Pain scales as placebos: Can pain scales change reported pain across measurements?

Publication date: May 2020Source: Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, Volume 88Author(s): Joshua M. Ackerman, Jenna Goesling, Aradhna KrishnaAbstractVarious aspects of measurement scales, such as whether the scale is unipolar or bipolar, or the direction of response alternatives, can influence how people evaluate their own subjective experience. Here, we demonstrate scale effects tied to repeated measurement by examining self-reported pain. In many contexts, assessment of subjective experiences is done repeatedly, as when pain patients report their pain levels using a variety of scales. We propose that this repeated measurement can impact how people report their pain. In two studies, we find that the choice of measurement scale initially used to assess pain results in different levels of self-reported pain levels at a later assessment. These repeated scale measurement effects appear to be due, in part, to the initial scales differentially affecting participant expectations for the amount of additional pain they can bear. This work extends literature on scale effects to repeated measurement. Given that many subjective experiences besides pain are also measured repeatedly (e.g., fatigue and anxiety), our results also may have wider application to other domains of experience.

Source: Journal of Experimental Social Psychology - January 31, 2020 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research