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Feeling Hurt: Advances in the Social Psychology of Pain

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Feeling Hurt: Advances in the Social Psychology of Pain Feeling Hurt: Advances in the Social Psychology of Pain Laura Jane Ferris Bachelor of Science (Psychology) (Hons) Bachelor of Laws (Hons) Graduate Certificate in Governance and Public Policy A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at The University of Queensland in 2017 School of Psychology ii Abstract Pain is a fundamental part of the human condition. It aids survival, indicates threats to bodily integrity, and forms a part of life-transitions and rites of passage from childbirth to death. Pain is experienced within a sociocultural context and attracts a constellation of different meanings – pain as damage, a sign of effort, or pain as cleansing or purifying, such as in religious practice. This thesis advances a novel approach to the human experience of pain as a functional part of our social world. Pain is conceptualised with a biopsychosocial approach, in which pain is seen as more than nociception. Four key frontiers in the social psychological understanding of pain are broached: revisiting how physical pain may relate to the experience of social rejection or ostracism (hurt feelings); how social groups can affect our experience of pain; and how sharing pain and enjoyment can bring us closer to others in our social world – but may also turn others away. I examine these focal areas with a conceptualisation of pain underpinned by the biopsychosocial model, where pain can be viewed as an experience that is biological, psychological, and social in nature, and which must incorporate these key components to be fulsomely understood. In detail, Chapter 1 introduces the thesis with an overview of the literature along with the aims and scope of the work. Next Chapter 2 is a theoretical chapter which reviews the literature on physical and social pain overlap theory and offers a new synthesis of the relationship between physical and social pain. In essence, the overlap concept binds social pain with the tangibility of physical pain and promises a unified understanding of pain and suffering. However, fMRI evidence now casts doubt on the posited neural basis of overlap. This thesis proposes a conceptualisation of pain overlap that reconnects with the principles of a biopsychosocial approach, and supports recognition of convergence as well as overlap. By unpacking the antecedents, cognitions, and emotions that are associated with each pain, the question of overlap versus difference can be better understood. Chapters 3 is an empirical examination of how groups can affect our experience of pain. The chapter presents the findings of an fMRI study into the impact of social group memberships on the experience and communication of pain. This research shows fMRI and behavioural evidence that salient group memberships facilitate pain communication. Furthermore, to the extent that people reported more pain in response to salient social groups stimuli, we found corresponding changes in brain activation in areas associated with pain experience (insula and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex). This suggests an adaptive response to pain, whereby modulating pain communication in line with salient group memberships may produce a relative reduction in pain-associated brain activation. Chapters 4 and 5 turn the spotlight on pleasure and enjoyment alongside pain. These chapters provide field and experimental evidence that sharing pain and enjoyment can help people iii feel more connected and serve important identity functions by revealing who we are (Chapter 4), but that pain and pleasure also invite adverse moral judgements (Chapter 5). Chapter 4 presents the findings of a field study at a cold-water mass swim in Tasmania, Australia. Experiencing intense pleasure and pain during the swim was associated with larger increases in self-revelation from pre- to post-swim, which in turn predicted enhanced identification with others over the course of the event. Chapter 5 reports 2 experimental studies with large online samples, in which participants made moral judgements about individuals portrayed to be enjoying pain. Targets who enjoyed pain were consistently considered less moral and more immoral than no-pain controls. These experiments suggest that in unlocking any psychosocial gains from pain and enjoyment, people may also need to be wary of observers’ moral judgements. In sum, this thesis advances theoretical and empirical understanding of pain; by examining how pain may bring benefits, and how pain may influence, and be influenced by, psychosocial factors. Within this research lies an important overarching theme: there are many perspectives on the phenomenon of pain, and social psychology has an important role to play within the broader scientific effort toward understanding pain. iv Declaration by Author This thesis is composed of my original work, and contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference has been made in the text. I have clearly stated the contribution by others to jointly-authored works that I have included in my thesis. I have clearly stated the contribution of others to my thesis as a whole, including statistical assistance, survey design, data analysis, significant technical procedures, professional editorial advice, and any other original research work used or reported in my thesis. The content of my thesis is the result of work I have carried out since the commencement of my research higher degree candidature and does not include a substantial part of work that has been submitted to qualify for the award of any other degree or diploma in any university or other tertiary institution. I have clearly stated which parts of my thesis, if any, have been submitted to qualify for another award. I acknowledge that an electronic copy of my thesis must be lodged with the University Library and, subject to the policy and procedures of The University of Queensland, the thesis be made available for research and study in accordance with the Copyright Act 1968 unless a period of embargo has been approved by the Dean of the Graduate School. I acknowledge that copyright of all material contained in my thesis resides with the copyright holder(s) of that material. Where appropriate I have obtained copyright permission from the copyright holder to reproduce material in this thesis. v Publications during Candidature Ferris, L. J., Jetten, J., Molenberghs, P., Bastian, B., & Karnadewi, F. (2016). Increased pain communication following multiple group memberships salience leads to a relative reduction in pain-related brain activity. PLoS One, 11(9), e0163117. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0163117 Ferris, L. J., Jetten, J., Johnstone, M. G., Girdham, E., Parsell, C., & Walter, Z. C. (2016). The Florence Nightingale effect: Organizational identification explains the peculiar link between others’ suffering and workplace functioning in the homelessness sector. Frontiers in Psychology, 7. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00016 Bastian, B., Jetten, J., & Ferris, L. J. (2014). Pain as social glue: Shared pain increases cooperation. Psychological Science, 25(11), 2079-2085. doi:10.1177/0956797614545886 vi Publications included in this Thesis Ferris, L. J., Jetten, J., Molenberghs, P., Bastian, B., & Karnadewi, F. (2016). Increased pain communication following multiple group memberships salience leads to a relative reduction in pain-related brain activity. PLoS One, 11(9), e0163117. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0163117 – incorporated as Chapter 3. Contributor Statement of contribution Author Laura Ferris (Candidate) Wrote the paper (70%) Analysis and visualisation of behavioural data (80%) Edited the paper (70%) Author Jolanda Jetten Designed experiments (40%) Analysis of behavioural data (15%) Wrote the paper (15%) Edited paper (10%) Author Pascal Molenberghs Designed experiments (40%) Analysis of fMRI data (100%) Wrote the paper (15%) Edited paper (15%) Author Brock Bastian Designed experiments (20%) Analysis of behavioural data (15%) Edited the paper (10%) Author Fika Karnadewi Collected data (100%) Edited paper (5%) Contributions by others to the Thesis Brock Bastian, Jolanda Jetten, and Matthew Hornsey provided guidance on theory, study design, data analysis, and reviewed and commented on various chapters of this thesis. Statement of parts of the thesis submitted to qualify for the award of another degree None. vii Acknowledgements Postgraduate research is known to be challenging, and of course, my PhD has been no exception. When I decided to return to university to start doctoral research, I had an inkling of what might be involved. I was hopeful and cautiously excited about the possibilities for investigating the topic of pain – something I had been experiencing – in scientific, liberating, and creative ways. I was lucky to find two supervisors whose research nous and incisive judgement helped to guide me through the thickets of this prickly topic. Professor Jolanda Jetten and Associate Professor Brock Bastian took me in, and shared their time and expertise with seemingly endless patience (and always prompt replies!). The relationship between supervisor and PhD student is one of the last great apprenticeships in modern professional life, and I am very glad for the energy and persistence you have both extended over these years. Beyond supervisors, the good side to PhD life starts early when you connect with the wonderful community of people around you. Big ideas and late nights, field research in unexpected locations – friendships are forged in conditions completely unlike other working environments.
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