The Mediating Effects of Expectation on Hypnotic and Nonhypnotic Pain Reduction

Abstract

High and low hypnotically susceptible subjects were assigned to three treatments and administered a baseline trial and two posttest trials of finger pressure pain. Subjects in one treatment received hypnotic analgesia on both posttest trials while those in a second treatment received hypnotic analgesia before their first posttest trial and waking instructions to “do whatever you can to reduce pain” before their second posttest trial. Controls received their two posttest trials without intervening treatment instructions. During hypnotic analgesia high susceptibles reduced reported pain, increased pain tolerance and rated themselves as more deeply hypnotized than low susceptibles. Low susceptibles reduced pain to a significantly greater degree under waking instruction than under hypnotic analgesia. Importantly, lows given waking instruction reduced pain to the same degree as highs given hypnotic analgesia. These findings underscore the importance of attitudes and expectations in hypnotic pain reduction. However, they are inconsistent with the view that high susceptibles are intrinsically more able than low susceptibles to cognitively control pain.