Phenomenological Aspects of Hypnotic Interactions: The Effect of Kinship

Abstract

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.

Abstrakt

Diese Studie analysiert die Beziehung unterschiedlicher Maße von Hypnose als Funktion der Verwandtschaft. Menschen mit unterschiedlichen Verwandtschaftsgrades (ein.- und zweieiige Zwillinge, Geschwister und Eltern-Kinder-Paare) nahmen teil. Die Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale, Form A (SHSS:A) und andere – inklusive Dyadic Interactional Harmony (DIH) und der Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory (PCI) – wurden sowohl bei den Teilnehmern als auch bei den Hypnotiseuren angewandt. Die Untersuchungsergebnisse deuten darauf hin, daß die phenomenologische Erfahrung von Hypnose nicht genetisch determiniert ist. Die Teilnehmer schätzten die Sitzung aber offensichtlich als abhängig vom Verwandtschaftsgrad ein. Eineiige Zwillinge – auf der Basis reaktiver interaktionaler Muster – schätzen die hypnotische Interaktion ähnlich ein. Dieses war beim SHSS:A oder dem phenomenologischen Aspekten des Zustandes (PCI) nicht der Fall. Diese Ergebnisse wurden innerhalb des soziobiologischen Modells von Hypnose interpretiert.

Stephanie Reigel, MD

Résumé

Les auteures de cette étude ont analysé la relation de diverses mesures hypnotiques en fonction du lien de parenté des participants. Des sujets ayant divers degrés de parenté (jumeaux monozygotes ou dizygotes, paires filiales, parentales ou filiales-parentales) y ont participé. L'échelle de susceptibilité hypnotique de Stanford, formulaire A (SHSS:A), et d'autres instruments de mesure — y compris l'échelle d'harmonie interactionnelle dyadique et l'Inventaire de la phénoménologie de la conscience — ont été administrés aux sujets et aux hypnotiseurs. Les résultats ont indiqué une absence de détermination génétique dans l'expérience phénoménologique de l'hypnose. Les sujets ont apparemment évalué la séance comme étant liée à leur degré de parenté. Les jumeaux monozygotes – sur la base d'un modèle interactionnel réactif – ont évalué de la même manière l'interaction hypnotique. Cela n'était pas le cas des résultats obtenus à l'aide de l'échelle SHSS:A, ni des aspects phénoménologiques de l'Inventaire de la phénoménologie de la conscience. Ces résultats ont été interprétés dans le cadre du modèle sociopsychobiologique de l'hypnose.

Johanne Reynault

C. Tr. (STIBC)

Resumen

Este estudio analiza la relación de varias medidas de hipnosis en función del parentesco. Participaron sujetos con distintos niveles de parentesco (gemelos mono y dicigóticos, hermanos, y parejas de padres e hijos). La Escala Stanford de Susceptibilidad Hipnótica, Forma A (ESSH:A), junto con otras mediciones incluyendo el Cuestionario de Interacciones Diádicas Armoniosas (DHI) y el Inventario Fenomenológico de Conciencia, se utilizaron tanto en los sujetos como en los practicantes de hipnosis. Los resultados indican que la experiencia fenomenológica de hipnosis no está determinada genéticamente. Aparentemente los sujetos evaluaron la sesión relacionándola con el grado de parentesco. Los gemélos monocigóticos, en base al patrón reactivo de interacción, evaluaron las interacciones hipnóticas de forma similar. Esto no ocurrió con las puntuaciones de la ESSH:A o con los aspectos fenomenológicos del estado (PCI). Se interpretaron estos resultados bajo el modelo psicobiosocial de la hipnosis.

Omar Sánchez-Armáss Cappello, PhD

Autonomous University of San Luis Potosi, Mexico

Acknowledgments

¹This research was supported in part by the following grants of OTKA (Országos Tudományos Kutatási Alap, Hungarian Scientific Research Support Foundation) No. 34454 to Éva I. Bányai, No. K 62210 to Anna C. Gősi-Greguss, and K100845 to Anna Veres-Szekely.

²We gratefully acknowledge Ronald Pekala, PhD, for his permission to use the PCI in our researches. Thanks are due to Anna Veres-Szekely, PhD, for her generous assistance with the statistical analysis.

Notes

⁴This type of correlation is used to determine a correlation between two variables when it is not clear which variable should be X or Y for a given row of data. There are various ways to calculate ICC; we used the formula: , where s_b is the variance based on between groups and s_w is the variance based on within groups.

⁵It is important to understand that heritability expresses how much of the total phenotypic variation in a population is attributable to variation among individual genotypes compared to variation in their environment. It does not tell the extent to which genes and environment actually determine the phenotype. Heritability is specific to the population and environment under analysis in the given study. It characterizes the population not the individual. The heritability index follows the formula of , where _{σ² w(dt)} is the variance in the DZ group, σ² _w(mt) is the variance in the MZ group. Consequently, a negative h ² value means that the variance of the MZ group is higher than that of the DZ one.

⁶As you can see, in the subscales of Intimacy and Tension, the h ² is very high and negative. This is due to the fact that the variance of the MZ group is much higher than the DZ group. In the special case of the tension subscale, the heritability index proved to be larger than 1 (that is, –1.22.), because the variance of the MZ group is more than two times bigger than that of the DZ group.

⁷If we calculate the intraclass correlations only for the subgroup of the same-sex DZ twins, in cases of the PCI subscales, only the visual imagery subscale becomes more highly correlated (compared to the total sample of DZ twins, where we also found a significant—but moderate—correlation). In the case of the DIH subscales, all the intraclass correlations remain nonsignificant, except for communion, where it becomes significant and moderately high (r = .41).