Moral Predisposition and Hypnotic Influence of “Immoral” Behavior: An Exploratory Study

Abstract

The power of hypnosis to coerce “immoral” behavior was investigated among 24 susceptible college students. It was prehypnotically determined that 12 Ss were morally opposed to calling someone a “dirty son of a bitch” while the remaining 12 were not. After two neutral sessions of hypnotic training each S of each moral orientation was placed in one of the following three groups: (a) hypnosis with posthypnotic amnesia, (b) hypnosis without posthypnotic amnesia, or (c) waking. In a subsequent session all Ss were given the posthypnotic (or waking) suggestion to call a confederate intruder by the objectionable term. Only one of the morally opposed Ss did so while 6 of 12 not opposed complied (p < .05, one-tailed). The results suggest that the variable of moral predisposition toward an objectionable act is more powerful than hypnotic influence. Further research was suggested because of interpretative difficulties and contradictory findings in this field.