V. K. Kumar Phd

West Chester University · Department of Psychology

The authors evaluated the effects of participating in a group course, using integrated psychodramatic and cognitive-behavioral techniques, on participants' (N = 40) changes in the number of core beliefs, number of automatic thoughts, moods, and alleviation of depression. The results of the study showed that the average Beck Depression Inventory (BD...

This qualitative study explores perceived age discrimination in the workplace. Increasing age diversity in the workplace has led to an associated increase in ageism. While a large percentage of older workers report being subjected to discriminatory treatment in the workplace, ageism also appears to be gendered. Older female workers are being victim...

This study examined whether age-related discrimination, negative age-related stereotypes about declining abilities due to age, job engagement (cognitive, physical, and emotional), and workplace intergenerational climate in terms of positive intergenerational affect (PIA) and workplace intergenerational inclusiveness (WIG) correlated with life satis...

A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used on the Belief in a Just World Scale (BJW; Lucas, Zhdanova & Alexander in J Individ Diff 32:14–25, 2011) to test the replicability of its four-scale structure. Additionally, Guttman’s Smallest Space Analysis (SSA) was used to test the presence of two facets with each consisting of two elements: Type of J...

An important and often unexplored factor shaping life satisfaction is one's perception of the world as a "just" place. The "just world hypothesis" is predicated on the idea that the world works as a place where people get what they merit, an idea that often serves as a means for people to rationalize injustices. The research addressing just world b...

This study examined how aspects of culture, social support, isolation, and loneliness are perceived as influences in chronic illness management by pre-diabetic (Glycated hemoglobin A1c levels between 5.7 and 6.4) or Type 2 diabetic patients (A1c levels between 6.4 and 8). Twenty-eight Middle Eastern immigrants in the greater Philadelphia area were...

This study examined the effect of an apology on the likelihood of forgiveness and distancing in everyday interactions within the context of family relationships. Students (n = 325) read one scenario (drug or money; relating to one offender, mother, father, older brother, or sister; and, either receiving or not receiving an apology). They then answe...

A support group was designed for bereaved caregivers to assess its therapeutic benefit and to develop a template for future use with such groups. The sessions combined psychoeducation and group process work on concerns presented by group members. A thematic content analysis identified the following themes: hopelessness and loss; the need to talk ab...

Groups of participants (N = 164) were randomly assigned to three conditions: Group 1 received a trance induction, Group 2 received task-motivational instructions, and Group 3—“cold start” control—was simply told, “We will begin the hypnosis procedure now.” All participants received the Creative Imagination Scale suggestions and then completed the C...

This study examined the relationship of creative capacity with happiness, affect, motivation, and stress from creative pursuits using a sample of 420 students. In addition, it tested whether a relationship existed between overall creative capacity and specific styles or approaches to creative expression. A composite creative capacity score was deri...

The Personality Beliefs Questionnaire-Short Form (PBQ-SF), designed to assess dysfunctional beliefs based on Beck et al.’s (1990) cognitive formulations of personality disorders, has received little attention in research. The present study assessed the construct validity of the PBQ-SF by exploring its relations with conceptually relevant scales--th...

Butler et al. (Cognitive Therapy and Research 31:357–370, 2007) developed the Personality Beliefs Questionnaire-Short Form (PBQ-SF), from an earlier longer version (Beck and Beck 1991), to assess the types of schemata associated with different personality disorders. This study explored the structure of PBQ-SF using Guttman’s Smallest Space Analysis...

Dunkell's (1977) pioneering work suggested possible associations between sleep positions and personality traits. We located only two studies since Dunkell's that provide general support to the notion that sleep positions may be reflective of personality. This study examined whether selected body positions at sleep onset, along with varied or do not...

This study tested the notion that the construction and telling of a collaborative group story would facilitate the development of group cohesion within the context of an actual classroom setting over the duration of the course. Participants were 125 students in 8 classes (4 experimental, 4 control) of a group psychotherapy course that focused on th...

