When Social and Physical Pain Intersect in Humans

Prior research has shown that the distress associated with social exclusion (i.e., social pain) and physical pain share biological and neural substrates. This social-physical pain overlap has spawned a number of hypotheses regarding how both types of pain might interact. The dissertation research reported here employed diverse methodologies to investigate two questions stemming from these hypotheses: 1) what is the effect of social pain on physical pain sensitivity and 2) what is the effect of physical pain on social pain sensitivity? Pertaining to the first question, Study 1 showed that a socially disconnecting live interaction with a partner led to a decrease in physical pain sensitivity. This result, however, was not replicated in Study 2 using an imagination paradigm to conjure two different types of social exclusion experiences, nor did low levels of social connectedness predict subsequent physical pain levels in a sample of chronic pain patients in Study 3. Pertaining to the second question, pain levels did not predict subsequent reports of social disconnection in the diaries of chronic pain patients in Study 3, nor did participants experiencing capsaicin-induced physical pain report social judgments any different from their pain-free counterparts in Study 4. The reasons for, and meaning of, these findings are discussed in detail. Crucial questions that must be confronted to continue advancement in this area of research and recommendations for future studies are also explored.Ph