Abstract
The Valencia Scale, client version (VSABTH-C, Capafons et al. 2004, 2015) is currently one of the most empirically-based scales assessing attitudes and beliefs toward hypnosis. This study aims to adapt the online VSABTH-C to a French sample and to determine its psychometric properties (Franquelo et al. 2020). Moreover, it is well-known that the efficiency of the clinical hypnotic process hinges on social and cognitive factors. Surprisingly, their influence on attitudes/beliefs toward hypnosis has not yet been examined. Therefore, we also investigated the role of personality dimensions, social desirability, and imagery abilities on attitudes/beliefs measured with the VSABTH-C. Our findings showed that the psychometric properties and the structural validation of the French version of the VSABTH-C form a valid measure essential for French-speaking clinicians as well as researchers. In addition, social desirability and personality dimensions did not bias hypnosis scale responses, confirming its robustness. High imagery abilities were positively correlated with positive beliefs/attitudes, suggesting that imagery may be a good predictor of hypnotic attitudes.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Change history
04 April 2023
A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-023-01661-4
References
AAHEA. https://www.aahea.net/hypnosis-definition-aahea-2017/ (2017)
Barber, T.X.: Hypnosuggestive procedures as catalysts for psychotherapies. In: Lynn, S.J., Garske, J.P. (eds.) Contemporary Psychotherapies: Models and Methods, pp. 333–375. Merrill, Columbus (1985)
Barnier, A.J., Dienes, Z., Mitchell, C.A.: How hypnosis happens: New cognitive theories of hypnotic responding. In: Nash, M.R., Barnier, A.J. (eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Hypnosis: Theory, Research and Practice, pp. 141–177. Oxford University Press, New York (2008). https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198570097.013.0006
Bentler, P.M., Chou, C.-P.: Practical issues in structural modeling. Sociol. Methods Res. 16(1), 78–117 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1177/0049124187016001004
Byrne, B.M.: Structural Equation Modeling with Mplus: Basic Concepts, Applications, and Programming. Routledge, Abingdon (2013). https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203807644
Campbell, D.T., Fiske, D. W.: Convergent and discriminant validation by the multitrait-multimethod matrix. Psychol. Bull. 56(2), 81–105 (1959). https://doi.org/10.1037/h0046016
Capafons, A., Cabañas, S., Espejo, B., Cardeña, E.: Confirmatory factor analysis of the Valencia scale on attitudes and beliefs toward hypnosis: an international study. Int. J. Clin. Exp. Hypn. 52(4), 413–433 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1080/00207140490888432
Capafons, A., Mendoza, E., Espejo, B., Green, J.P., Lopes-Pires, C., Selma, M.L., et al.: Attitudes and beliefs about hypnosis: a multicultural study. Contemp. Hypn. 25, 141–155 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1002/ch.359
Capafons, A., Suárez-Rodríguez, J.M., Selma, M.L.: Análisis factorial confirmatorio de la escala valencia de actitudes y creencias hacia la hipnosis (versión cliente revisada), en una muestra española. An. Psicol. 31(1), 84–95 (2015). https://doi.org/10.6018/analesps.31.1.171391
Capafons, A., Suárez-Rodríguez, J., Molina-del-Peral, J.A., Mendoza, M.E.: Confirmatory factor analysis of the Valencia scale of attitudes and beliefs toward hypnosis (client version) in a Portuguese sample. Int. J. Clin. Exp. Hypn. 66(1), 19–42 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1080/00207144.2018.1396107
Carvalho, C., Capafons, A., Kirsch, I., Espejo, B., Mazzoni, G., Leal, I.: Factorial analysis and psychometric properties of the revised Valencia Scale of attitudes and beliefs towards hypnosis—client version. Contemp. Hypn. 24(2), 76–85 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1002/ch.332
Council, J.R., Greene, J.D.: Examining the absorption-hypnotizability link, the role of acquiescence and consistency motivation. Int. J. Clin. Exp. Hypn. 52, 364–377 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1080/00207140490883950
Elkins, G.R., Barabasz, A.F., Council, J.R., Spiegel, D.: Advancing research and practice: the revised APA division 30 definition of hypnosis. Int. J. Clin. Exp. Hypn. 63(1), 1–9 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1080/00207144.2014.961870
Franquelo, M.A., Monteiro, D., Tomás-Marco, I., Capafons, A., Hernández-Mendo, A.: Psychometric properties of the Valencia Scale of Attitudes and Beliefs Towards Hypnosis (client version) (VSABTH-C) online version. Curr. Psychol. (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-020-00779-0
Franquelo, M.A., Pastrana-Brincones, J.L., Reigal, R.E., Morillo-Baro, J.P., Vázquez-Diz, J.A., Hernández-Mendo, A., Morales-Sánchez, V.: Data mining for attitudinal and belief profiles determination towards hypnosis. Sustainability 13, 7721 (2021). https://doi.org/10.3390/su13147721