This study examined if task motivational imagery suggestions could facilitate a semantic priming effect, relative to general relaxation suggestions and no specific suggestions; and if the participants’ hypnotizablity moderated the effects of the three types of instructions. Participants (n = 127) were assigned randomly in groups to one of the three...

This study examined the relationship between drug preference, drug use, drug availability, and personality among individuals (n = 100) in treatment for substance abuse in an effort to replicate the results of an earlier study (Feldman, Kumar, Angelini, Pekala, & Porter, 2007) designed to test prediction derived from Eysenck's (1957, 1967) theories....

This commentary reflects on the varieties of high hypnotizable subjects suggested in the works by Barber, Barrett, Pekala and colleagues, and Terhune and Cardeña (2010). These different studies point to the existence of different types of low, medium, and high hypnotizable subjects. However, types of high hypnotizables have received the most attent...

We assessed the contribution of selected built environment factors to body weight in a pilot study in urban Visakhapatnam, South India. Participants were 123 men and 60 women (age 16 to 69 years; BMI 17.3–30.5) who had lived in the area for at least 3 years. Individuals with lower BMI tended to be (a) working people (non-home based—working away fro...

This preliminary study explored the relationship between imagery vividness before and during a hypnotic phenomenological assessment procedure, the Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory-Hypnotic Assessment Procedure (PCI-HAP), while also assessing trance (hypnoidal) state effects and several other variables. The PCI-HAP allows the assessment of t...

We assessed the contribution of selected built environment factors to body weight in a pilot study in urban Visakhapatnam, South India. Participants were 123 men and 60 women (age 16 to 69 years; BMI 17.3–30.5) who had lived in the area for at least 3 years. Individuals with lower BMI tended to be (a) working people (non-home based—working away fro...

This paper reviews the relationships between trance or altered state effects, suggestibility, and expectancy as these concepts are defined in the theorizing of Weitzenhoffer (2002), Holroyd (2003), Kirsch (1991), and others, for the purpose of demonstrating how these concepts can be assessed with the PCI-HAP (Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventor...

This study sought to determine if self-reported hypnotic depth (srHD) could be predicted from the variables of the Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory - Hypnotic Assessment Procedure (PCI-HAP) (Pekala, 1995a, 1995b; Pekala & Kumar, 2007; Pekala et al., 2010), assessing several of the processes theorized by researchers to be associated with hyp...

Smallest space analysis (SSA) was used to examine structural aspects of the Creative Imagination Scale (CIS), Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, Form:A (HGSHS:A), and Stanford Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, Form C (SHSS:C). Correlation matrices for each of the instruments came from published studies of other investigators. The SSA o...

The structure of the Rye et al.’s Forgiveness Likelihood Scale was evaluated using the principal components analysis and Guttman’s Smallest Space Analysis. Participants (n = 98) were students in Introduction to Psychology classes. While the former suggested a one-factor solution, the latter suggested differentiating the items based on the facet of...

Positive and negative affect generated while using the Phenomenology of Consciousness--Hypnotic Assessment Procedure (PCI-HAP) on a sample of drug and alcohol users were predicted using several variables. The results were then cross-validated on a second, smaller sample. The results suggest that, although some negative affect was reported, the PCI-...

This study assessed the relationships between self-esteem, serenity, and anger/impulsivity in a chronic alcohol and other drug (AOD) dependent population. Three hundred participants completed questionnaires addressed to substance abuse, self-esteem, serenity, anger/impulsivity, and other variables. Pearson rs of between .55 and .61 were found betwe...

Felicitas Goodman (1990) observed that naive participants experienced unique trance states, characterized by specific visionary content, when they assumed particular postures and listened to monotonous rattling. Students (n = 284), enrolled in various sections of the course Introduction to Psychology, experienced one of four conditions with their e...

Averill's Emotional Creativity Inventory (ECI) was correlated (n = 322) with self-report measures of creative capacity, alexithymia, fantasy proneness, and styles of creativity in everyday life. Two sets of findings suggest an overlap between the emotional and cognitive aspects of creativity: (a) a principal components analysis of the 3 ECI subscal...

