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Empathy in female submissive BDSM practitioners.
1Department of Psychology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Social Cognitive Neuroscience and Mental Health, and Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Disease, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510006, China.
Neuropsychologia
|January 28, 2017
Summary
This study explored how bondage/discipline, dominance/submission, sadism/masochism (BDSM) affects empathy. Female submissives showed reduced empathy and neural responses to others' pain compared to controls.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Human Sexuality
Background:
- Bondage/discipline, dominance/submission, sadism/masochism (BDSM) involves pain, but its effect on empathy is unclear.
- Understanding BDSM practitioners' perception of others' pain is crucial for psychological research.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of BDSM experience on human empathy.
- To compare trait empathy and neural responses to suffering between BDSM submissives and controls.
Main Methods:
- Experiment 1: Measured trait empathy and subjective pain ratings in female BDSM submissives (Subs) and controls.
- Experiment 2: Recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) in female Subs and controls viewing painful and neutral expressions.
Main Results:
- Female Subs reported lower trait empathy and rated subjective pain less intensely than controls.
- Neural responses (frontal N1, P2, central late LPP) to others' suffering were reduced in female Subs compared to controls.
Conclusions:
- The submissive role in BDSM practice appears to diminish empathic responses to others' suffering.
- These effects are observable at both behavioral and neural levels in female individuals.