Gender Differences in Pain Perception: The Mediating Role of Self-Efficacy Beliefs

The purpose of this study was to assess the extent to which the gender differences in response to the cold pressor test (CPT) are mediated by self-efficacy beliefs. One hundred twelve college undergraduates (69 women and 43 men) engaged in CPT and completed self-report measures of demographic information, physical self-efficacy (i.e., expectations about one's overall physical capabilities), and task-specific self-efficacy (i.e., beliefs about one's ability to cope successfully with the upcoming CPT). In addition, participants provided subjective ratings of pain intensity every 30 s during CPT and were evaluated for tolerance during CPT (up to 4 min). Consistent with past research, men reported lower average subjective ratings of pain intensity and showed higher tolerance for CPT. Path analyses indicated that associations between gender and pain perception were fully mediated by self-efficacy beliefs. Men reported greater physical self-efficacy and task-specific self-efficacy than women did. In turn, higher task-specific self-efficacy ratings predicted increases in tolerance for pain and lower ratings of average pain intensity. Findings indicate that self-efficacy beliefs are one factor that accounts for gender differences in responses to painful stimulation. Future researchers should evaluate conditions under which heightened self-efficacy may be beneficial and harmful, and they should employ experimental designs that incorporate opportunities for use of both communal–interpersonal and individualistic coping strategies in light of possible gender differences in preferred approaches to coping with pain.     

Additivity in adaptation to optical tilt

Tests of proprioceptive adaptation (head-hand), visual adaptation (eye-head), and both components (eye-hand) were made during 15-min exposure to 20 degrees tilt in two experiments. In both experiments, subjects alternated exposures in which they explored hallways (hall) or viewed their active hand (hand), but in Experiment 2 subjects received two exposures to each condition, while in Experiment 1 only one exposure was given. Hall exposure produced greater visual change, and hand exposure produced greater proprioceptive change; but in both conditions, when order of conditions was controlled, the sum of performance on visual and proprioceptive tests was not statistically different from performance on the common test. In Experiment 2, adaptive components appeared to be inversely related, both within and between exposure conditions, thus providing some evidence of a reciprocal relationship, but a reliable negative correlation between components was not found. Finally, adaptation increased over alternation-repetition of exposure tasks in the second experiment, even though adaptation appeared limited within any given exposure. Results are interpreted in terms of the linear model, and the possible role of attentional factors in processing sensory inconsistencies is discussed.     

Bolstering implementation plans for the long haul: the benefits of simultaneously boosting self-concordance or self-efficacy

Recent studies suggest that implementation planning exercises may not be as helpful for long-term, self-initiated goals as for short-term, assigned goals. Two studies used the personal goal paradigm to explore the impact of implementation plans on goal progress over time. Study 1 examined whether administering implementation plans in an autonomy supportive manner would facilitate goal progress relative to a neutral, control condition and a condition in which implementation plans were administered in a controlling manner. Study 2 examined whether combining implementation plans with a self-efficacy boosting exercise would facilitate goal progress relative to a neutral, control condition and a typical implementation condition. The results showed that implementation plans alone did not result in greater goal progress than a neutral condition but that the combination of implementation plans with either autonomy support or self-efficacy boosting resulted in significantly greater goal progress.     

Experimental comparison of physical activity self-efficacy measurement: Do vignettes reduce motivational confounding?

ObjectivesSelf-efficacy is one of the most reliable correlates of physical activity, yet a growing body of literature has demonstrated that traditional self-efficacy measures may be flawed because they measure perceived capability and other constructs such as motivation. This study adds to this evidence base by comparing a standard self-efficacy measurement group and two measurement conditions that may provide greater validity: motivation held constant (i.e., adding “If you really wanted to” at the beginning of the item) and vignette (i.e., adding a clarifying vignette before the item). The first objective of this study was to compare these groups regarding self-efficacy scores. The second objective was to examine whether physical activity level (i.e., adhering to physical activity guidelines or not) interacted with measurement condition.DesignRandomized cross-sectional design with three independent groups.MethodParticipants were 444 undergraduate students (M age in years = 21.10, SD = 3.73) who completed an online survey measuring physical activity self-efficacy and behaviour.ResultsThe vignette group had higher self-efficacy scores than the standard and motivation held constant groups. Scores were also higher among those adhering to guidelines and there were no differences between the groups for physically active individuals. Finally, among those not adhering to the guidelines, the vignette group had especially high scores compared to the other groups.ConclusionsThis study demonstrated that reading a vignette prior to completing a self-efficacy item clarifies the meaning of the item thereby improving validity of the measure.     

