Responding to hypnotic and nonhypnotic suggestions.

This study examined the relative impact of hypnotic inductions and several other variables on hypnotic and nonhypnotic responsiveness to imaginative suggestions. The authors examined how imaginative suggestibility, response expectancies, motivation to respond to suggestions, and hypnotist-induced performance standards affected participants' responses to both hypnotic and nonhypnotic suggestions and their suggestion-related experiences. Suggestions were administered to 5 groups of participants using a test-retest design: (a) stringent performance standards; (b) lenient performance standards; (c) hypnosis test-retest; (d) no-hypnosis test-retest; and (e) no-hypnosis/hypnosis control. The authors found no support for the influence of a hypnotic induction or performance standards on responding to suggestions but found considerable support for the role of imaginativesuggestibility and response expectancies in predicting responses to both hypnotic and nonhypnotic suggestions.

Int J Clin Exp Hypn. 2011 Jul;59(3):327-49. Meyer EC, Lynn SJ. Binghamton University, State University of New York, USA.