Perceived Pain Sensitivity and Treatment Recommendations for Socially Mobile Individuals: The Mediating Role of...

While prior research shows that higher-class individuals are perceived as more sensitive to pain than lower-class individuals, little is known about how perceptions of pain are shaped by changes in social class. Across a pilot study and five experiments with Chinese and U.S. participants (N = 1,202), we investigated whether social mobility direction influences judgments of pain sensitivity and treatment, and whether perceived tenacity serves as a mediating mechanism. Results indicated that although Chinese and U.S. participants perceived higher-class individuals as more pain-sensitive, they judged upwardly mobile individuals as less sensitive to pain than downwardly mobile individuals. This effect was driven by the attribution of greater tenacity to upwardly mobile targets, which in turn predicted lower pain sensitivity ratings and fewer pain treatment recommendations. These findings reveal a novel psychological pathway through which dynamic social class information shapes pain perception and treatment decisions, extending the literature beyond static class-based stereotypes.