Quote Originally Posted by Metaphor
only a small percentage of the people can be hypnotized. i believe my psych professor said it was 1 in 10, the rest of the people are just faking it.
one time someone tried to hypnotize me and i faked it so he could get his sick kicks lol.
This is actually incorrect.

First, all of us pass through the hypnogogic (sp?) state every time we fall asleep. Most of us also enter that state briefly several times a day, usually involuntarily. Any time you zone out looking at the computer or television you're in the hypnogogic state.

The question is, can someone else induce you to enter that stat, and to remain in that state for an extended period of time? That's what is actually meant by "hypnotism". The 1 in 10 your professor is referring to is actually the percentage of the population who's highly susceptible to hypnosis. They can by hypnotized almost anywhere, any time by anyone who knows what they're doing. Another 1 in 10 is highly resistant. The rest of us fall somewhere in between. For the in between group, the success of attempted hypnosis depends on a number of factors, including current mood, how much they trust the hypnotist, how comfortable they are in their environment, etc.

And just for the record, the "I was only faking it" is actually a very common response for people who've been truly hypnotized for the first time lol. Yes, some people do actually fake it, but an experienced hypnotist - as opposed to your psych professor - can tell the difference.