Repression-sensitization, stress, and perception of pain in others

To assess the influence of individuals' defensive style on perception of pain in others, 60 undergraduate women rated the amount of pain expressed in slides of people displaying high or low pain. Subjects were categorized as high or low on Byrne's Repression-Sensitization Scale, and their level of stress was varied by presentation of an anxiety-provoking film (stress condition) or a neutral film (control condition) prior to the rating task. A significant interaction between Repression-Sensitization and slide category (high versus low pain) indicated that sensitizers assigned higher ratings of pain than repressers to slides that were relatively low in rated expressiveness of pain. Individual differences in readiness to recognize potentially threatening stimuli seem most evident when the stimuli are relatively ambiguous. The manipulation of stress produced no significant effects on ratings of pain.