MAY 2000, VOLUME 28, NUMBER 1, Abstract 7
The Effects of an Educational Lecture about Hypnosis
Russell Hawkins, University of South Australia
Joanna Bartsch, University of South Australia
A group of 45 undergraduate students who had been exposed to an educational lecture about hypnosis were compared with a control group of 32 students who did not attend the lecture. Approximately nine months after the lecture, students were given a range of attitude and belief questionnaires together with the Harvard Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility. The results showed that lecture exposure was associated with significantly higher hypnotisability scores. No similar benefits to hypnotisability scores were found when previous experience with hypnosis or exposure to stage or television hypnotic performances were considered. The results were considered in terms of the mediating effects of attitudes and beliefs with a special focus on expectancy effects and the theory of reasoned action.