Assumptions about life hardship and pain perception

Datos Bibliográficos

ID12603983
AutoresKelly M Hoffman (0000-0001-5846-1369, University of Virginia, autor de correspondencia), Sophie Trawalter (0000-0002-9969-1598, University of Virginia)
Año2016
Volumen19
Número4
Páginas493-508
Fecha de publicación2016-01-19
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaGroup Processes & Intergroup Relations (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1368-4302 • E-ISSN: 1461-7188
EditorialSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/1368430215625781
OpenAlexW2414473803
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas30
Referencias citadas30

The present work examines whether people assume that those who have faced hardship feel less pain than those who have not, and whether this belief contributes to the perception that Blacks feel less pain than Whites. In Experiments 1 and 2, participants received information about a Black and/or White target person’s life hardship and then rated the target person’s pain. Participants reported that the target individual would feel less pain if s/he had experienced greater hardship. Importantly, racial bias emerged but only when hardship information was consistent with expectations about race and life hardship; that is, participants reported that the Black (vs. White) target individual would feel less pain only if s/he had experienced greater hardship. In Experiment 3, participants read that hardship either toughens or weakens the body, and then rated a Black or White target person’s pain. Racial bias emerged but only when supported by lay beliefs. Specifically, participants reported that the Black (vs. White) target individual would feel less pain but only if they endorsed the belief that hardship leads to toughness. Taken together, these findings suggest that perceptions of hardship shape perceptions of pain and contribute to racial bias in pain perception. These findings also suggest that eliminating this racial bias will require challenging lay beliefs; it will require the recognition that people who have faced great hardship feel just as much, if not more, pain

Perception · Race (biology · Racism · Social perception · White (mutation · Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion · Emotions and Moral Behavior · Gender Studies · Psychology · Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment · Social Psychology