Phenomenological Aspects of Hypnotic Interactions: The Effect of Kinship

Abstract

This study analyzes the relationship of various measures of hypnosis as a function of kinship. Subjects with varying degrees of kinship (mono- and dizygotic twins, siblings, and parent–child pairs) participated. The Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale, Form A (SHSS:A), as well as other measures—including the Dyadic Interactional Harmony (DIH) and the Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory (PCI)—were used with both subjects and hypnosis practitioners. Findings indicated that the phenomenological experience of hypnosis is not determined genetically. The subjects apparently evaluated the session as related to the degree of kinship. MZ twins—on the basis of reactive interactional pattern—evaluate the hypnotic interaction similarly. This was not true for SHSS:A scores or the phenomenological aspects of the state (PCI). These findings were interpreted within the sociopsychobiological model of hypnosis.