Effects of Sex and Degree of Personal Contact on Hypnotic Susceptibility

Abstract

In the typical hypnotic susceptibility experiment a subject receives a pre-briefing and then is exposed to hypnotic suggestions. In conditions of high personal contact these functions (receptionist and hypnotist) were performed by the same person and in conditions of low personal contact by different persons. Hypnotic susceptibility scores of 77 subjects suggested that in conditions of low personal contact, the sex of the receptionist significantly affected these scores. Sex of hypnotist was not a significant influence in conditions of either high or low personal contact. There was a trend toward higher scores from subjects under high personal contact than from those in low personal contact, but this finding needs replication. Implications for further research were discussed.