Department of Psychology, The University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK, USA.
Ethn Health. 2022 Apr;27(3):721-732. doi: 10.1080/13557858.2020.1760215. Epub 2020 May 7.
The most widely accepted definition of pain considers it a sensory and emotional experience associated with potential or actual physical harm. However, research tends to generalize findings from predominantly European American samples thereby assuming universality across cultures. Because of the high prevalence of pain within the AI group, it is important to consider whether their conceptualization of pain is similar to the universal definition. To accomplish this aim, a semi-structured interview was conducted with 152 AIs (primarily Southern Plains and eastern Oklahoma tribes) and 150 NHWs. Both groups were asked questions including what words describe hurtful experiences, the purpose of painful experiences, individual and culture-specific meanings of pain, and what constituted the opposite of pain. Many similarities were found between groups as well as differences. For example, NHWs used the word pain more often to describe physically hurtful experiences and were more likely to consider pain to be a signal or warning of an abnormality or pathology. By contrast, only AIs reported culture-specific meanings of pain, such as references to AI rituals or ceremonies. These observed differences are attenuated by small effect sizes. These findings are important to consider when hypothesizing the differences in pain among cultural groups.
最被广泛接受的疼痛定义将其视为与潜在或实际身体伤害相关的感觉和情感体验。然而，研究往往将主要来自欧洲裔美国人样本的发现推广开来，从而假设文化之间具有普遍性。由于 AI 群体中疼痛的高患病率，因此有必要考虑他们对疼痛的概念是否与普遍定义相似。为了实现这一目标，对 152 名 AI（主要来自南部平原和俄克拉荷马州东部部落）和 150 名 NHW 进行了半结构化访谈。两组都被问到了一些问题，包括哪些词可以描述痛苦的经历、痛苦经历的目的、疼痛的个体和文化特定含义，以及什么构成疼痛的对立面。研究发现，两组之间既有相似之处，也有不同之处。例如，NHW 更常用“疼痛”一词来描述身体上的痛苦经历，并且更有可能将疼痛视为异常或病理的信号或警告。相比之下，只有 AI 报告了疼痛的文化特定含义，例如对 AI 仪式或典礼的提及。这些观察到的差异被小效应量所减弱。当假设不同文化群体之间的疼痛差异时，这些发现很重要。