Glisky, M.I., Kihlstrom, J.F.: Hypnotizability and facets of openness. Int. J. Clin. Exp. Hypn. 41, 112–123 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1080/00207149308414542
Grebot, E.: Validation with a French sample of the four scales of Switras’s survey of mental imagery. Percept. Mot. Skills 97, 763–769 (2003). https://doi.org/10.2466/pms.2003.97.3.763
Grebot, E., Paty, B.: Sous-capacités d’imagerie et suggestibilité. Le rôle de trois sous-capacités (vivacité, contrôle, stabilité) d’imagerie (visuelle, auditive et somesthésique) dans deux dimensions de la suggestibilité (idéationnelle et motrice non volontaire). Bull. Psychol. 479, 549–565 (2005). https://doi.org/10.3917/bupsy.479.0549
Green, J.P., Houts, C.R., Capafons, A.: Attitudes about hypnosis: factor analyzing the VSABTH-C with an American sample. Am. J. Clin. Hypn. 54(3), 167–178 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1080/00029157.2011.616823
Hair, J.F., Sarstedt, M., Hopkins, L., Kuppelwieser, V.G.: Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM): an emerging tool in business research. Eur. Bus. Rev. 26(2), 106–121 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1108/EBR-10-2013-0128
Hilgard, E.R.: Hypnotic Susceptibility. Harcourt, Brace, & World, Oxford (1965)
John, O.P., Donahue, E.M., Kentle, R.L.: The “Big Five” Inventory: Versions 4a and 54. Unpublished manuscript, Institute of Personality Assessment and Research, Berkeley, CA (1991) https://doi.org/10.1037/t07550-000
Kihlstrom, J.F.: Unconscious processes. In: Reisberg, D. (ed.), Oxford Handbook of Cognitive Psychology, pp. 176–186. Oxford: Oxford University Press (2013)
Kirsch, I., Braffman, W.: Imaginative suggestibility and hypnotizability. Curr. Dir. Psychol. Sci. 10, 57–61 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8721.00115
Kirsch, I., Council, J.R.: Situational and personality correlates of hypnotic responsiveness. In: Fromm, E., Nash, M.R. (eds.) Contemporary Hypnosis Research, pp. 267–291. Guilford Press, New York (1992)
Kirsch, I., Lynn, S.J.: Social-cognitive alternatives to dissociation theories of hypnotic involuntariness. Rev. Gen. Psychol. 2, 66–80 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1037/1089-2680.2.1.66
Kline, R.B.: Principles and Practice of Structural Equation Modeling, 4th edn. Guilford Publications. ISBN 9781462523344 (2015)
Laurence, J.-R., Beaulieu-Prévost, D., du Chéné, T.: Measuring and understanding individual differences in hypnotizability. In: Nash, M.R., Barnier, A. (eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Hypnosis: Theory, Research and Practice, pp. 225–253. Oxford University Press, Oxford (2008)
Lynn, S.J., Green, J.P.: The sociocognitive and dissociation theories of hypnosis: toward a rapprochement. Int. J. Clin. Exp. Hypn. 59, 277–293 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1080/00207144.2011.570652
Lynn, S.J., Kirsch, I.: Essentials of clinical hypnosis: an evidence-based approach. American Psychological Association, Washington DC (2006). https://doi.org/10.1037/11365-000
Lynn, S.J., Sherman, S.: The clinical importance of sociocognitive models of hypnosis: response set theory and Milton Erickson’s strategic interventions. Am. J. Clin. Hypn. 42(3–4), 294–315 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1080/00029157.2000.10734363
Malinoski, P.T., Lynn, S.J.: The plasticity of early memory reports: social pressure, hypnotizability, compliance and interrogative suggestibility. Int. J. Clin. Exp. Hypn. 47(4), 320–345 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1080/00207149908410040
Marsh, H.W., Hau, K.-T., Wen, Z.: In search of golden rules: comment on hypothesis-testing approaches to setting cutoff values for fit indexes and dangers in overgeneralizing Hu and Bentler’s (1999) findings. Struct. Equ. Model. 11(3), 320–341 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1207/s15328007sem1103_2
Mendoza, M.E., Capafons, A., Jensen, M.P.: Hypnosis attitudes: treatment effects and associations with symptoms in individuals with cancer. Am. J. Clin. Hypn. 60(1), 50–67 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1080/00029157.2017.1300570
Molina-Peral, J.A., Suárez- Rodríguez, J., Capafons, A., Mendoza, M.E.: Attitudes toward hypnosis based on source of information and experience with hypnosis. Am. J. Clin. Hypn. 62(3), 282–297 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1080/00029157.2019.1584741
Nevitt, J., Hancock, G.R.: Performance of bootstrapping approaches to model test statistics and parameter standard error estimation in structural equation modeling. Struct. Equ. Model. 8(3), 353–377 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1207/S15328007SEM0803_2
Nordenstrom, B.K., Council, J.R., Meier, B.P.: The “big five” and hypnotic suggestibility. Int. J. Clin. Exp. Hypn. 50(3), 276–281 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1080/00207140208410103
