The following is a summary of “Social cues influence perception of others’ pain,” published in the December 2023 issue of Pain by Zhang et al.

While understanding others’ pain matters deeply, accurately judging it remains a complex challenge, easily swayed by social and cultural influences.

Researchers conducted a retrospective study to unveil whether observing others’ pain assessments influences both our perception of pain and subsequent pain management recommendations.

They experimented 1 (N = 50), where participants assessed pictures of injured hands or feet with pre-selected high, medium, and low intensities. Before each picture, cues showed ratings from 10 previous participants. These cues, labeled Social_LOW or Social_HIGH, were randomized and did not predict normative pain intensity. In experiment 2 (N = 209), participants watched facial video clips of patients with chronic shoulder pain making painful movements. The intensity of patients’ pain and offered recommendations were estimated for pain management.

The results showed that in experiment 1, pain estimates were notably higher for stimuli following Social_HIGH than Social_LOW cues (Cohen’s d = 1.26, P<0.001), accompanied by increased skin conductance responses. In Experiment 2, the effect of social cues on pain judgments was replicated (d = 0.58, P<0.001). Post-study pain management recommendations were not influenced by social cues, possibly due to memory limitations.

Investigators concluded that a robust social influence on judgments of others’ pain paves the way for further exploration of these effects in clinical contexts.

Source: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ejp.2225