TY - JOUR AU - Olson, Jay A. AU - Stendel, Moriah AU - Veissière, Samuel PY - 2020 M3 - Brief Research Report TI - Hypnotised by Your Phone? Smartphone Addiction Correlates With Hypnotisability JO - Frontiers in Psychiatry UR - https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00578 VL - 11 SN - 1664-0640 N2 - Hypnosis and heavy smartphone use are both characterised by absorbed states in which one loses track of time and responds automatically to stimuli. In this pre-registered study, we tested whether there was a relationship between smartphone addiction and hypnotisability: one’s tendency to follow suggestions under hypnosis. Over 11 public lectures, we hypnotised 641 student-aged participants; after the hypnosis session, participants completed the Smartphone Addiction Scale (Short Version). There was a positive correlation between hypnotisability and smartphone addiction (r = .17, 95% CI [.09, .24], p < .001) with a magnitude similar to standard predictors of hypnotisability. This correlation was small but unlikely spurious: it was positive in 10 of the 11 samples (including two from psychology courses) and persisted in a follow-up several months later. The addiction scores in this Canadian sample were unexpectedly high (M = 31.41) compared to other countries. We hypothesise that targeting the absorbed, time-distorted, and automatic use of smartphones may promote healthier phone habits. ER -