Friends of the Nonverbal Communication Club, this week we present the paper “The effect of optimism on the facial expression of pain: Implications for pain communication” by Basten- Günther, J.; Kunz, M.; Peters, M. and Lautenbacher, S. (2021), in which authors carry out an experiment to know wether optimism affects the facial expression of pain, and if it does, how it happens.
Optimism is usually defined as the positive expectations we may have about the future. It has been shown to have numerous positive health-related effects, for example in treating diseases such as cancer or cardiovascular problems.
There are also many studies that explore the idea that optimism helps with pain. However, there are no consistent results. There are indications about that optimism leads to “catastrophize” less when pain is felt, which, in turn, may reduce pain reporting.
Since optimism apparently has health benefits, many experts have investigated how to induce it. One of the proposed techniques would be “The best possible self” (BPS for its acronym). It consists of imagining and writing about a future in which everything is going well for oneself. There are several studies that show that this technique has been successful.
However, one of the aspects that we find most interesting, like the authors, is to study facial reactions during pain and see if they vary when optimism comes into play.
The idea that optimism affects the facial expression of pain has to do with the fact that numerous studies have revealed that facial reactions to the latter can be influenced by cognitive and affective factors, such as fear.
They also vary with social context. For example, the socio-evolutionary function of the facial expression of pain is to warn another person, ask for help or compassion. This data can be related to optimism because it has been associated with searching for social support. Consequently, the facial expression of pain could be influenced by optimism.
How? There can be two opposite effects. The first is that the facial expression of pain could be weakened after the induction of the state of optimism, as a consequence of a decrease in the experience of pain. On the other hand, since optimism is also associated with greater confidence in the social environment, causing people to express their weakness and ask for help, optimism could lead to greater facial expressiveness of pain.
Therefore, the objective of this study is to decide which of the two effects prevails.
In order to do this, a total of 40 people were recruited, all of them healthy and without pain. They were asked not to take alcohol, pain relievers, or any psychotropic drug that could ease an experience of pain. They were given a monetary reward at the end of the experiment.
People were divided into two groups: one of them would be manipulated into optimism and the other would be the control group.
The participants underwent thermal stimulation to the arm, which would cause a level of pain sufficient to be noticeable but not excessively uncomfortable. Their facial activity and heart rate were recorded and, in addition, self-reports were made.
The group that was subjected to a manipulation for the induction of optimism, did the exercise of the BPS technique, where they wrote about their future life imagining everything turns out well, just as they want. The other group had to write about a typical day in their life.
The participants’ faces were recorded during heat stimulation. To avoid the effects of social desirability on facial expressions, participants were told that the main focus of interest was heart rate measurement. They were also told not to speak during heat stimulation.
Facial expressions were coded from video recordings, using the Facial Action Coding System (FACS) by Ekman and Friesen, which, as we already know, is based on an anatomical analysis of facial movements and distinguishes a series of action units produced by the muscles of the face.
The obtained results showed that optimism does affect the facial expression of pain. How? Releasing the brake that normally holds this expression. Authors found that changes in facial responses to pain depend on the presence of other people. Facial responses were significantly stronger in the presence of people with whom we have an intimate relationship, such as our partner, compared to the conditions in which the directors of the experiment were present.
Optimism, thus, can lead to a greater communicative openness as expectations about the present social context become more positive. If one is in a state of optimism, he/she may be inclined to expect empathy and help from others, rather than rejection, and thus, be more willing to show one’s pain through facial responses.
A finding authors point out is that the increase in facial expression of pain as a consequence of induced optimism was observed mainly in two action units of the FACS: AU4 (frown) and AU6 and 7 (squinted eyes).
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