ABSTRACT
Data from clinical interviews conducted with hypnotized experimental subjects, including the "hypnosis" card of the TAT, suggest that subjects who consciously talk about the relaxed, comfortable aspect of hypnosis are prone to tell stories in which the Svengali aspects of the hypnotist are stressed. In the first illustration, the conscious reference to hypnotic darkness and the comparison of hypnosis to a rainy day are characterized as pleasant and agreeable, although the effort at denial wears thin. The stories to the "hypnosis" card told by highly cooperative, experienced hypnotic subjects, when compared to those of this group of nonhypnotized subjects, tended to be extremely negative in content and were often accompanied by some negative affect and difficulty in telling the story. Conflict and anxiety may generate an angry, disappointed reaction, which is neither beneficial for the subject nor for the future of research on hypnosis.
