will reveal secrets'; 'I will be made to do things against my will'; 'the hypnotist will have complete control of my mind'.…”