Plaisant, O., Courtois, R., Réveillère, C., Mendelsohn, G.A., John, O.P.: Factor structure and internal reliability of the French Big Five Inventory (BFI-Fr). Convergent and discriminant validation with the NEO-PI-R. Annales Médico-Psychologiques, 168, 97–106 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amp.2009.09.003
Podsakoff, P.M., Organ, D.W.: Self-reports in organizational research: Problems and prospects. J. Manag. 12, 531–544 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1177/014920638601200408
Rainville, P., Price, D.D.: Hypnosis phenomenology and the neurobiology of consciousness. Int. J. Clin. Exp. Hypn. 51, 105–129 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1076/iceh.51.2.105.14613
Robin, F.: Hypnose: Processus, Suggestibilité et Faux Souvenirs. De Boeck Supérieur, Louvain-la-Neuve (2013)
Robin, F., Bonamy, J., Ménétrier, E.: Hypnosis and false memories. Psychol. Conscious. Theory Res. Pract. 5(4), 358–373 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1037/cns0000150
Spanos, N.P.: Hypnotic behaviour: a social-psychological interpretation of amnesia, analgesia, and “trance logic.” Behav. Brain Sci. 9, 449–502 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1017/s0140525x00046537
Spanos, N.P.: A sociocognitive approach to hypnosis. In: Lynn, S.J., Rhue, J.W. (eds.) Theories of Hypnosis: Current Models and Perspectives, pp. 324–361. Guilford Press, New York (1991)
Spanos, N.P.: Multiple Identities and False Memories: A Sociocognitive Perspective. American Psychological Association, Washington, DC (1996). https://doi.org/10.1037/10216-000
Tellegen, A., Atkinson, G.: Openness to absorbing and self-altering experiences (“absorption”), a trait related to hypnotic susceptibility. J. Abnorm. Psychol. 83, 268–277 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1037/h0036681
Terhune, D.B., Cardeña, E.: Differential patterns of spontaneous experiential response to a hypnotic induction: a latent profile analysis. Conscious. Cogn. 19, 1140–1150 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2010.03.006
Tournois, J., Mesnil, F., Kop, J.-L.: Autoduperie et hétéroduperie: un instrument de mesure de la désirabilité sociale. Revue Eur. Psychol. Appl./eur. Rev. Appl. Psychol. 50(1), 219–233 (2000)
Viñas-Velázquez, B.M., Mejía-Ramírez, M.A., Mendoza, M.E., Islas-Limón, J.Y., Capafons, A.: Psychometric properties of the Valencia Scale of Attitudes and Beliefs toward Hypnosis, Client version (VSABH-C) in a Mexican sample. Qual. Quant. (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-021-01311-7
Wagstaff, G.F.: Compliance, belief, and semantics in hypnosis: A nonstate, sociocognitive perspective. In: Lynn, S.J., Rhue, J.W. (eds.) Theories of Hypnosis: Current Models and Perspectives, pp. 362–396. Guilford Press, New York (1991)
Wang, Y.A., Rhemtulla, M.: Power analysis for parameter estimation in structural equation modeling: a discussion and tutorial. PsyArXiv. (2020). https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/pj67b
Zhang, Y., Wang, Y., Shen, C., Ye, Y., Shen, S., Zhang, B., Wang, J., Chen, W., Wang, W.: Relationship between hypnosis and personality trait in participants with high or low hypnotic susceptibility. Neuropsychiatr. Dis. Treat. 13, 1007–1012 (2017). https://doi.org/10.2147/NDT.S134930
Acknowledgements
Thanks to Elise Le Berre, undergraduate student in psychology, for her participation in the distribution of online questionnaires, during an introductory research internship under the supervision of the authors.
Funding
The authors declare that no funds, grants, or other supports were received during the preparation of this manuscript. We have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by Amélie Bret, Aurore Deledalle and Frédérique Robin. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Frédérique Robin and all authors (Amélie Bret, Aurore Deledalle and Antonio Capafons) commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
There are no competing interests.
Consent to participate
The psychological and physical dignity, well-being, health and safety of the participants were respected. Participants were fully informed of the current research, freely consented to participate and were able to withdraw whenever they wished.
Ethical standards
Research ethics were applied in accordance with APA ethical standards. My coauthors and I do not have any interests that might be interpreted as influencing the research.
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary Information
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Bret, A., Deledalle, A., Capafons, A. et al. Valencia scale of attitudes and beliefs towards hypnosis: adaptation of the French online version. Qual Quant 58, 207–224 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-023-01640-9
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-023-01640-9