In 1993, Kihlstrom and Glisky reported a study of the personality correlates of individual differences in hypnotizability. The most reliable such correlate is a construct generally known as "absorption" (c.f., Tellegen & Atkinson, Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 1974), which in turn is related to the "openness to experience" dimension of the "Big Five" structure of personality (cf., McCrae & Costa, Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 1974). However, ongoing work in our laboratory, including some research conducted in collaboration with Dr. Paul Trapnell (then a graduate student at the University of British Columbia), had convinced us that there are at least three quite different aspects of openness:
absorption,
intellectance, and
liberalism.
Accordingly, our 1993 paper attempted to relate hypnotizability to each of these aspects of openness. Accordingly, we constructed a 36-item personality questionnaire based on items drawn from the Tellegen Absorption Scale (for absorption), the Hogan Personality Inventory (for intellectance), and Costa and McCrae's NEO-Five Factor Inventory (for liberalism). Because we found the acronym "AIL" somewhat unappealing, we named this new questionnaire the "AIT Questionnaire", with the "T" standing for traditionalism, the reflection of liberalism.
The questionnaire items are provided below. In the inventory, items representing the three aspects of openness were interleaved, in such a manner that
the first item, and every third item thereafter, represented absorption;
the second item, and every third item thereafter, intellectance; and
the third item, and every third item thereafter, represented liberalism. Some items were reverse-scored.
In our published paper, we employed a five-point scale to collect subjects' self-ratings, but of course this can be modified to suit the investigator's purposes.
Reference:
Glisky, M.L., & Kihlstrom, J.F. (1993). Hypnotizability and facets of openness. International Journal of Clinical & Experimental Hypnosis, 41, 112-123.
PERSONAL ATTITUDES AND EXPERIENCES
This questionnaire contains a number of statements that may or may not apply to you.
For each statement, fill in the blank space with the number that represents the degree to which you agree or disagree with the statement.
Please use the following scale:
1----------2----------3----------4----------5
Strongly Strongly
Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Agree
It is sometimes possible for me to be completely immersed in nature or in art and to feel as if my whole state of consciousness has somehow been temporarily altered.
I have a lot of intellectual curiosity.
I believe that loyalty to one's ideals and principles is more important than "open-mindedness".
Sometimes when I am reading poetry or looking at a work of art, I feel a chill or wave of excitement.
Even as a child I was interested in how things work.
I think that if people don't know what they believe in by the time they're 25, there's something wrong with them.
Certain kinds of music have an endless fascination for me.
I often enjoy playing with theories or abstract ideas.
I'm pretty set in my ways.
I enjoy concentrating on a fantasy or daydream and exploring all its possibilities, letting it grow and develop.
I enjoy working on "mind-twister"-type puzzles.
I prefer to spend my time in familiar surroundings.
Some music reminds me of pictures or changing color patterns.
I enjoy solving riddles.
I follow the same route when I go someplace.
Different colors have distinctive and special meanings for me.
I enjoy solving problems or puzzles.
I believe letting students hear controversial speakers can only confuse and mislead them.
When listening to organ music or other powerful music I sometimes feel as if I am being lifted into the air.
I have taken things apart just to see how they work.
On a vacation, I prefer going back to a tried and true spot.
I often take delight in small things (like the five-pointed star shape that appears when you cut an apple across the core or the colors in soap bubbles).
I like doing things that no one else has done.
I believe we should look to our religious authorities for decisions on moral issues.
The sound of a voice can be so fascinating to me that I can just go on listening to it.
I would like to be an inventor.
I believe that the different ideas of right and wrong that people in other societies have may be valid for them.
Sometimes thoughts and images come to me without the slightest effort on my part.
I enjoy the excitement of the unknown.
I consider myself broad-minded and tolerant of other people's lifestyles.
I can be greatly moved by eloquent or poetic language.
I am interested in science.
I believe that laws and social policies should change to reflect the needs of a changing world.
The crackle and flames of a wood fire stimulate my imagination.
I am not very inventive.
I often try new and foreign foods.
This page last modified 04/08/10 02:58:37 PM.