Psychological impact of social pain: The pain that doesn't heal

Zhansheng Chen, Purdue University

Abstract

The mounting evidence of the similarities between social pain and physical pain has led theorists to argue and researchers to provide evidence that the social-pain system may have piggybacked on the brain structure that evolved earlier for physical pain. Seven studies were conducted to examine two important distinctions between social pain and physical pain: (1) people can relive and re-experience social pain more easily and more intensely than physical pain, and (2) people can pre-live and pre-experience social pain more easily and more intensely than physical pain. Studies 1, 2a, 2b, and 3 instructed participants to relive social pain (i.e., to recall a severe social-pain experience) or physical pain (i.e., to recall a severe physical-pain experience), and then compared their ongoing feelings of pain. Study 1 directly asked participants to report their levels of pain using two self-report measures, and found that thoroughly recalling social pain led to a higher level of relived (currently felt) pain than was the case for physical pain. Studies 2a, 2b, and 3 measured participants’ feelings of pain indirectly. Because pain interrupts and impairs cognition, Studies 2a and 2b indexed feelings of pain with cognitive performance, and found that social pain reliving impaired performance on cognitively demanding tasks, as compared with physical pain reliving. In addition, pain decreases sensitivity to physical pressure. Study 3, therefore indirectly assessed pain by measuring participant’s sensitivity to pressure applied to their fingers via a pressure algometer, and found that participants endured higher levels of pressure following social pain reliving than physical pain reliving. Studies 4, 5, and 6 asked participants to pre-live social pain (i.e., to imagine a social-pain experience in the future) or physical pain (i.e., to imagine a physical-pain experience in the future), and measured participants’ feelings of pain thereafter. Study 4 directly asked participants to report their pain using self-report measures, and found that social pain pre-living led to higher levels of pain than physical pain pre-living. Study 5 measured pain indirectly with cognitive performance, and found that social pain pre-living led to worse performance on cognitively demanding tasks than physical pain pre-living. Study 6 assessed participants’ sensitivity toward physical pressure, and found that participants endured more pressure following social pain pre-living than physical pain pre-living. In all, these studies provided converging evidence to support the hypothesized differences between social pain and physical pain. Implications for social psychological research and theories on pain were discussed.

Degree

Ph.D.

Advisors

Williams, Purdue University.

Subject Area

Social psychology

COinS