Pain as Social Glue Shared Pain Increases Cooperation (original) (raw)
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The consequences of pain: The social and physical pain overlap on psychological responses
European Journal of Social Psychology, 2011
Current theories suggest that social and physical pain overlap in their neurological and physiological outcomes. We investigated how social and physical pain overlap in their psychological responses by testing the hypothesis that both social and physical pain would thwart satisfaction on four human needs, worsen mood, and increase desire to aggress. In Experiment 1, recalling an experience of social or physical pain produced overlapping effects in the form of thwarted self-esteem and control needs and increased negative affect and desire to aggress. In Experiment 2, we induced social (Cyberball ostracism) or physical pain (cold pressor) within the laboratory session, and found that both pain types produced feelings of being ignored and excluded, and thwarted belonging, self-esteem, control, and meaningful existence. Our results provide further support to pain overlap theories and indicate that social and physical pain cause common psychological consequences, resulting in new ways to understand and manage pain.
Cognitive exertion affects the appraisal of one’s own and other people’s pain
Evaluating correctly others’ pain is a crucial prosocial ability, especially relevant for the healthcare system. In clinical settings, caregivers assess their patients’ pain under high workload and fatigue, often while dealing with competing information/tasks. However, the effect played by such cognitive strain in the appraisal of others’ pain remains unclear. Following embodied accounts that posit a shared representational code between self and others’ states, it could be hypothesized that the representation of people’s pain might be influenced by cognitive exertion similarly to first-hand experiences.Fifty participants underwent one of two demanding tasks, involving either working memory (Experiment 1: N-Back task) or cognitive interference (Experiment 2: Stroop task). After each task, participants were exposed to painful laser stimulations at three intensity levels (low, medium, high), or video-clips of patients experiencing three intensity levels of pain (low, medium, high). Par...
Journal of Pain Research, 2022
Background: Memory and in turn, memory of pain is a reconstructive process. This study considers the relationship between time, memory, affective states, and pain induced by running a marathon by investigating the influence of these factors on a participant's memory of pain experienced after a marathon. The following two hypotheses were formulated: 1) participants' recalled-pain of marathon experience is underestimated; and 2) the underestimation of recalled pain would be greater for participants experiencing higher positive affect. Methods: A longitudinal design was employed to check pain intensities of marathon participants a) at the finish line and b) 6 months following its completion. The sample size was based on a power analysis, and 108 marathonists rated their pain intensities and positive and negative affects at the finish line. From this sample, 58 participants recalled their pain experience of running the marathon 6 months later. Linear models, including computer-based data-mining algorithms, were used. Results: The experienced pain was higher than their recalled pain (t(55) = 3.412, p < 0.01, d = 0.45), supporting the first hypothesis. The memory of pain faded similarly in all participants, which did not directly support the second hypothesis. Further exploratory analysis suggested that negative and positive affective states were related to participants' pain memory; positive affective states appeared to be inversely related to the recall (β = −0.289, p = 0.039). Discussion: This study shows that time has a significant effect on memory recall and that emotions may also influence the memory of pain. This is the first study that preliminarily showcased the effect of positive affective states on the memory of pain induced by physical exercise.
Impact of pain behaviors on evaluations of warmth and competence
Pain, 2014
This study investigated the social judgments that are made about people who appear to be in pain. Fiftysix participants viewed 2 video clips of human figures exercising. The videos were created by a motion tracking system, and showed dots that had been placed at various points on the body, so that body motion was the only visible cue. One of the figures displayed pain behaviors (eg, rubbing, holding, hesitating), while the other did not. Without any other information about the person in each video, participants evaluated each person on a variety of attributes associated with interpersonal warmth, competence, mood, and physical fitness. As well as judging them to be in more pain, participants evaluated the person who displayed pain behavior as less warm and less competent than the person who did not display pain behavior. In addition, the person who displayed pain behavior was perceived to be in a more negative mood and to have poorer physical fitness than the person who did not, and these perceptions contributed to the impact of pain behaviors on evaluations of warmth and competence, respectively. The implications of these negative social evaluations for social relationships, well-being, and pain assessment in persons in chronic pain are discussed.
The influence of communication goals and physical demands on different dimensions of pain behavior
Pain, 2006
The purpose of the present research was to examine the influence of communication goals and physical demands on the expression of communicative (e.g., facial grimaces) and protective (e.g., guarding) pain behaviors. Participants with musculoskeletal conditions (N = 50) were asked to lift a series of weights under two communication goal conditions. In one condition, participants were asked to estimate the weight of the object they lifted. In a second condition, participants were asked to rate their pain while lifting the same objects. The display of communicative pain behaviors varied as a function of the communication goal manipulation; participants displayed more communicative pain behavior when asked to rate their pain while lifting objects than when they estimated the weight of the object. Protective pain behaviors varied with the physical demands of the task, but not as a function of the communication goals manipulation. Pain ratings and self-reported disability were significantly correlated with protective pain behaviors but not with communicative pain behaviors. The results of this study support the functional distinctiveness of different forms of pain behavior. Findings are discussed in terms of evolutionary and learning theory models of pain behavior. Clinical implications of the findings are addressed. Ó
Pain catastrophizing has shown to predict avoidance behavior in acute and chronic pain, but the literature is inconsistent. The present study tested the hypothesis that current mood and threat context moderate the relationship between pain catastrophizing and performance duration. Affective-motivational models postulate that negative and positive moods provide information about whether an activity is respectively threatening or safe. Moreover, it has been proposed that stable cognitive schemas about threat influence behavior particularly in threat-relevant contexts. The present study aimed to establish whether pain catastrophizing is related to less or greater performance duration, when participants experience respectively negative or positive moods, particularly in a high threatening pain context. A 2 mood  2 threat context between-subjects factorial design was applied in 89 healthy participants with pain catastrophizing as covariate and performance duration during a painful finger pressing task as dependent variables. As predicted, higher pain catastrophizing was associated with less performance duration when participants experienced negative moods. The opposite was found when participants experienced positive moods. Moreover, these relationships were most pronounced in a high threatening pain context. This study suggests that the relationship between pain catastrophizing and performance duration during painful activities is moderated by situational factors such as current mood and threat context. Ó
European Journal of Pain Supplements, 2011
Pain catastrophizing has shown to predict avoidance behavior in acute and chronic pain, but the literature is inconsistent. The present study tested the hypothesis that current mood and threat context moderate the relationship between pain catastrophizing and performance duration. Affective-motivational models postulate that negative and positive moods provide information about whether an activity is respectively threatening or safe. Moreover, it has been proposed that stable cognitive schemas about threat influence behavior particularly in threat-relevant contexts. The present study aimed to establish whether pain catastrophizing is related to less or greater performance duration, when participants experience respectively negative or positive moods, particularly in a high threatening pain context. A 2 mood  2 threat context between-subjects factorial design was applied in 89 healthy participants with pain catastrophizing as covariate and performance duration during a painful finger pressing task as dependent variables. As predicted, higher pain catastrophizing was associated with less performance duration when participants experienced negative moods. The opposite was found when participants experienced positive moods. Moreover, these relationships were most pronounced in a high threatening pain context. This study suggests that the relationship between pain catastrophizing and performance duration during painful activities is moderated by situational factors such as current mood and threat context. Ó
Please cite this article as: Karsdorp, P.A., Ranson, S., Nijst, S., Vlaeyen, J.W.S., Goals, mood and performance duration on cognitive tasks during Experimentally induced mechanical pressure pain,