Responsiveness to direct versus indirect hypnotic procedures: the role of resistance as a predictor variable

Empirical research attempting to demonstrate that indirectly phrased hypnotic suggestions result in greater responsiveness than do direct approaches generally has not shown any differences on formal hypnotizability scales. However, empirical research in related areas along with clinical observation suggests that client resistance might be a crucial moderating variable. Specifically, participants with greater resistance would be expected to be more responsive to indirect approaches, whereas those with low levels of resistance would be more responsive to direct hypnotic procedures. To test this hypothesis, participants were given either a standardized test of hypnotic responsiveness that used direct suggestions (Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotizability) or a comparable indirect scale (Alman Wexler Indirect Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale) followed by administration of a measure of resistance (Therapeutic Reactance Scale). The hypothesis was not confirmed, in that those with higher (or lower) reactance/resistance did not score differently than those on either the indirect or direct hypnotizability measures.