Hungarian norms for the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, Form A.

Hungarian norms for the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, Form A (HGSHS:A) are presented. The Hungarian translation of the HGSHS:A was administered under standard conditions to 434 participants (190 males, 244 females) of several professions. In addition to the traditional self-scoring, hypnotic behavior was also recorded by trained observers. Female participants proved to be more hypnotizable than males and so were psychology students and professionals as compared to nonpsychologists. Hypnotizability varied across different group sizes. The normative data-including means, standard deviations, and indicators of reliability-are comparable with previously published results. The authors conclude that measuring observer-scores increases the ecological validity of the scale. The Hungarian version of the HGSHS:A seems to be a reliable and valid measure of hypnotizability.

The influence of time and gender on hungarian hypnotizability scores.

In a between-lab study, a constant and steady shift was found in hypnotizability scores measured with standard scales. To investigate a time effect in a Hungarian (within-lab) sample, 613 subjects' scores on Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale, Forms A and B, 1898 subjects' self-scores, and 1713 subjects' observer-scores on the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility were analyzed. From the 1970s to 2010, a significant increase was observed in the SHSS:A and B scores of female subjects and the HGSHS:A scores of both genders. Females proved to be significantly more hypnotizable than males in a group setting but not in an individual context. Time and gender did not interact. The possible reasons for these effects on hypnotizability and the role of the testing context are discussed.

Phenomenological aspects of hypnotic interactions: the effect of kinship.

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.

Association between hypnotizability and the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) polymorphism.

Previous studies implicate involvement of dopaminergic systems in hypnotizability and report association with the COMT Val(158)Met single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP, rs4680) demonstrating the Val/Met heterozygotes as the most hypnotizable group using the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale. This study replicates that association using an independent sample of 127 healthy Hungarian young adults and the Waterloo-Stanford Group C Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility. Significant association (p = .016) was found between the COMT genotypes and hypnotizability, with a clear additive effect of the Val allele: Hypnotizability scores were highest in Val/Val (5.9), intermediate in Val/Met (4.7), and lowest in Met/Met (4.1). Differences between these results and those of previous studies support recent findings suggesting an inverted-U-shaped relation between dopamine level in the prefrontal cortex and cognitive functioning. The present study replicates association of COMT Val(158)Met SNP and hypnotizability and stresses the importance of mediating factors, such as group vs. individual inductions.