ABSTRACT
We have previously considered suggestibility as a general human trait and how it manifests in a variety of ways ranging from conformity and obedience to authority to responding experientially to suggestions for imaginative experiences even in the absence of formal induction. Is suggestibility the same as hypnotizability? Hypnotizability is more specific than the general term suggestibility and can be defined simply: “Hypnotizability represents the individual’s degree of responsivity to suggestion during hypnosis” (Keuroghlian, Butler, Neri, & Spiegel, 2010, p. 39). We have seen that hypnotizability varies substantially across people, a fact that virtually no hypnosis expert disputes. How to interpret that fact, though, is an ongoing challenge to the field. Many in the field think of hypnotizability as an individual’s highly stable trait measurable with the use of standardized tests (Spiegel & Spiegel, 1978/2004). Others think of hypnotizability as more of a social and situational phenomenon that reveals itself through meaningful experience rather than as a response to standardized, impersonal test items. In this chapter, we explore the topic of hypnotizability testing and how the field treats the issue of whether and how to assess an individual’s capacity for hypnotic responding.
