Hypnosis, psi, and the psychology of anomalous experience

Fantasy Proneness and Paranormal Beliefs

The report of personal parapsychological experiences has been linked with the personality construct of fantasy proneness. It is possible that the factor of paranormal belief mediates this association. Certainly some data suggest that paranormal belief is conducive to the report of parapsychological experiences. This study examined the feasibility of the other facet of the issue, namely, that fantasy proneness facilitates paranormal belief. For a group of 92 adults a measure of fantasy proneness correlated significantly with belief in traditional religious concepts, psi, witchcraft, spiritualism, extraordinary life forms, and precognition.

Dissociation: adjustment or distress? Dissociative phenomena, absorption and quality of life among Israeli women who practice channeling compared to women with similar traumatic history

This study aimed to explore the relationship between traumatic history, dissociative phenomena, absorption and quality of life among a population of channelers, in comparison with a population of non-channelers with similar traumatic history. The study sample included 150 women. The measures included Traumatic Experiences Scale, Dissociative Experience Scale, Absorption Scale, Brief Symptom Inventory and Quality of Life (QOL) Assessment. Channelers presented significantly higher levels of dissociation, absorption and psychological health compared to the other group. Dissociation and absorption were trauma-related only among the comparison group. Hence, dissociation has different qualities among different people, and spiritual practice contributes to QOL.

A multivariate approach to the prediction of hypnotic susceptibility

The present study examined the relation between various self-report measures and two measures of hypnotizability within a multivariate framework. A group of 748 participants was tested on the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, Form A (HGSHS:A), the Tellegen Absorption Scale (TAS), as well as the Preference for an Imagic Cognitive Style (PICS) questionnaire. One hundred ninety of these participants also completed the Paranormal Experiences Questionnaire (PEQ). Data were analyzed using hierarchical multiple regression equations, and the results of the analyses indicated that both the TAS and PICS accounted for significant amounts of unique variance in each of two 373-member samples of HGSHS:A scores. A further sub-sample of participants (n = 161) was tested on the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale, Form C (SHSS:C) to see if these results would generalize to another measure of hypnotizability. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed that although the PEQ predicted significant amounts of unique SHSS:C variance over and above that predicted by the TAS, the PICS failed to do so. This inconsistency in results may be due in part to the generally low intercorrelation between the different hypnotizability scales and points to the need to develop new predictor variables that are orthogonal to each other.