Hypnotizability, Eating Behaviors, Attitudes, and Concerns: A Literature Survey

The literature suggests that aspects of hypnotizability may be involved in the etiology and maintenance of self-defeating eating. However, interpretation of the published research findings has been complicated by the use of instruments that appear to have measured different or, at best, only related facets of the underlying constructs. This article reports relationships between weight, shape, dietary concerns, hypnotizability, dissociative capacity, and fantasy proneness. Implications for a key role for hypnosis in the treatment of eating behaviors, attitudes, and concerns are discussed.