Steven Lynn’s integrative view of hypnosis

Clément Apelian
ARCHE Formation, Paris, France

Anoushiravan Zahedi
Department of Psychology, University of Muenster, Germany

Joseph P. Green
The Ohio State University, Lima, OH, USA

Keywords: expectancy; sociocognitive; suggestibility

Steven Jay Lynn was among the pioneers of the sociocognitive approach to hypnosis, and his view of hypnosis constantly adapted to integrate new developments both in cognitive neuroscience and the field of hypnosis, resulting in updated and refined models that did not radically depart from his earlier views (Lynn et al., 2023).

The most important tenet of sociocognitive approaches is that the participant experiencing hypnosis is a “creative problem-solving agent” (Lynn & Sivec, 1992). Consequently, hypnosis is not associated with a specific state of consciousness, like sleep, but is understood as a goal-directed human activity such as solving a mathematical problem, doing sports, or performing art (Lynn et al., 2008). As such, the sociocognitive approach places the hypnotized participant’s appraisal of the situation and expectancies as central determinants of the hypnotic response. For example, a study showed that participants invited to enter a “deep hypnotic state” without specific suggestions reported alterations congruent with prior expectations (Cardeña & Terhune, 2019).

Steven Lynn’s theoretical orientation is, in essence, integrative and seeks to account for different factors contributing to hypnotic responses (Lynn et al., 2015, 2023, 2024; Lynn & Rhue, 1991). Attitudes and beliefs about the hypnotic context, motivation, and, in particular, the goals of the participants and the contextual incentive structures are critical determinants of hypnotic responses. Rapport is important too, as it may influence how the hypnotic context is construed, and affect expectancies and intentions for performing actions consistent with suggestions (Lynn et al., 2019).

Another refinement to his theory is that both intentions and expectations influence perception and behavior through an ability he named “readiness to respond” (Lynn et al., 2023). This ability allows the individual to form robust expectancies that can be maintained despite contradicting sensory inputs. This readiness to respond is believed to rest on attentional and imaginal abilities, among others, though the specific coordination of resources is expected to vary widely from one suggestion to another, between different individuals, and throughout the experience.

Lynn and colleagues (Zahedi et al., 2024) recently reframed the effect of expectancies on perception and movement in light of the predictive coding model (see Jamieson, 2016) in an attempt to explain how expectancies may influence hypnotic responses and related alterations in the sense of agency. In brief, when predictions (e.g., expectancies) are strong and/or when sensory data are unreliable, perception will be primarily governed by expectancies. When sensory inputs are salient and conflict with expectancies, then a prediction error occurs, and the individual is motivated to revise its prediction(s). In the hypnotic context, sensory inputs may be trumped by strong beliefs (predictions) that responses happen automatically. Lynn illustrated how language commonly used in hypnosis may influence participants’ judgments and subjective reports as well (Lynn et al., 2023).

Steven Lynn continued to nuance, update, and advance his theoretical understanding of hypnosis. Whereas his views remained firmly grounded within the sociocognitive perspective, he strived for an open and integrative approach to this complex phenomenon and its multifactorial components.

References
Cardeña, E., & Terhune, D. B. (2019). The roles of response expectancies, baseline experiences, and hypnotizability in spontaneous hypnotic experiences. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 67(1), Article 1. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207144.2019.1553759

Jamieson, G.A. (2016). A unified theory of hypnosis and meditation states: The interoceptive predictive coding approach. In A. Raz & Lifshitz, M. (Eds.), Hypnosis and meditation: Towards an integrative science of conscious planes (pp. 313-342). Oxford University Press.

Lynn, S.J., Green, J.P., Polizzi, C.P., Ellenberg, S., Guatam, A., & Aksen, D. (2019). Hypnosis, hypnotic phenomena, and hypnotic responsiveness: clinical and research foundations – a 40 year perspective. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 67(4), 475-511. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207144.2019.1649541

Lynn, S. J., Green, J. P., Zahedi, A., & Apelian, C. (2023). The response set theory of hypnosis reconsidered: Toward an integrative model. American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00029157.2022.2117680

Lynn, S. J., Green, J. P., Zahedi, A., Apelian, C., & Kirsch, I. (2024). An Empirically-Informed Integrative Theory of Hypnosis: Clinical Implications. In The Routledge International Handbook of Clinical Hypnosis. Routledge.

Lynn, S. J., Kirsch, I., & Hallquist, M. N. (2008). Social cognitive theories of hypnosis. In The Oxford handbook of hypnosis: Theory, research, and practice (pp. 111–139).

Lynn, S. J., Laurence, J.-R., & Kirsch, I. (2015). Hypnosis, Suggestion, and Suggestibility: An Integrative Model. American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 57(3), Article 3. https://doi.org/10.1080/00029157.2014.976783

Lynn, S. J., & Rhue, J. W. (1991). An integrative model of hypnosis. In Theories of hypnosis: Current models and perspectives (pp. 397–438). Guilford Press.

Lynn, S. J., & Sivec, H. (1992). Hypnotizable subject as creative problem-solving agent. In Contemporary hypnosis research (pp. 292–333). The Guilford Press.

Zahedi, A., Lynn, S. J., & Sommer, W. (2024). Cognitive simulation along with neural adaptation explain effects of suggestions: A novel theoretical framework. Frontiers in Psychology, 15. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1388347