Abstract
BackgroundPainful facial expressions have been shown to trigger affective responses among observers. However, there is so far no clear indication about the self- or other-oriented nature of these feelings. The purpose of this study was to assess whether facial expressions of pain are unconsciously associated with other-oriented feelings (empathic concern) or with self-oriented feelings (personal distress).Method70 participants took part in a priming paradigm in which ambiguous facial expressions of pain were primed by words related to empathic concern, distress, negative or by neutral words. It was hypothesized that empathic concern or distress-related words might facilitate the detection of pain in ambiguous facial expressions of pain, independently of a mere effect of prime (i.e., neutral words) or an effect of valence congruency (negative primes).ResultsThe results showed an effect of prime on the detection and on the reaction time to answer “pain” when confronted to ambiguous facial expressions of pain. More specifically, the detection of pain was higher and faster when preceded by distress primes relative to either neutral or negative primes.ConclusionThe present study suggests that painful expressions are unconsciously related to self-oriented feelings of distress and that their threat value might account for this effect. These findings thus shed new light on the automatic relationship between painful expressions and the affective components of empathy.
Highlights
Pain is defined as an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential body damage
The results showed an effect of prime on the detection and on the reaction time to answer ‘‘pain’’ when confronted to ambiguous facial expressions of pain
To ambiguous facial expression of pain morphed with happiness, we presented ambiguous expressions of pain morphed with neutral and fearful expressions, ambiguous expressions of fear morphed with neutral and happy expressions, and ambiguous expressions of happiness morphed with neutral expressions
Summary
Pain is defined as an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential body damage. The exact nature of these affective responses remains largely undetermined, notably concerning their orientation It is still unclear whether these responses to pain are mostly oriented towards the self or towards the others. There are no empirical evidence that painful expressions are automatically associated with distress or empathic concern in general This question is relevant mainly because distress and empathic concern involve different behavioural consequences: distress is oriented to the self and might motivate individuals to avoid the source of the threat and the person itself while empathic concern is oriented to others and might make one more available to care for others and to approach this person [6]. The purpose of this study was to assess whether facial expressions of pain are unconsciously associated with other-oriented feelings (empathic concern) or with self-oriented feelings (personal distress)
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