The effect of social exclusion on physical pain

Belina, Marija. (2014). The effect of social exclusion on physical pain. Diploma Thesis. Filozofski fakultet u Zagrebu, Department of Psychology. [mentor Modić Stanke, Koraljka].

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Abstract

The goal of this study was to test the effect of social exclusion on physical pain. Painful stimuli were administered thermally, while the variables measured were the duration of pain tolerance and pain threshold, pain unpleasantness during and pain intensity at the end of the painful stimulation experienced by the test subject. The student that invited the test subject to participate in this study was also experimenters’ assistant that had to abandon the participant and cause the feeling of social exclusion. The experiment was conducted in two experimental situations and participants (female, N=68) were randomly assigned to experimental (N=33) and control group (N=35). The hypothesis based on recent evidence was that lower intensity of social exclusion will lead to lower pain tolerance and pain thresholds and greater reports of pain unpleasantness and pain intensity. The results did not confirm the predictions, although a trend congruent with the predictions was found. Manipulation used in this research did not produce the expected effect – instead of feeling sad and unhappy, the participants in both experimental and control groups were reporting greater ratings of happiness just before the second measurement and the participants in experimental group were feeling less anxious. One possibility is that during a stressful situation that is expecting physical pain, the participants do not perceive or feel threatened by subtle manipulation caused by social exclusion so it does not produce social pain.

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