Examining the consequences of exposure to racism for the executive functioning of Black students

Recent research has demonstrated that interracial interactions, reminders of stigmatized identities, and exposure to ambiguous racism can deplete the self-control resources of minority group members. In the current study we examined whether hearing blatant racism expressed in an interracial context would deplete the self-control of Black participants and whether this depletion would be moderated by participants’ level of racial centrality. After listening to a Black or a White confederate express either support for racial profiling (racist condition) or increased campus parking fees (neutral condition), Black participants completed a Stroop color-naming task to assess self-control depletion. Participants experienced self-control depletion following interracial encounters, regardless of whether the views expressed were racist. As expected, however, racial centrality moderated the depletion effect when racism was involved, with participants higher in centrality showing greater depletion following an encounter with racism from a White partner.     

How to Talk about Gender Inequity in the Workplace: Using WAGES as an Experiential Learning Tool to Reduce Reactance and Promote Self-Efficacy

Interventions aimed at raising awareness of gender inequity in the workplace provide information about sexism, which can elicit reactance or fail to promote self-efficacy. We examined the effectiveness of experiential learning using the Workshop Activity for Gender Equity Simulation ?C Academic version (WAGES-Academic) to deliver gender inequity information. To assess whether the way gender inequity information is presented matters, we compared WAGES-Academic to an Information Only condition (knowledge without experiential learning) and a Group Activity control condition. We predicted that only the information presented in an experiential learning format (i.e., WAGES-Academic) would be retained because this information does not provoke reactance and instills self-efficacy. Participants (n?=?241; U.S. college students from a large mid-Atlantic state university) filled out a gender equity knowledge test at baseline, after the intervention, and then 7?C11?days later (to assess knowledge retention). In addition, we measured feelings of reactance and self-efficacy after the intervention. Results revealed that participants in the WAGES condition retained more knowledge than the other conditions. Furthermore, the effect of WAGES vs. Information Only on knowledge was mediated by WAGES producing less reactance and greater feelings of self-efficacy. Results suggest that experiential learning is a powerful intervention to deliver knowledge about gender equity in a non-threatening, lasting way.     

Pain modulation during drives through cold and hot virtual environments.

Evidence exists that virtual worlds reduce pain perception by providing distraction. However, there is no experimental study to show that the type of world used in virtual reality (VR) distraction influences pain perception. Therefore, we investigated whether pain triggered by heat or cold stimuli is modulated by "warm "or "cold " virtual environments and whether virtual worlds reduce pain perception more than does static picture presentation. We expected that cold worlds would reduce pain perception from heat stimuli, while warm environments would reduce pain perception from cold stimuli. Additionally, both virtual worlds should reduce pain perception in general. Heat and cold pain stimuli thresholds were assessed outside VR in 48 volunteers in a balanced crossover design. Participants completed three 4-minute assessment periods: virtual "walks " through (1) a winter and (2) an autumn landscape and static exposure to (3) a neutral landscape. During each period, five heat stimuli or three cold stimuli were delivered via a thermode on the participant's arm, and affective and sensory pain perceptions were rated. Then the thermode was changed to the other arm, and the procedure was repeated with the opposite pain stimuli (heat or cold). We found that both warm and cold virtual environments reduced pain intensity and unpleasantness for heat and cold pain stimuli when compared to the control condition. Since participants wore a head-mounted display (HMD) in both the control condition and VR, we concluded that the distracting value of virtual environments is not explained solely by excluding perception of the real world. Although VR reduced pain unpleasantness, we found no difference in efficacy between the types of virtual world used for each pain stimulus.     

Adaptive mechanisms in perceptual-motor coordination: components of prism adaptation

Aftereffect measures of visual shift and proprioceptive shift were obtained for prism exposure conditions in which, at the end of a sagittal pointing movement, most of the arm was visible (concurrent exposure) or only the first finger joint was visible (terminal exposure). Intermediate exposure conditions permitted view of the hand or the first two finger joints. Under the concurrent exposure condition, proprioceptive shift was greater than visual shift but, as view of the pointing hand decreased, the relative magnitude of the two components gradually reversed so that, under the terminal exposure condition, visual shift was greater than proprioceptive shift. These results are discussed in terms of a model of perceptual-motor organization (Redding, Clark, & Wallace, 1985) in which the direction of coordinative linkage between eye-head and hand-head systems determines the locus of discordance and adaptive recalibration.     

Adaptive Mechanisms in Perceptual-Motor Coordination

Aftereffect measures of visual shift and proprioceptive shift were obtained for prism exposure conditions in which, at the end of a sagittal pointing movement, most of the arm was visible (concurrent exposure) or only the first finger joint was visible (terminal exposure). Intermediate exposure conditions permitted view of the hand or the first two finger joints. Under the concurrent exposure condition, proprioceptive shift was greater than visual shift but, as view of the pointing hand decreased, the relative magnitude of the two components gradually reversed so that, under the terminal exposure condition, visual shift was greater than proprioceptive shift. These results are discussed in terms of a model of perceptual-motor organization (Redding, Clark, & Wallace, 1985) in which the direction of coordinative linkage between eye-head and hand-head systems determines the locus of discordance and adaptive recalibration.     

