Fantasy proneness and hypnotizability: another look

Abstract

It has long been theorized that individuals who spend a great deal of time engaged in fantasy and report profound imaginative involvements are highly hypnotizable (see Wilson and Barber, 1981, 1983a). To test this hypothesized link, we administered the Inventory of Childhood Memories and Imaginings (ICMI), the Short Imaginal Processes Inventory (SIPI), a measure of daydreaming frequency and the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, Form A (HGSHS:A) to 506 undergraduate students in Study 1. In Study 2, a separate sample of 534 college students completed the ICMI and the HGSHS:A. Across the studies, we obtained a small positive correlation between our measures of fantasy proneness and hypnotizability. Results showed that highly hypnotizable individuals, compared with those who are less hypnotizable, do not spend a great deal of their waking lives engaged in fantasy or daydreaming. Copyright © 2008 British Society of Experimental & Clinical Hypnosis. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.