Dissemination of hypnosis in online press written in Spanish

Abstract

The patients/clients and the skilled professionals’ beliefs and expectations about hypnosis, influence the decision to use this procedure as well as its effects. On the other hand, in the Internet there is plenty of information about hypnosis, which shapes opinions of public and professionals. Therefore, the aim of this study is to analyze the quality of the information disseminated by non-specialized online press. 334 articles (from 2011 to 2012) and 200 articles (from 2018-2019) written in Spanish and published online in non-specialized publications press have been analyzed. Results show that, although a high number of articles demystify hypnosis, many of them disseminate myths as well. The highest percentage of articles that demystify hypnosis is associated with the press topic “Science and Culture”. Results indicate that myths are broadly present in the popular culture and are maintained with the support of their ongoing dissemination in the newspapers online articles. This supports the importance of fostering the dissemination of scientific available evidence about applied and basic research on hypnosis.