Prior pain experience: influence on the observation of experimental pain in men and women.

UNLABELLED

Research examining perceptions of subjects participating in an experimental pain task has not been widely studied. The primary purpose of this study was to examine the influence of prior experience with the cold pressor on subsequent perceptions of others experiencing this same pain task. Furthermore, to replicate our previous work, we examined how individuals observe experimentally induced pain in male and female participants. Possible interactions between order of cold pressor experience, sex of the viewer, sex of the individual being observed, and characteristics attributed to the individuals in the videos were also analyzed. The sample was composed of 57 participants. They were each randomized to 1 of 2 conditions: (1) participate in cold pressor task before viewing a presentation of 10 video clips (of subjects in cold pressor task), rate videos, and complete battery of questionnaires or (2) cold pressor participation after completion of the same questionnaires, and viewing/rating videos. Participants viewing the videos provided ratings including observed pain and emotional characteristics they attributed to the individuals. These results replicated and extended our previous work by demonstrating a gender bias (ie, a stereotypical belief about an individual on the basis of their sex) in the observation of pain, such that participants rated female subjects as experiencing greater pain intensity when undergoing a cold pressor task compared to male subjects. Furthermore, experiencing the cold pressor before watching the videos increased a participant's pain ratings of observed pain. There were also several significant interactions between cold pressor condition, sex of video participant, sex of viewer, and emotional/behavioral characteristics attributed to the video participant.

PERSPECTIVE

Results of this study demonstrate that prior experience with pain increases accuracy of estimating others' pain. Gender role expectations also influence observer's ratings of pain, and prior experience of pain influences men and women differently.