Insensitivity to Suffering: Psychopathic Traits and Perception of Others' Pain.

Despite growing evidence that psychopathy entails reduced emotional processing, the relationship between psychopathic traits and third-person pain perception is poorly understood. This study directly examined perception of others' pain in a sample of male and female students (N = 105) who completed the Self-Report Psychopathy scale (SRP-III) and the Toronto Empathy Questionnaire (TEQ). Participants watched a video of 60 one-second clips of other people experiencing pain. Following each clip, participants rated the perceived level of pain intensity and pain unpleasantness. Psychopathic traits were unrelated to response bias, suggesting that individuals high in psychopathic traits were no more or less likely to impute pain to others. However, higher levels of psychopathic traits, particularly callous affect and antisocial behavior, were associated with a decreased ability to discriminate others' pain. Sensitivity and response bias were unrelated to TEQ scores. These findings provide novel insights into the influence of psychopathic traits on emotional processing.

Health care providers' judgments in chronic pain: the influence of gender and trustworthiness.

Estimates of patients' pain, and judgments of their pain expression, are affected by characteristics of the observer and of the patient. In this study, we investigated the impact of high or low trustworthiness, a rapid and automatic decision made about another, and of gender and depression history on judgments made by pain clinicians and by medical students. Judges viewed a video of a patient in pain presented with a brief history and rated his or her pain, and the likelihood that it was being exaggerated, minimized, or hidden. Judges also recommended various medical and treatment options. Contrary to expectations, trustworthiness had no main effect on pain estimates or judgments, but interacted with gender producing pervasive bias. Women, particularly those rated of low trustworthiness, were estimated to have less pain and to be more likely to exaggerate it. Unexpectedly, judgments of exaggeration and pain estimates were independent. Consistent with those judgments, men were more likely to be recommended analgesics, and women to be recommended psychological treatment. Effects of depression history were inconsistent and hard to interpret. Contrary to expectations, clinicians' pain estimates were higher than medical students', and indicated less scepticism. Empathy was unrelated to these judgments. Trustworthiness merits further exploration in healthcare providers' judgments of pain authenticity and how it interacts with other characteristics of patients. Furthermore, systematic disadvantage to women showing pain is of serious concern in healthcare settings.

Racial differences in pain treatment and empathy in a Canadian sample.

BACKGROUND: Evidence of inadequate pain treatment as a result of patient race has been extensively documented, yet remains poorly understood. Previous research has indicated that nonwhite patients are significantly more likely to be undertreated for pain. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether previous findings of racial biases in pain treatment recommendations and empathy are generalizable to a sample of Canadian observers and, if so, to determine whether empathy biases mediate the pain treatment disparity. METHODS: Fifty Canadian undergraduate students (24 men and 26 women) watched videos of black and white patients exhibiting facial expressions of pain. Participants provided pain treatment decisions and reported their feelings of empathy for each patient. RESULTS: Participants demonstrated both a prowhite treatment bias and a prowhite empathy bias, reporting more empathy for white patients than black patients and prescribing more pain treatment for white patients than black patients. Empathy was found to mediate the effect of race on pain treatment. CONCLUSIONS: The results of the present study closely replicate those from a previous study of American observers, providing evidence that a prowhite bias is not a peculiar feature of the American population. These results also add support to the claim that empathy plays a crucial role in racial pain treatment disparity.