2017 Volume 15 Issue 1 Pages 13-19
Observing another person experiencing painful situations can elicit understanding for the other's pain and a sense of unpleasantness in observers. Previous studies focusing on empathy for pain have employed both painful situations and facial expressions of pain as stimuli to indicate the pain of others. The purpose of this study is to elucidate the influences of both painful situations and expressions of pain on understanding the other person's pain and the sense of unpleasantness when witnessing painful situations. The painful-situation stimuli used within this study each consisted of one situation and one expression of pain. Participants observed short video clips of painful scenes and rated both the intensity of pain experienced by a target individual and their own experiences of unpleasantness. The results indicated that the effects of the painful situations were greater than the effects of painful expressions when the participants rated the degree of unpleasantness experienced. On the other hand, when the participants estimated the pain intensity experienced by the target individual, there were no differences between the effects of the painful situations and those of the painful expressions. These findings suggest that painful situations primarily contribute to the evocation of unpleasant feelings.
