Absorption (psychology)

Absorption is a disposition or personality trait in which a person becomes absorbed in their mental imagery, particularly fantasy. This trait thus correlates highly with a fantasy-prone personality. The original research on absorption was by American psychologist Auke Tellegen. The construct of absorption was developed in order to relate individual differences in hypnotisability to broader aspects of personality. Absorption has a variable correlation with hypnotisability (r =.13-89) perhaps because in addition to broad personality dispositions, situational factors play an important role in performance on tests of hypnotic susceptibility. Absorption is one of the traits assessed in the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire.

Absorption is most commonly measured by the Tellegen Absorption Scale (TAS). Several versions of this scale are available, the most recent being by Graham Jamieson, who provides a copy of his modified scale. The TAS comprises nine content clusters or subscales:

Studies have found that responsiveness to the engaging or inductive stimuli subscales of the TAS were more strongly related to hypnotisability than were imagistic thought, episodes of expanded awareness, or absorption in thoughts and imaginings.

A revised version of the TAS has been included in Tellegen's Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ) in which it is considered both a primary and a broad trait. In the MPQ, absorption has two subscales called "sentient" and "prone to imaginative and altered states" respectively.

Tellegen has assigned copyright of TAS to the University of Minnesota Press (UMP). It was generally believed from the 1990s that the TAS was now in the public domain, and various improved versions were circulated. However, recently, the UMP has reasserted its copyright, and regards these later versions to be unauthorised, and also disputes whether these versions are in fact improvements.

Absorption is strongly correlated with openness to experience. Studies using factor analysis have suggested that the fantasy, aesthetics, and feelings facets of the NEO PI-R Openness to Experience scale are closely related to absorption and predict hypnotisability, whereas the remaining three facet scales of ideas, actions, and values are largely unrelated to these constructs. Absorption is unrelated to extraversion or neuroticism. One study found a positive correlation between absorption and need for cognition. Absorption has a strong relationship to self-transcendence in the Temperament and Character Inventory.

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