Attitudes and beliefs toward hypnosis are relevant in promoting hypnotic responses, in predicting the efficacy of interventions that include hypnosis, and in reducing iatrogenic effects in hypnotized individuals. The goal of the present study is to test the impact of previous knowledge about hypnosis and past experiences being hypnotized on attitudes and beliefs about hypnosis. A sample of 1,977 Portuguese students participated in the study; they responded to the Valencia Scale of Attitudes and Beliefs Toward Hypnosis—Client Version (VSABH-C) on two different occasions (test-retest method). Significant differences were found (p ≤ 0.001) on participants’ attitudes and beliefs about hypnosis depending on the source of knowledge about hypnosis. Results also showed significant differences (p ≤ 0.001) in the multivariate profile analysis of the scale’s factors based on whether participants had a previous history of hypnosis and depending on who hypnotized them. Participants who reported no previous knowledge about hypnosis or who acquired their knowledge from nonscientific sources scored significantly higher in the negative factors (fear, memory, magical, and marginal), therefore reporting more negative beliefs. Likewise, these participants scored lower in the positive factors (help, control, collaboration, and interest). Participants who had been previously hypnotized showed higher scores in the positive factors. In addition, when hypnosis had been utilized by a psychologist, these scores were even higher. However, some participants who had been previously hypnotized scored high in some of the negative factors (memory and magical), which indicates that some professionals using hypnosis are fostering some misconceptions about hypnosis.

对催眠的态度和信念与促进催眠反应，预测包括催眠在内的干预措施的有效性以及减少催眠个体的医源性作用有关。本研究的目的是测试以前关于催眠的知识和以前被催眠的经历对催眠的态度和信念的影响。样本的1,977名葡萄牙学生参加了研究；他们在两种不同的情况下回应了瓦伦西亚对催眠的态度和信念量表-客户版本（VSABH-C）（重测方法）。显著差异被发现（p ≤0.001），参与者的态度，并根据对催眠知识的来源关于催眠的信念。结果也显示出显着差异（p≤0.001），根据参与者是否曾有催眠史并取决于谁对其进行了催眠，对量表因素进行了多变量分析。以前没有报告过催眠知识或从非科学来源获得知识的参与者在消极因素（恐惧，记忆，魔术和边缘）的得分明显较高，因此报告了更多的消极信念。同样，这些参与者在积极因素（帮助，控制，协作和兴趣）上的得分也较低。先前曾被催眠的参与者在积极因素中得分较高。另外，当心理学家使用催眠术时，这些分数甚至更高。但是，一些先前曾被催眠的参与者在某些负面因素（记忆和魔术）中得分较高，