Personality Styles of Hypnosis-Practicing Dentists: A Brief Report

This cross-sectional study used the Personality Style and Disorder Inventory (PSDI) via the internet to examine personality styles of random hypnosis society sample groups (German Society of Dental Hypnosis [DGZH, n = 418] and Milton Erickson Society of Clinical Hypnosis Germany Listserv [MEG, n = 490]) and compared these data of hypnosis practitioners (HYP samples) with 2 control samples of persons not interested in hypnosis (NONHYP samples): 1,027 psychotherapists from DACH countries (Germany, Austria, and Switzerland) and 3,392 people of the normal population of Germany. Results show that HYP-DGZH dentists were much more intuitive/schizotypal (p < .001), unselfish/self-sacrificing (p < .001), charming/histrionic (p < .001) and optimistic/rhapsodic (p < .001) than the HYP-MEG sample. All HYP-DGZH dentists also showed significantly elevated levels in these four personality styles compared with the levels of the NONHYP-DACH psychotherapists (p < .001), and elevated levels in intuitive/schizotypal, unselfish/self-sacrificing, and optimistic/rhapsodic compared with the NONHYP normal population. The intuitive/schizotypal values of the HYP-DGZH dentists were predominant. Within the limitations of the study, the presence of a specific personality profile in random samples of dentists who use hypnosis and are members of a professional hypnosis society suggests that a homo hypnoticus might also exist among dentists. However, this needs to be investigated in more detail.

Automated summary

This cross-sectional study used the Personality Style and Disorder Inventory (PSDI) via the internet to examine the personality styles of random hypnosis society sample groups. The study found that members of the dental hypnosis society exhibited specific personality styles that were significantly different from other control samples. Further investigation is needed to understand the existence and characteristics of the "homo hypnoticus".