Social interaction and pain: an arctic expedition
Complex human behaviour can only be understood within its social environment. However, disentangling the causal links between individual outcomes and social network position is empirically challenging. We present a research design in a closed real-world setting with high-resolution temporal data to...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2017
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| _version_ | 1797054775433363456 |
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| author | Block, P Heathcote, LC Burnett Heyes, S |
| author_facet | Block, P Heathcote, LC Burnett Heyes, S |
| author_sort | Block, P |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | Complex human behaviour can only be understood within its social environment. However, disentangling the causal links between individual outcomes and social network position is empirically challenging. We present a research design in a closed real-world setting with high-resolution temporal data to understand this interplay within a fundamental human experience – physical pain. Study participants completed an isolated 3-week hiking expedition in the Arctic Circle during which they were subject to the same variation in environmental conditions and only interacted amongst themselves. Adolescents provided daily ratings of pain and social interaction partners. Using longitudinal network models, we analyze the interplay between social network position and the experience of pain. Specifically, we test whether experiencing pain is linked to decreasing popularity (increasing isolation), whether adolescents prefer to interact with others experiencing similar pain (homophily), and whether participants are increasingly likely to report similar pain as their interaction partners (contagion). We find that reporting pain is associated with decreasing popularity – interestingly, this effect holds for males only. Further exploratory analyses suggest this is at least partly driven by males withdrawing from contact with females when in pain, enhancing our understanding of pain and masculinity. Contrary to recent experimental and clinical studies, we found no evidence of pain homophily or contagion in the expedition group. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-06T19:01:59Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:13d8bc31-47dc-4ec2-9b85-2f93f37b9d91 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-06T19:01:59Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:13d8bc31-47dc-4ec2-9b85-2f93f37b9d912022-03-26T10:16:11ZSocial interaction and pain: an arctic expeditionJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:13d8bc31-47dc-4ec2-9b85-2f93f37b9d91EnglishSymplectic ElementsElsevier 2017Block, PHeathcote, LCBurnett Heyes, SComplex human behaviour can only be understood within its social environment. However, disentangling the causal links between individual outcomes and social network position is empirically challenging. We present a research design in a closed real-world setting with high-resolution temporal data to understand this interplay within a fundamental human experience – physical pain. Study participants completed an isolated 3-week hiking expedition in the Arctic Circle during which they were subject to the same variation in environmental conditions and only interacted amongst themselves. Adolescents provided daily ratings of pain and social interaction partners. Using longitudinal network models, we analyze the interplay between social network position and the experience of pain. Specifically, we test whether experiencing pain is linked to decreasing popularity (increasing isolation), whether adolescents prefer to interact with others experiencing similar pain (homophily), and whether participants are increasingly likely to report similar pain as their interaction partners (contagion). We find that reporting pain is associated with decreasing popularity – interestingly, this effect holds for males only. Further exploratory analyses suggest this is at least partly driven by males withdrawing from contact with females when in pain, enhancing our understanding of pain and masculinity. Contrary to recent experimental and clinical studies, we found no evidence of pain homophily or contagion in the expedition group. |
| spellingShingle | Block, P Heathcote, LC Burnett Heyes, S Social interaction and pain: an arctic expedition |
| title | Social interaction and pain: an arctic expedition |
| title_full | Social interaction and pain: an arctic expedition |
| title_fullStr | Social interaction and pain: an arctic expedition |
| title_full_unstemmed | Social interaction and pain: an arctic expedition |
| title_short | Social interaction and pain: an arctic expedition |
| title_sort | social interaction and pain an arctic expedition |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT blockp socialinteractionandpainanarcticexpedition AT heathcotelc socialinteractionandpainanarcticexpedition AT burnettheyess socialinteractionandpainanarcticexpedition |