Physiological and Psychological Effects of Active-Alert Hypnosis

10 female physical education students were given posthypnotic suggestions alluding to economy of effort in exercise. These suggestions were affirmed under self-hypnosis over two weeks. Experimental subjects pedalled on an exercise bicycle for 20 min. at 60% of their maximal work capacity while listening to suggestions from a hypnotist. The Control group ( n = 9) showed no differences between mean pretest and posttest scores on physical self-efficacy, trait anxiety, state anxiety, heart rate, blood pressure, and perceived rate of exertion. The average systolic blood pressure of the experimental group was the only positive significant difference between the pretest and posttest scores.