Could empathy be a predictor of hypnotic ability?

American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis,  Apr 2004  by Hammond, D Corydon

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Wickramasekera II, I. E., & Szlyk, J. P. (2003). Could empathy be a predictor of hypnotic ability? International Journal of Clinical & Experimental Hypnosis, 51(4), 390-399. This paper evaluated whether trait empathy is related to hypnotic ability and absorption by administering the Davis Interpersonal Reactivity Index, the Tellegen Absorption Scale, and the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility to 64 graduate students or mental health professionals.

Statistically significant relationships were found between empathy and hypnotic ability (r=.41 ), empathy and absorption (r=.43), and absorption and hypnotic ability (r = .31). These results suggest that empathy and absorption are both predictors of hypnotic ability, although absorption does not appear to contribute a statistically significant amount of the explained variance in hypnotizability that is independent of empathy. It may be that the conceptual ground shared by both empathy and absorption is what predicts hypnotic ability. This supports Ian Wickramasekera's belief in his High Risk Model of Threat Perception that high hypnotizables have an increased risk for developing somatic symptoms partly because they tend to have "surplus empathy." Address for reprints: Ian E. Wickramasekera, II, PsyD, Center for Pain Management, St. John's Regional Health Center, 1235 E. Cherokee, Springfield, MO 65804-2263, USA. E-mail: rigdzen@hotmail.com.

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