Is there a link between hypnosis and creativity?
Studies have suggested that hypnosis not only aids the research of creativity but it also allows psychologists to study the relationship between creativity and hypnotizability, reports Natural News.
The reason hypnosis is a good tool for research into creative states is due to hypnosis causing an altered state of consciousness in the patient. It is thought that hypnosis may lead to a breakthrough in understanding the origin of creative inspiration.
In 1970 professors Bowers and Ven der Meulen conducted a study which involved 30 highly suggestible participants and 30 whom were not so suggestible. The study involved many creative tests such as inkblots and association tests and the results showed that those who were highly suggestible performed better in the creative tests and also showed that women were more creative than men.
A different study conducted by Lynn and Rhue in 1988 spilt 780 student pasrticipants into three groups based on their fantasy proneness. They were then compared based on measures of hypnotizability, imagination, waking suggestibility, hallucinatory ability, creativity, psychopathology, and childhood experiences. The researchers found that there was less of a link between fantasy proneness and hypnotizability than originally thought. This means that even those who are not creative are likely to respond positively to hypnosis. It was also found that those who were more prone to fantasy and creativity were not necessarily highly suggestible under hypnosis.
Although both studies suggest different connections between suggestibility and creativity, they have both drawn interesting conclusions. The state of hypnosis allows researchers to study creativity in a non-invasive and natural way. More research should be conducted to learn more about creativity and imagination.