State vs. Trait

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State | Trait | See also

There is a debate about whether hypnosis is a state or a trait. Here's some notes about these different views.

State

The basic principle of the 'state' school of thinking is that hypnosis is a state into which people can be guided or 'put'.

An underlying position is that we are always in some state or another, whether it is happiness, confusion of whatever. Hypnosis is just another position, and just like happiness and other states, we can be guided into it by other people.

The state hypnotist thus uses methods such as progressive relaxation to guide the person into a deeper and deeper state of hypnosis. They basically believe that anyone can be equally hypnotised and it the only limiting factor is the skill of the hypnotist.

Trait

Trait theorists argue that not everyone can be hypnotised, and that some easily fall into a trance whilst others seem unable (or unwilling) to succumb.

The trait hypnotists will therefore start with a test of hypnotisability and may reject people who do not score sufficiently highly on this test. This is a typical action of a stage hypnotist who does not want to spend hours on the induction.

A typical test is to get the subject to clasp their hands together, then suggest that they cannot unclasp them. Good subjects with high trait will find it difficult to pull them apart.

So what?

In practice, it seems that both schools have truth. Some people indeed are more easily hypnotised, yet others may also fall into a trance state with sufficient additional work by the hypnotist.