No—not in any meaningful or reliable way.
Nordenstrom and colleagues examined whether hypnotic suggestibility could be explained by one or more of the Big Five personality dimensions:
Openness/intellect
Conscientiousness
Neuroticism
Agreeableness
Extraversion
Using the Big Five Inventory, the researchers looked for relationships between these traits and hypnotic suggestibility. They found no meaningful associations between hypnotic suggestibility and any of the five factors.[^1]
What this means
The findings do not support the idea that a person’s general personality profile predicts how hypnotizable they are. For example:
Being highly open does not necessarily mean someone will respond strongly to hypnosis.
Being conscientious does not reliably make someone more responsive.
Being highly neurotic does not indicate either high or low hypnotic suggestibility.
Extraversion and agreeableness do not appear to provide useful general predictions.
In practical terms, a standard Big Five personality assessment should not be used as a screening tool for determining whether someone is likely to respond well to hypnosis.
Important qualification
The result should not be interpreted as meaning that personality has no relationship whatsoever to hypnotic responding. It means that the broad, general-purpose Big Five dimensions did not show useful relationships in this study.
Hypnotic responding may be more closely associated with narrower psychological characteristics and situational factors, such as:
Ability to become absorbed in an experience
Imaginative involvement
Expectancies about hypnosis
Motivation
Rapport and trust
Attention and ability to sustain concentration
Responsiveness to the hypnotist’s suggestions
The wording and context of the suggestions
Previous experience with hypnosis
The individual’s interpretation of what hypnosis should feel like
These factors are not identical to the Big Five traits. A person can score moderately on all five broad personality dimensions yet still show high hypnotic responsiveness because they become deeply absorbed, have positive expectations, and engage cooperatively with the suggestions.
Hypnotic suggestibility is not the same as gullibility
The term suggestibility can be misunderstood. In hypnosis research, it generally refers to the degree to which a person responds to standardized suggestions under defined testing conditions. It does not necessarily mean that the person is naïve, unintelligent, weak-willed, or easily manipulated in everyday life.
A person may respond strongly to hypnotic suggestions while remaining skeptical, analytical, and capable of resisting suggestions they do not accept. Conversely, someone who is agreeable or trusting in ordinary social situations may not score highly on a formal hypnotic suggestibility scale.
Why the Big Five may not predict hypnotic responding
The Big Five model is designed to describe broad, relatively stable patterns of personality. Hypnotic responding, however, is influenced by both personal characteristics and the immediate situation. The same person’s response may vary depending on:
The quality of the induction
The type of suggestion used
Their expectations
Their level of motivation
The relationship with the practitioner
Whether the suggestions fit their goals
How they define and report their experience
This helps explain why broad personality traits may fail to predict hypnotic responses even though more specific psychological processes may matter.
Clinical implication
For hypnotherapy, the Big Five is better viewed as a tool for understanding a client’s general preferences, emotional tendencies, and communication style—not as a measure of hypnotizability.
A practitioner might use personality information to adapt communication. For example:
A highly conscientious client may appreciate a clear structure and measurable goals.
A client high in openness may enjoy imagery or experiential exercises.
A client with elevated neuroticism may benefit from additional safety, preparation, and anxiety reduction.
A more introverted client may prefer a quieter, less socially demanding approach.
However, these are clinical adaptations, not predictions of whether hypnosis will work. They should not be treated as evidence that one Big Five profile is inherently more hypnotizable than another.
Bottom line
The study found that the Big Five does not meaningfully indicate hypnotic suggestibility. Broad personality traits are poor predictors of hypnotic responsiveness, and hypnotizability is better understood as a multidimensional outcome influenced by attention, absorption, expectation, motivation, context, and the specific suggestions used.
[^1]: Nordenstrom BK, Council JR, Warren WL. “The ‘Big Five’ hypnotic suggestibility.” International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis. 2002;50(3):276–281. doi:10.1080/00207140208410103. PubMed PMID: 12088333. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12088333/
[^2]: Kirsch I. “Suggestibility or hypnosis: What really measures?” International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis. 1997;45(3):212–225. doi:10.1080/00207149708416124. PubMed PMID: 9204635. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9204635/
[^3]: Woody EZ. “Have hypnotic susceptibility scales outlived their usefulness?” International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis. 1997;45(3):226–238. doi:10.1080/00207149708416125. PubMed PMID: 9204636. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9204636/