Direct and Indirect Scales of Hypnotic Susceptibility: Resistance to Therapy and Psychometric Comparability Abstract

Abstract

Groups of participants were randomly assigned to receive either direct hypnotic procedure using the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility: Form A (HGSHS:A) or its indirect counterpart, the Alman-Wexler Indirect Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale (AWIHSS). Prior to hypnosis, participants completed the Inventory of Childhood Memories and Imaginings (a measure of fantasy proneness) and the Therapeutic Reactance Scale (TRS, a measure of resistance to therapeutic directives). The Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory was completed in reference to a 2-minute sitting-quietly period embedded in the hypnotic procedure. Although results generally suggest that the two scales are alternate measures of hypnotizability, some differences were observed: (a) item difficulty levels differed on 4 of the 12 items; (b) subjects reported greater altered awareness with the direct method; and (c) contrary to the results of previous research, the more resistant subjects showed a tendency toward higher hypnotizability scores with the HGSHS:A, while the less resistant subjects responded better with the AWIHSS. 1We wish to thank our anonymous reviewers and Michael Nash for their constructive comments. The first author was a recipient of the Best Student Paper Award of Division 30 (Hypnosis) for an earlier version of this paper at the Annual Meeting of the American Psychological Association, 2001, San Francisco.