Subliminal perception of others' physical pain induces personal distress rather than empathic concern.

ABSTRACT:

Background

What is our immediate reaction when we witness someone experiencing pain? The empathy-altruism hypothesis predicts that observers would display empathy and a tendency to approach the person in pain. Alternatively, the threat value of pain hypothesis (TVPH) argues that others' pain serves as a signal of threat and should induce observers' avoidance response.

Methods

To examine these two hypotheses, three experiments were conducted. The experiments aimed to investigate the impact of subliminal exposure to others' physical pain on participants' emotional and behavioural responses.

Results

The results revealed that subliminal pain priming resulted in faster response and attentional bias to fearful faces compared to sad faces (Experiment 1), faster reaction time

SUBMITTER: Song J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10503136 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature