Thinking abstractly about one’s physical pain: can abstraction reduce sensitivity to painful stimuli?

Abstract

Whether people think less abstractly when they experience physical pain has been examined in previous research. However, the reverse causal possibility—that abstraction reduces sensitivity to painful stimuli—does not appear to have been empirically tested. The aim of this study was to investigate whether abstraction reduces sensitivity to painful stimuli. Using the cold pressor method, university students (N = 205) were exposed to experimental pain. Participants were randomly assigned to an abstract mindset, concrete mindset, cognitive distraction (control task), or no task (control) condition. As a manipulation of abstraction, participants focused on why they felt pain (abstract condition) versus how they felt pain (concrete condition). Pain endurance and pain intensity were evaluated. The abstract mindset condition did not show significantly lower pain sensitivity compared with the other experimental conditions. We found no evidence suggesting that abstract thinking would reduce pain sensitivity. The effectiveness of other techniques that induce abstraction, such as third-person (versus first-person) self-talk should be examined in future research. Since experimentally induced pain in healthy participants differs from clinical pain, whether abstract thinking may reduce pain sensitivity in chronic pain patients should also be examined.