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Sex differences in the decoding of pain-related body postures
J Walsh1, C Eccleston2,3, E Keogh2
1Department of Psychology, Bath Spa University, United Kingdom.
European Journal of Pain (London, England)
|July 12, 2017
Summary
Sex influences how pain expressed through body posture is perceived. Male actors depicting pain were recognized more accurately than females, and females perceived more intense pain than males.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Human Behavior
Background:
- Nonverbal cues like facial expressions, vocalizations, and body posture are used to detect pain.
- Sex differences in emotional expression recognition are inconsistent for pain, potentially due to methodological limitations and a focus on facial expressions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate sex differences in decoding pain body postures using an image degradation method.
- To examine how image degradation affects the recognition of pain intensity and sex differences in pain expression.
Main Methods:
- An image degradation technique was applied to body posture images depicting pain.
- Forty participants (20 male) viewed images of pain, happiness, anger, and sadness at varying degradation levels.
Main Results:
- Image degradation, affect type, and actor's sex significantly influenced pain perception.
- Females perceived more intense pain than males, and male actors were recognized more accurately than female actors.
- Pain recognition accuracy decreased with reduced image clarity, with similar patterns observed for anger and fear expressions.
Conclusions:
- Sex significantly impacts pain decoding, particularly through body postural cues.
- Similarities exist in decoding pain and core emotions, contingent on the emotion type.
- Sex-related effects in recognizing pain expressions extend beyond facial cues to include body posture.
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