Using H. J. Eysenck's (1957, 1967) theory of temperament, this study examined the relationship between drug preference, drug use, and personality among incarcerated inmates. Analysis indicated a general preference for marijuana and alcohol over 8 other commonly used drugs across different personality types. Theoretical and clinical implications are...

The phenomenon of hypnosis provides a rich paradigm for those seeking to understand the processes that underlie consciousness. Understanding hypnosis tells us about a basic human capacity for altered experiences that is often overlooked in contemporary western societies. Throughout the 200 year history of psychology, hypnosis has been a major topic...

Procedures for estimating hypnotic depth have been used for more than 70 years. This study predicted self-reported hypnotic depth from the phenomenological and behavioral variables of the Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory-Hypnotic Assessment Procedure (PCI-HAP). Participants were divided into 2 groups; 1 was used to generate regression equat...

Review of the book "Destructive Trends in Mental Health: The Well-Intentioned Path to Harm" edited by Rogers H. Wright and Nicholas A. Cummings (see record 2005-02409-000 ). This book may be the read of the year for mental health practitioners. It is the most sweeping critique (and often indictment) of the mental health professions in recent memory...

Groups of participants were randomly assigned to receive either direct hypnotic procedure using the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility: Form A (HGSHS:A) or its indirect counterpart, the Alman-Wexler Indirect Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale (AWIHSS). Prior to hypnosis, participants completed the Inventory of Childhood Memories and Imaginin...

The Willingness to Forgive Scale (WFS) was correlated with the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), and the Global Severity Index (GSI) of the Brief Symptom Inventory. Participants were 45 male and 55 female outpatients being treated for affective and anxiety disorders. No gender differences (α = 0.05) were found on...

The study investigated relationships between self-report measures of creative capacity, styles of creativity, hypnotizability, and absorption. Participants were 429 students enrolled in Introduction to Psychology classes. Students first completed questionnaires pertaining to creative capacity, creativity styles, and absorption. They were subsequent...

This study evaluated the effectiveness of a self-hypnosis protocol with chronic drug and alcohol patients in increasing self-esteem, improving affect, and preventing relapse against a control, a transtheoretical cognitive-behavioral (TCB), and a stress management (attention-placebo) group. Participants were 261 veterans admitted to Substance Abuse...

The Creativity Styles Questionnaire-Revised was used to measure graduate psychology students' (N=173) self-perceptions of creative capacity and styles of creativity (beliefs about and strategies for going about being creative). Participants also completed the Inventory of Childhood Memories and Imaginings, a self-report measure of Fantasy Proneness...

In this article, the authors combine psychodrama and cognitive behavioral therapy techniques in applied group settings. They illustrate the application of some CBT techniques that they found helpful in the three phases of psychodrama with college students and patients diagnosed with mood, substance abuse, anxiety, and personality disorders. Althoug...

It has been suggested that haunting and poltergeist episodes are akin to outbreaks of contagious psychogenic illness. Therefore, it might be expected that hypochondriacal and somatic tendencies would significantly predict self-reported experiences of 'spirit infestation' and other paranormal ideations. This prediction was tested on a sample of 314...

The study examined the effectiveness of an ego-strengthening hypnosis (ES) in improving state self-esteem (State Self Esteem Scale, SSES) and reducing depression score (BDI-II). Participants receiving the ES procedure were compared with a control group receiving a progressive relaxation (PR) procedure. In week one, groups of participants completed...

Previous research (Pekala, Kumar, Ainslie, Elliott, Mullen, Salinger and Masten, 1999/2000) found that dissociation, as measured by the ‘Dissociative Experiences Scale’ (DES) (Bernstein and Putnam, 1986), was predicted as much by fantasy-proneness (Wilson and Barber, 1983a) as by child abuse (Sanders and Becker-Lausen, 1995) in a substance abuse po...

Following the administration of a Hungarian translation of the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale, Form C (SHSS:C), 104 Hungarian subjects completed the Hungarian translation of the Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory (PCI). Subjects had also been administered the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, Form A (HGSHS:A) about 1 wee...

