Can anyone be hypnotized or only certain people?
Using standardized induction scripts and classical induction techniques, somepeople are found to be markedly more hypnotizable than others. Aside from a requisite minimum intelligence for language and capacity to followinstructions, there are some other stable characteristics that seem to relate to hypnotizability, though they do not appear to relate directly to anythingthat we ordinarily consider personality traits (such as the stereotype of gullibility and so on). An exceptionally skillful operator can individualize their approach andthereby reduce the number of ‘unhypnotizable’ or ‘resistant’ subjects quite a bit, but there are still some people that respond much more easily than others to hypnotic suggestion, especially with regard to ‘deep trance’ phenomena.This responsiveness appears to show high test-retest reliability, even aftermany years. There are 12 standard tests in the SHSS (Stanford Hypnotic SusceptibilityScale) which measure how well a subject conforms to the behavior o
