Influence of experimenteer professional status on pain experience

Butić, Luka. (2015). Influence of experimenteer professional status on pain experience. Diploma Thesis. Filozofski fakultet u Zagrebu, Department of Psychology. [mentor Modić Stanke, Koraljka].

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Abstract

This research was influenced by findings from Kallai, Barke and Voss (2004) and Campbell, Holder and France (2006) that the aspects of experimentally induced pain are under the influence of professional status of the experimenter who is administering it. In this research the difference is that there was only one person who represented experimenter with different professional status so we can put personality traits, age and other experimenter characteristics under control. Pain was administered through pressure, heat circulation and electrical current. We measured pain threshold, tolerance and subjective assessments of unpleasantness and pain intensity. There were 50 subjects (26 male, 24 female). When experimenter represented person of a higher professional status he introduced himself as psychologist who is an associate. When he was a person of lower professional status he introduced himself as a student who performs a research for his final paper. We found differences only when method of pain administration was heat. Subjects had higher pain thresholds and tolerance when the pain was administered by a person with a higher status. Higher tolerance and thresholds were not influenced by the difference in authority.Also, male participants had higher heat induced pain tolerance than women. Interactions were not significant. Although, research does not show univocal support that professional status affects pain experience we need to monitor who takes pain estimates in clinical situations because that effect is possible.

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