Beliefs about hypnosis: popular beliefs, misconceptions, and the importance of experience.

Contemporary views and opinions about hypnosis were sampled with a modified version of McConkey's Opinions About Hypnosis (OAH) scale. The OAH was administered at 2 different times, 1 month apart, to 276 undergraduate students. Approximately half of the participants completed the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, Form A, between the survey sessions. Results indicated that the experience of being hypnotized modified a majority of the opinions sampled, with participants expressing less stereotypic views about hypnosis after being hypnotized. Expressed opinions and beliefs about hypnosis failed to meaningfully correlate with hypnotizability scores.