Current evidence shows only small or inconsistent sex differences in susceptibility to hypnosis. Overall, men and women are roughly equally susceptible; any differences are small and vary with age, the measure used, and the type of hypnotic suggestion.
What the research says (summary)
Large reviews and meta-analyses find little to no strong, consistent effect of biological sex on hypnotizability. Differences that do appear tend to be small (small effect sizes) and not robust across studies.
Some studies report slightly higher average hypnotizability in women, others find no difference, and a few report higher scores in men. Variation in results arises from sampling, age, cultural factors, type of hypnotic induction, and the scales used to measure hypnotizability.
When differences are reported, they often appear for specific kinds of suggestions (for example, women sometimes show higher responsiveness to motor or ideomotor suggestions in some samples) rather than overall hypnotizability.
Important modifiers
Age: Sex differences that exist in adolescents or older adults can differ from those in young adults. Some studies suggest small female > male differences in children/adolescents, but findings are not uniform.
Measurement: Different hypnotizability tests (Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale, etc.) yield different distributions; choice of measure affects findings.
Context and expectation: Social, cultural, and expectation-related factors (including rapport with the hypnotherapist and beliefs about hypnosis) can influence responsiveness and may interact with gender roles and socialization.
Suggestion type: Cognitive suggestions (memory, hallucination) and motor/behavioral suggestions can show different patterns across sexes in some studies.
Practical implication
For clinicians and researchers, it’s more useful to assess an individual’s hypnotizability directly (using a validated scale or brief screening) than to assume based on sex. Individual differences (personality, absorption, expectation, rapport) predict hypnotic responsiveness better than sex.