Pain in the eye of the beholder

Variations in pain visual representations as a function of face ethnicity and culture

Bibliographic Data

ID9619348
AuthorsFrancis Gingras (0000-0002-9360-369X, Université du Québec en Outaouais Gatineau Québec Canada), Daniel Fiset (0000-0003-2111-3269, Université du Québec en Outaouais Gatineau Québec Canada), Marie‐Pier Plouffe‐Demers (0000-0002-4669-2466, Université du Québec en Outaouais Gatineau Québec Canada), Andréa Deschênes (Université du Québec en Outaouais Gatineau Québec Canada), Stéphanie Cormier (0000-0002-4278-1314, Université du Québec en Outaouais Gatineau Québec Canada), Hélène Forget (Université du Québec en Outaouais Gatineau Québec Canada), Christian Blais (0000-0001-6055-8485, Université du Québec en Outaouais Gatineau Québec Canada, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume114
Issue3
Pages621-637
Publication date2023-08-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueBritish Journal of Psychology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0007-1269 • E-ISSN: 2044-8295
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/bjop.12641
PMID36862050
OpenAlexW4322757697
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited45

Pain experienced by Black individuals is systematically underestimated, and recent studies have shown that part of this bias is rooted in perceptual factors. We used Reverse Correlation to estimate visual representations of the pain expression in Black and White faces, in participants originating from both Western and African countries. Groups of raters were then asked to evaluate the presence of pain and other emotions in these representations. A second group of White raters then evaluated those same representations placed over a neutral background face (50% White; 50% Black). Image‐based analyses show significant effects of culture and face ethnicity, but no interaction between the two factors. Western representations were more likely to be judged as expressing pain than African representations. For both cultural groups, raters also perceived more pain in White face representations than in Black face representations. However, when changing the background stimulus to the neutral background face, this effect of face ethnic profile disappeared. Overall, these results suggest that individuals have different expectations of how pain is expressed by Black and White individuals, and that cultural factors may explain a part of this phenomenon

Cognitive psychology · Developmental psychology · Ethnic group · Face (sociological concept) · Face perception · Facial expression · Perception · Sociology · Stimulus (psychology) · White (mutation) · Anthropology · Communication · Cultural Differences and Values · Face Recognition and Perception · Neuroscience · Olfactory and Sensory Function Studies · Psychology · Social Psychology

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