RESUMEN
In modern health care, individuals frequently exercise choice over health treatment alternatives. A growing body of research suggests that when individuals choose between treatment options, treatment effectiveness can increase, although little experimental evidence exists clarifying this effect. Four studies were conducted to test the hypothesis that exercising choice over treatment alternatives enhances outcomes by providing greater personal control. Consistent with this possibility, in Study 1 individuals who chronically desired control reported less pain from a laboratory pain task when they were able to select between placebo analgesic treatments. Study 2 replicated this finding with an auditory discomfort paradigm. In Study 3, the desire for control was experimentally induced, and participants with high desire for control benefited more from a placebo treatment when they were able to choose their treatment. Study 4 revealed that the benefit of choice on treatment efficacy was partially mediated by thoughts of personal control. This research suggests that when individuals desire control, choice over treatment alternatives improves treatment effectiveness by enhancing personal control.
Asunto(s)
Conducta de Elección/fisiología , Manejo del Dolor/psicología , Dolor/psicología , Participación del Paciente/psicología , Estimulación Acústica/métodos , Análisis de Varianza , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , Estudiantes/psicología , Resultado del TratamientoRESUMEN
Although confrontations can be an effective means of reducing prejudicial responding, individuals often do not confront others due to the interpersonal costs. In the present research, we examined the intrapersonal implications of not confronting prejudice. In three studies, female participants were exposed to a confederate who made a sexist remark. Consistent with self-justification theories, in Study 1, participants who valued confronting and were given the opportunity to confront-but did not-subsequently made more positive evaluations of the confederate. Study 2 found that when participants were given a chance to affirm an important aspect of the self prior to evaluating the confederate, these inflated evaluations of the confederate did not occur. Finally, in Study 3, participants who initially valued confronting but did not confront a sexist partner reduced the amount of importance they placed on confronting. These data reveal that there are important intrapersonal consequences of not confronting prejudice.
Asunto(s)
Disonancia Cognitiva , Disentimientos y Disputas , Relaciones Interpersonales , Sexismo , Adulto , Femenino , Humanos , Proyectos Piloto , Encuestas y CuestionariosRESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Expectations congruently influence, or bias, pain perception. Recent social psychological research reveals that individuals differ in the extent to which they believe in expectation biases and that individuals who believe in expectation biases may adjust for this bias in their perceptions and reactions. That is, idiosyncratic beliefs about expectations can moderate the influence of expectations on experience. PURPOSE: Prior research has not examined whether idiosyncratic beliefs about expectations can alter the degree to which one's expectations influence pain perception. Using a laboratory pain stimulus, we examined the possibility that beliefs about expectation biases alter pain responses following both pain- and placebo-analgesic expectations. METHODS: Participants' beliefs about expectation biases were measured. Next, participants were randomly assigned to receive either a pain expectation or a placebo-analgesia expectation prior to a cold-pressor task. After the task, participants rated their pain. RESULTS: Beliefs about expectation biases significantly influenced pain reports. Specifically, pain reports were more influenced by provided expectations the less participants believed in expectation biases (i.e., pain expectations resulted in more pain than analgesia expectations). CONCLUSIONS: Beliefs about the expectation bias are an important and under-examined predictor of pain and placebo analgesia.
Asunto(s)
Cultura , Dimensión del Dolor/psicología , Percepción del Dolor , Dolor/psicología , Adolescente , Adulto , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , Manejo del Dolor , Dimensión del Dolor/métodos , Adulto JovenRESUMEN
The current experiment examined whether having choice over treatment options facilitates or inhibits the strength of placebo expectations in the context of pain perception. All participants were exposed to an aversive stimulus (i.e., the cold pressor task), and participants in some conditions were given expectations for two pain-relieving treatments (actually the same inert ointment mixture). Critically, participants in these expectation conditions were also given a choice or not about which of the two treatments they preferred to use. Participants in a control condition were not provided with a treatment expectation. Despite receiving the same inert treatment, participants who had a choice over treatments showed increased placebo analgesia as compared to participants not given a choice and participants in the control condition. Moreover, this effect was mediated by changes in anxiety. Explanations and implications for these results are discussed.
Asunto(s)
Conducta de Elección , Percepción del Dolor , Efecto Placebo , Ansiedad , Frío , Toma de Decisiones , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , Manejo del DolorRESUMEN
Prior research has found that sex differences in pain are partially due to individual variations in gender roles. In a laboratory study, we tested the hypothesis that the presence of covert gender role cues can also moderate the extent to which women and men experience pain. Specifically, we varied gender role cues by asking male and female participants to write about instances in which they behaved in a stereotypically feminine, masculine, or neutral manner. Pain and cardiovascular reactivity to the cold pressor task were then assessed. Results revealed that, when primed with femininity, men reported less pain and anxiety from the cold pressor task than women. However, no differences existed between the sexes in the masculine or neutral prime conditions. The results indicate that covert gender cues can alter pain reports. Further, at least in some situations, feminine role cues may be more influential on pain reports than masculine role cues.
Asunto(s)
Señales (Psicología) , Identidad de Género , Dolor/psicología , Adolescente , Adulto , Presión Sanguínea/fisiología , Femenino , Frecuencia Cardíaca/fisiología , Humanos , Masculino , Persona de Mediana Edad , Dolor/fisiopatología , Dimensión del Dolor/métodos , Desempeño Psicomotor/fisiología , Distribución Aleatoria , Caracteres SexualesRESUMEN
In a laboratory study we examined the hypothesis that placebo expectations enhance the initial identification of placebo-relevant sensations over placebo-irrelevant sensations. Participants (N = 102) were randomly assigned to one of three expectation groups. In the first group, participants ingested a placebo capsule and were told it was caffeine (deceptive expectation). In a second group, participants ingested a placebo capsule and were told it may be caffeine or it may be a placebo (double-blind expectation). Participants in the third group were given no expectation. All participants then tallied the placebo-relevant and placebo-irrelevant sensations they experienced during a 7-min period. Participants in the deceptive expectation group identified more placebo-relevant sensations than placebo-irrelevant sensations. No-expectation participants identified more placebo-irrelevant sensations than placebo-relevant sensations. Participants given the double-blind expectation identified an equal amount of placebo-relevant and irrelevant sensations. The amount of both placebo-relevant and placebo-irrelevant sensations detected mediated the relationship between the expectation manipulation and subsequent symptom reports. These data support the position that expectations cause placebo responding, in part, by altering how one identifies bodily sensations.