Hypnotic Emotions and Physical Sensations: A Real-Simulating Analysis

Abstract

Real hypnotizable Ss and simulating unhypnotizable Ss were administered a suggestion for either happiness, emotional neutrality, or sadness. The emotion was assessed through subjective and behavioral measures taken once before, twice during, and once after the emotion. Findings indicated that emotionally congruent changes occurred in both self-report and performance measures. Ss' physical sensations during the emotion were assessed on a 34-item self-report scale. It was demonstrated that Ss in the happy versus sad conditions reported different physical sensations; in particular, they reported different facial sensations. The responses of real hypnotizable Ss, however, were essentially paralleled by those of simulating unhypnotizable Ss. Therefore, the possibility exists that hypnotized Ss may have been responding on the basis of social demands. The findings are discussed in terms of the effects of the emotion suggestions, and the implications of real and simulating Ss displaying similar affective responses.