The Stanford Hypnotic Clinical Scale and a Group of Obstetrical Patients

Theories of hypnosis differ on the importance of subject motivation. Whereas previous studies have attempted to manipulate subject motivation in the laboratory, the present study attempted to utilize motivation inherent in the subjects' life circumstances. The Stanford Hypnotic Clinical Scale (SHCS) was administered to 64 pregnant women enrolled in a hypnosis program to control pain during childbirth. These scores were compared with their postpartum scores, and with SHCS scores from two groups of women in relatively unmotivating life circumstances studied by other authors. SHCS scores did not differ significantly between groups. This finding does not support the hypothesis that hypnotizability is greatly influenced by transient motivational states. However, methodological limitations of the present study are discussed, and rival interpretations are presented. In addition, data were collected to see if low-scoring subjects were more likely to drop out of hypnotic preparation for childbirth; no such result was obtained.