Virtual-reality distraction and cold-pressor pain tolerance: does avatar point of view matter?

This study tested the effects of distraction using virtual-reality (VR) technology on acute pain tolerance in young adults. Forty-one undergraduate students, aged 18-23 years, used a VR head-mounted display helmet, steering wheel, and foot pedal to play an auto racing video game while undergoing exposure to very cold water (cold pressor set at 1 °C). Two different game views were tested that were hypothesized to affect the degree to which participants felt "present" in the virtual environment: a first-person view, in which the participant saw the virtual environment through the eyes of the game character being manipulated; and a third-person view, in which the participant viewed the game character from a distance. The length of time participants tolerated the cold-water exposure (pain tolerance) under each distraction condition was compared to a baseline (no distraction) trial. Subjects also rated the degree to which they felt "present" in the virtual environment after each distraction trial. Results demonstrated that participants had significantly higher pain tolerance during both VR-distraction conditions relative to baseline (no distraction) trials. Although participants reported a greater sense of presence during the first-person condition than the third-person condition, pain-tolerance scores associated with the two distraction conditions did not differ. The types of VR applications in which presence may be more or less important are discussed.     

Temperature-induced changes in neuromuscular function: central and peripheral mechanisms

Three series of experimental tests were conducted on subjects under both elevated and depressed thermal conditions. Tripartite series consisted of whole-body immersion excepting the head, whole-body immersion excepting the head and response limb, and immersion of the discrete-response limb. Measures of physiological and behavioural responses were made at sequential .4 degrees C changes during whole-body immersions and approximately 5 degrees C changes of water temperature during the immersion of a limb only. Results suggested that velocity of nerve conduction decreased with thermal depression. Premotor, motor, simple, and choice reaction times varied differentially as a function of the hot and cold conditions. Implications of these differential effects on neuromuscular function are examined with respect to person-machine performance in artificially induced or naturally occurring extremes of ambient temperature.     

Improving condom use intentions and behavior by changing perceived partner norms: an evaluation of condom promotion videos for college students.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the effectiveness of 2 condom promotion videotapes on self-efficacy, intentions, and behavior. DESIGN: Two hundred twenty college students completed social-cognitive and behavioral measures and were then randomly assigned to receive one of two 30-min condom promotion videotapes (male or female student presenters) or to a wait-list control condition. Participants who watched 1 of the videotapes completed immediate posttest measures, and 85% of participants completed a 4-month follow-up. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Self-efficacy for condom use, intentions to use condoms, use of condom during last sex, and consistent condom use over the last month. RESULTS: Participants who received either video reported greater self-efficacy to refuse to have unprotected sex and intentions than controls at follow-up. Individuals who received either video were more likely than controls to report using a condom during last sex with a regular partner, and those who watched the female presenter were more likely to report consistent condom use. CONCLUSION: Participants benefited in terms of self-efficacy and intentions from receiving either video, but both men and women benefited more in terms of condom use behavior from receiving the female video. Future research is needed to determine whether opposite-sex speaker videos could be beneficial with a larger (and more sexually active) sample and whether these effects are maintained over time.     

Anxiety and performance in runners: Effects of stress and anxiety on physical performance

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of state and trait anxiety on physical performance under both neutral and stressful conditions. In Study I, 43 male and female track athletes answered the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and twice underwent ergometric testing in the physiology laboratory after receiving a neutral or a stress-inducing instruction. In Study II, these 43 runners completed the state scale shortly before a test run in a practice session and once again just before the start in an official competition. Results showed a significant increase in self-reported state anxiety under the stress condition in both the laboratory and the field setting. At the same time, the mean physical performance, measured as physiological performance parameters (maximum oxygen intake, physical work capacity) or as running performance, significantly deteriorated under stress. The induced stress affected the heart rate in addition to the mere physical work load, with no sign of compensation occurring during the entire period of ergometric testing. Effects of anxiety on performance were tested by separate 2(trait) × 3(state) ANOVAs for each situation. For both laboratory situations, and for the practice situation as well, no significant relationships, neither linear nor nonlinear, were detected. In the competition situation, however, an inverted-U relationship was found in the low trait-anxious subgroup.     

