HYPNOTIC SUGGESTIBILITY AND PARANORMAL BELIEF

Abstract

Summary.-The beliefs of upperclass college students (208) toward the paranormal were correlated with scores on the Harvard Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility and several personality measures. The Harvard scale scores correlated significantly with reported psychic experiences. church attendance, Taylor's Anxiety Scale, Adorno's Stereotypy/Superstition, and attitudes toward parapsychology and the supernatural. It has been suggested that people who accept pseudoscientific, paranormal, or supernatural explanations for events and/or experiences may be more gullible (4), do not understand the concepts of coincidence and probability (5), are capable of critical thinking (2), and have scientific education (8). However, Tobacyk and Mitchell (11) have not noted poorer personality adjustment among those who report out-of-body experiences. Further, Tobacyk and Milford (10) found uncritical inference only relared to less common ~aranormal beliefs and irrational beliefs related onlv to suoerstition. Hilgard (6) found that hypnotic suggestibility did not seem to be related to suggestibility (defined as gullibility or persuasibility). However, since it could be argued chat hypnosis does involve imagery, imagination, and acceptance of phenomenal experiences suggested by an authority, it was hypothesized that there would be a relationship berween suggesribility to hypnosis (as measured by the Haward Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibiliry) and attirudes toward the paranormal. Two hundred and eighc college srudents in an abnormal psychology course taking at leasc their second course in psychology were administered the Harvard scale, a questionnaire (12) containing five questions relating to belief in parapsychology (can be studied scientifically, is not a crick, telepathy, clairvoyance, and psychokinesis), four items about the supernatural/occulr (stars influence personality, UFOs exist, cards can predict the future, and mediums can contact spirits of the dead), the Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale (9). the dogmatism scale (7). the srereotypy/superstition subscale (1) which is supposed to measure the disposition to think in a rigid way and to believe in mystical determinants of one's destiny, and a variety of biographical items including frequency of church attendance, and personal psychic experiences. Responses to belief and dogmatism items were made on five-point Likert-type scales. Table 1 presents the significant Pearson correlations found. While Hilgard (6) reported that scores on the Harvard scale were related to few other measures, it certainly seems here to be associated with supernatural and paranormal beliefs and psychic experiences. The significant association of paranormal with supernatural beliefs, as well as the stereotypy correlations suggest that there may be a core of anitudes which may cause concern for critics of the paranormal (2, 8). These critics would argue that Civilized Society today requires adults who rely upon pseudoscience and more upon rational and objective information ro make intelligent and informed decisions in an increasingly complex technological world. While supporters of experirnen