Are men better hypnosis subjects?

Hypnosis appears to be more effective for men than women in helping them quit smoking, recent research suggests.

Analyzing 18 previous studies on hypnosis involving 5,600 smokers, Joe Green, the study’s author, found that 30% of men were able to quit smoking using hypnosis while women had a 23% success rate.

The results aren’t that surprising, Green said, because men also have a higher success rate than women in nonhypnosis smoking programs.

Women might have a more difficult time quitting because they fear gaining weight, he suggested. Most men and women gain a few pounds after they stop smoking, but women tend to gain more.

He said women were also more vulnerable to depression, and smoking might be a way to cope with negative feelings.

Other studies have indicated that hypnosis can help smokers scale back their habit, but this study did not look at cigarette reduction, only whether people had abstained from cigarettes for an average of six months to a year.

Green, an associate professor of psychology at Ohio State University, published a study in 2000 suggesting that hypnosis was as effective at helping people quit smoking as other antismoking techniques. In that study, two to three individual hypnosis sessions helped a higher percentage of smokers quit than did one group hypnosis session.

“The bottom line is there’s reason to be optimistic,” Green said, “but we pretty much leave it up to the consumer ... as to whether they should try this approach or not.”

Green presented his findings Friday at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Assn.