A theory of hypnosis based mainly on principles of conditioning and inhibition is proposed, covering the hypnotic induction process, hypnotic phenomena and post-hypnotic phenomena. The overall explanation presented is delineated in a set of three initial postulates and seven subsequent hypotheses. Hypnotic induction is defined as the giving of a se...

Despite the popularity of the term "trance" among clinicians to describe the subjective effects associated with being hypnotized, heretofore there has been no means to operationalize that definition. The authors present a rationale and psychophenomenological method to operationalize the term "trance" in terms of (a) hypnotic depth, a quantitative m...

The Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, Form A (HGSHS:A), Tellegen's Absorption Scale (TAS); Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES); and Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory (PCI) were administered either individually or in groups. Eighty students from undergraduate Introduction to Psychology classes were randomly assigned to 1 of the...

From a factor analysis of Pekala's (1982, 1991b) Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory completed retrospectively in reference to the Harvard scale induction, Kumar et al. (1996) obtained the following five correlated state effects factors: dissociated control state, positive affect, negative affect, visual imagery and attention to internal proce...

This study (n = 465) examined if (a) hypnotic susceptibility (assessed by the Harvard Group Scale, Form A) was related to state and trait depression, and physical and social anhedonia, and (b) phenomenological experiences (assessed by the Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory [PCI]) varied with depression, anhedonia,and hypnotizability during hy...

The Creativity Styles Questionnaire-Revised was administered to 93 supervising managers of a nation-wide rail transportation corporation. The managers were divided into high and low creative groups based on a self-report measure of creative capacity. The results were consistent with those obtained with students in a previous study. The high creativ...

Participants (N = 206) experienced 15-min of monotonous drumming either before or after hypnosis (Harvard scale). Participants completed the Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory (PCI) in reference to the last 4-min of drumming. Stimulus order did not affect the objective trance levels as measured by the Harvard scores. The subjective trance lev...

Examined whether dissociativity (the tendency to dissociate spontaneously) was related to a) reality monitoring (ability to distinguish actual from imagined events) and b) vividness of visual imagery ability. 220 college students completed the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES), Questionnaire of Imagery Vividness, and completed a reality monitori...

Reviews basic sociometric tools and their analysis, provides information on computer programs to analyze sociometric data, and briefly examines considerations in conducting sociometric investigations. Looks at the social atom (significant others), constructing sociometry questions, and offers an analysis of individual status and interactional patte...

This study describes the development of the Creativity Styles Questionnaire-Revised (CSQ-R; Kumar & Holman, 1989). This questionnaire measures beliefs about and strategies for going about being creative. Participants were 273 freshmen students in a psychology course. Cronbach alphas for the 7 subscales of the CSQ-R ranged between .45 and .81, with...

The present study examined the relationship between hypnotizabili-ty, dissociativity, andphenomenological experience. Subjects (n=435) completed the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES), then experienced the Harvard scale induction, and completed the Phenomenological Experience Inventory (PCI). Two three (high, medium, and low dis-sociatives) X thr...

This study examined the relationship of 15 trait (e.g., absorption, ego-permissiveness) and 21 phenomenological variables (assessed by the Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory) with performance on the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, Form A. Factor analyses suggested three trait factors (absorption-permissiveness, general sensati...

The present study replicated and extended Kirsch, Council, and Wickless's work evaluating the reliability and concurrent validity of a subjective response scale developed for the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility. Consistent with Kirsch et al.'s findings, the subjective counterpart of the Harvard scale demonstrated high reliability (co...

The present study investigated the extent to which the Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory (PCI; Pekala, 1982, 1991a) predicted Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale: Form C (Weitzenhoffer and Hilgard, 1962a) scores and replicated previous results (Forbes and Pekala, 1993; Pekala and Kumar, 1984, 1987) with the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic...

Subjects (N = 574) filled out Zuckerman's Sensation Seeking Scale and a questionnaire measuring beliefs and experiences in paranormal phonomena that included a question on drug use. Results (α = 0.01) from multi- and univariate analyses of variance showed that high, relative to low, sensation seekers (General SS Scale, Thrill and Adventure Seeking,...

