The Role of Imagery in Self-Hypnosis: Its Relationship to Personality Characteristics and Gender

Abstract

30 volunteer Ss practiced self-hypnosis for approximately 4 weeks and wrote a record of their experiences in a diary following each session. Imagery produced during self-hypnosis was coded in 2 ways: the imagery was either reality oriented or it was fantastic and had primary process qualities. Levels of imagery production remained virtually the same over a 4-week period. Self-hypnotic imagery was significantly greater for the female Ss than for the male Ss, particularly primary process imagery. Verbal expressivity (measured as the average number of words per page of each S diary) was calculated to control for the effects of verbal production on Ss' imagery scores. When imagery scores were standardized based on verbal expressivity, female Ss still produced significantly more primary process imagery than male Ss. Personality characteristics (assessed by standardized personality inventories) were examined in relation to self-hypnotic imagery. “Impulse Expression” was positively related to primary process imagery for the female Ss. “Out-goingness” was positively related to primary process imagery for the entire sample, but especially for the female Ss.