Personality correlates of pain perception and tolerance

Explored personality correlates of pain perception and tolerance in a nonmedical sample and setting. In a counter-balanced design, 70 Ss were administered several personality questionnaires and a cold-pressor test for pain perception and tolerance. In Experiment 1, 39 Ss were given the Adjective Check List and Rosenberg's Self-esteem Scale, while in Experiment 2, 31 different Ss received the Beck Depression Inventory. Results showed no significant correlations with personality measures and cold-pressor scores, but a significant relationship between pain tolerance and cognitive focus; those who focused on the experimental situation had much shorter tolerance times than those who used cognitive distraction. It is suggested that while chronic pain in a medical patient population may be related to personality characteristics, tolerance of pain in a non-patient population is related to situational variables, such as cognitive focus and distraction.