Race and gender biases in assessing pain intensity and medication needs among Chinese observers

Abstract

Introduction: Pain-related decision-making can be influenced by the caregiver and sufferer’s demographic factors, such as race and gender, which are commonly considered individually. However, such factors may influence pain assessment interdependently based on caregivers’ stereotypical beliefs. Objectives: This study investigated how sufferers’ race and gender affect Chinese observers’ evaluations of pain intensity and medication needs and the associations with the observers’ race and gender-related stereotypical beliefs. Methods: One hundred sixty-two Chinese participants completed a pain facial expression rating task assessing the level of pain intensity and the extent to which they believe the sufferer needs pain medication for East Asian, White, and Black sufferers, followed by a battery of questionnaires measuring their gender and race role expectation of pain. Results: Chinese observers were more stringent on East Asians’ pain intensity and needs for medication than Whites and Blacks’. However, when Black and East Asian sufferers were perceived to have a similar level of pain, East Asians were more likely to receive medication than Blacks, which is partly due to the observers’ stereotypical beliefs that Blacks would have a speedier recovery than East Asians. Conclusions: Our results provided evidence that in addition to the in-versus-out-group preferences, one’s sociocultural-related stereotypical beliefs can account for racial disparities in pain-related decision-making.