Investigated whether specific phenomenological expectancies associated with hypnosis predict subsequent responses to the items of the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility and the extent to which hypnotizability moderates and/or interacts with expectancy. 160 undergraduates completed, prior to hypnosis, a self-report instrument regarding w...

Examined whether 182 college freshmen self-identified as creative, somewhat creative, or least creative differed in their beliefs about, and approaches to, creative endeavors. Ss' responses to a creativity styles questionnaire showed that the more creative Ss (1) used a greater number of techniques to be creative than the somewhat creative and leas...

Subjects (n = 246) were asked to identify the trait(s) measured by Rotter's Interpersonal Trust Scale with and without filler items, either by responding freely or by circling traits listed on a sheet. Half the subjects were informed prior to filling out the questionnaire that their task was to identify the traits being measured by the questionnair...

Reviews 39 published psychodramatic techniques designed to stimulate protagonists during the action (self-disclosure) phase of a psychodrama. Also included are closure techniques to shut down the action and allow protagonists and group members to enter the sharing phase of the psychodramatic process. Each technique is briefly illustrated. (PsycINFO...

Relationships among phenomenological subsystems of consciousness associated with a baseline condition and an hypnotic induction condition were compared across individuals of differing hypnotic susceptibility. Phenomenological experience on 12 subsystems of consciousness was quantified by means of the Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory and the...

Compared phenomenological experiences associated with a baseline (eyes closed/open) condition and a hypnotic induction in 335 university students of differing hypnotic susceptibility, using the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility and the Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory. Results indicate that Ss reported different intensities of...

The phenomenological effects associated with a baseline condition of eyes-closed and a hypnotic induction condition were compared across individuals of differing absorption capacity and hypnotizability. The results indicated that individuals of differing absorption capacity and hypnotizability reported different intensities of phenomenological expe...

In a previous study, a self-report instrument, the Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory (PCI), generated a validity coefficient of .62 by correlating the Harvard Scale scores obtained during hypnosis and predicted Harvard scores based on a regression equation using the inventory's (sub)dimensions. In an attempt to replicate the previous results...

Phenomenological aspects of attention were assessed across 434 subjects in reference to baseline conditions of eyes-open or closed sitting quietly and an hypnotic induction condition. An attention questionnaire, assessing twelve dimensions of attention, was constructed and subjects completed it retrospectively in reference to the baseline condition...

Presents data from 2 studies with 112 and 263 undergraduates, respectively, suggesting that the Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory has adequate reliability and validity in assessing alterations in phenomenological experience associated with stimulus conditions (i.e., eyes open and closed, sitting quietly, and a hypnotic induction). (PsycINFO...

Compared patterns of consciousness associated with a baseline condition of eyes closed and a hypnotic induction condition across 217 undergraduates of differing hypnotic susceptibility as measured by the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility—Form A. Phenomenological experience on 12 dimensions was quantified by a phenomenology of conscious...

Describes 5 methods of identifying a protagonist in psychodrama—volunteering, action sociometry, paper-pencil sociometry, social atom, and information revealed during the sharing or integration phase of psychodrama. Also discussed are 6 factors significant to the selection of a protagonist—type of group, size of group, time available, types of conf...

Disguising scale purpose by using an innocuous skill title and filler items had no effect on the reliability and validity of Rotter's Interpersonal Trust Scale.

A computer program, based on Jennrich's computations for comparing two correlation matrices, is presented. The short program, written in APL, generates a x2 statistic that allows for assessment of equality between two independent correlation matrices.

In an attempt to predict hypnotic susceptibility (as measured by the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, HGSHS), the phenomenological experiences of an hypnotic induction (HI) procedure and a baseline comparison condition (eyes closed, EC, sitting quietly) were assessed. After each experience the subjects (n = 217) completed the Phenome...

The study evaluated the reliability and validity of a revised version of the Intimacy Attitude Scale originally developed by Amidon. The Cronbach alpha measure of internal consistency showed alpha values between .78 and .86 in five different groups. The test-retest correlation was .57 which improved to .84 after exclusion of three extreme scores. V...