Tolerance for Pain, Extraversion and Neuroticism

Abstract

It may be deduced from Eysenck's (1957, 1960a) theory of personality that pain tolerance should be positively related to extraversion (E) and negdtively to neuroticism (N). Extraverted Ss are postulated to develop inhibition/ satiation more quickly, and dissipate it more slowly; prolonged pain sensations should thus be inhibited more quickly and strongly in extraverts, leading to diminished pain sensations. Furthermore, as Beecher (1959) has pointed out, physiological pain sensations are always accompanied by the app7ehe?zsion of fatare pain, which may be conceived as a conditioned fear (anxiety) response which sumrnates with the physiological pain. Extraverts are posited to condition less well, and would therefore not develop this component of the total pain to the same extent as introverts. The prediction relating to N is perhaps less secure; it rests on the assumption that the strength of the autonomic reaction to pain stimulation would be likely to be related directly to N, which is conceived of in terms of autonomic lability (Eysenck, 1960b). This autonomic reaction would be expected to summate with the physiological pain due to the stimulus. Thirry volunteer university students, the experimental group, were given the Maudsley Personality Inventory as a measure of E and N (Eysenck, 1959), as well as the Rotating Spiral After-effect test which is an objective measure of E (Eysenck, 1960a). Ss' foreheads were blackened with India ink, and they were then subjected to heat stimulation by a thermo-stimulator modelled after the description given by Hardy, Wolff, and Goodell ( 1952 ). The radiation intensity was set at 166 w, and Ss were instructed to report the onset of pain, which is usually characterized by a sharp prick following a sensation of warmth. They were then to try to tolerate the pain for as long as they could. Pain tolerance was the number of seconds from the first report of pain to the final withdrawal. All Ss reported pain within 3 to 5 sec. after exposure. There appears to be a habituation effect after about 12 sec. of pain, such that, if pain could be tolerated for this long, Ss reported that they felt it could be endured indefinitely. Five Ss tolerated the pain for 60 sec., after which the trial was terminated. A time limit of 20 sec. was finally set because of blisters which began to develop after about 8 sec. exposure. When Ss are divided into three groups of 10 according to their E scores, their pain tolerance decreases from 17.2 (high E) through 9.3 to 5.6 (low E); 'We are indebted to the Society for Research in Human Ecology for a grant which made this study possible.