Dreaming and hypnotic susceptibility: a pilot study

Previous experimental work has indicated that certain stable personality characteristics are reliably associated with differential susceptibility to hypnosis. It is suggested that people who are more susceptible will be characterized by an awareness of dreaming more frequently, vividly and creatively. This study describes the construction of a Dream Questionnaire and the relations of the scores obtained on it to scores previously obtained on the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility. Sex differences were noted in response to the questionnaire. For women, a global score was derived from the questionnaire, and this was positively and significantly associated with hypnotic susceptibility. Men responded rather differently to the questionnaire and as hypnotic susceptibility scores were available for only a more limited number, further analysis was postponed until more data from men may become available. Some suggestions for research are discussed, and the relations between sleep research and hypnosis research are briefly considered.