Influence of seasonally adjusted exposure to cold and darkness on cognitive performance in circumpolar residents

The effects of seasonally adjusted 24-h exposure to cold and darkness on cognitive performance in urban circumpolar residents was assessed in 15 male subjects who spent three 24-h periods in a climatic chamber at 65° latitude during the winter (January–March) and/or summer (August–September). Each subject was exposed to three different environmental conditions in random order: (1) 22 °C temperature and 500 lx lighting; (2) 10 °C temperature and 500 lx lighting; and (3) 10 °C temperature and 0.5–l lx lighting. Accuracy on an addition-subtraction task was significantly greater in the summer than in the winter ( p = 0.038), while accuracy on a repeated acquisition task was significantly greater in the winter than in the summer ( p < 0.001). Independent of season, exposure to cold and darkness was significantly associated with a decline in response time on five cognitive tests, an improvement in accuracy on three tests measuring complex cognitive tasks, and a decline in accuracy on two tests measuring simple tasks. Increased performance on complex tasks may result from increased arousal in response to the combination of cold temperatures and dim light characteristic of the winter in urban circumpolar settings.     

Effects of viewing 9/11 footage on distress and Islamophobia: a temporally expanded approach

We investigated whether viewing September 11 footage affected peoples’ perceived distress spanning past, present, and anticipated future. Participants (n = 174) were randomly assigned to a 9/11, fear, or neutral condition and completed measures of temporal perceived distress, distress of future terrorism, Islamophobia, and restriction of civil liberties attitudes. Participants in the neutral and fear conditions perceived their 9/11‐related distress as declining over time. Those in the 9/11 condition perceived their distress as higher at present and declining from present (vs. past ratings). Those viewing 9/11 (vs. neutral or fear) footage reported greater future terrorism distress, more prejudice, and greater restriction of civil liberties. These differences were explained by higher 9/11‐related distress ratings for past 5 years, present, and future.     

Recalling pictures and words: Reversing the generation effect

Blind and sighted children’s memory for words and raised shape pictures was tested. The investigation compared performance with items when they were studied under neutral conditions (naming words and pictures) and when they were self-generated in response to cues (cue: hot ?: response: cold). The blind children could identify and name the raised shape pictures with the same apparent ease as blind-folded sighted children (as long as a cue was provided). The sighted children showed the generation effect (Slamecka and Graf, 1978) for both words and pictures, namely that self-generated items were far better recalled than neutral ones. The pattern of results for the blind children was markedly different. Although the level of memory performance overall was the same as that of the sighted controls, the congenitally blind children showed areverse generation effect. A stem completion study indicated that these results couldnot be accounted for by a relatively greater reliance on data-driven processing by the blind.     

Enhancing the Benefits of Written Emotional Disclosure Through Response Training

Writing about a personal stressful event has been found to have psychological and physical health benefits, especially when physiological response increases during writing. Response training was developed to amplify appropriate physiological reactivity in imagery exposure. The present study examined whether response training enhances the benefits of written emotional disclosure. Participants were assigned to either a written emotional disclosure condition (n = 113) or a neutral writing condition (n = 133). Participants in each condition wrote for 20 minutes on 3 occasions and received response training (n = 79), stimulus training (n = 84) or no training (n = 83). Heart rate and skin conductance were recorded throughout a 10-minute baseline, 20-minute writing, and a 10-minute recovery period. Self-reported emotion was assessed in each session. One month after completing the sessions, participants completed follow-up assessments of psychological and physical health outcomes. Emotional disclosure elicited greater physiological reactivity and self-reported emotion than neutral writing. Response training amplified physiological reactivity to emotional disclosure. Greater heart rate during emotional disclosure was associated with the greatest reductions in event-related distress, depression, and physical illness symptoms at follow-up, especially among response trained participants. Results support an exposure explanation of emotional disclosure effects and are the first to demonstrate that response training facilitates emotional processing and may be a beneficial adjunct to written emotional disclosure.     

Autonomy and defensiveness: experimentally increasing adaptive responses to health-risk information via priming and self-affirmation

Health information is often ineffective in motivating health-behaviour change. One way to improve information effectiveness might be to highlight autonomy, which is associated with less defensiveness and more adaptive psychological functioning. Three studies assessed whether experimentally elevating autonomy led to adaptive responses to risk information about alcohol consumption. In Study 1 (N?=?104), participants completed either an autonomy prime or a neutral prime task and read either risk information about the dangers of alcohol consumption or neutral information. Among high-risk participants in the autonomy prime condition, those who read risk information reported greater autonomous motivation towards moderate alcohol consumption than did those in the neutral information condition. Study 2 (N?=?157) compared two types of autonomy prime tasks with a neutral condition. For high-risk participants who read risk information, the autonomy prime tasks elicited greater autonomous motivation, more positive attitudes and greater intentions to drink in moderation than did the neutral prime task. Study 3 (N?=?130) found that for high-risk participants who read risk information, autonomy prime participants reported less subsequent alcohol consumption than did neutral prime participants. The results are discussed in terms of the benefits of autonomy for adaptive responses to risk information.     

A test of optimal theory on young adolescents' standing long jump performance and motivation

The OPTIMAL theory of motor learning contends that an external focus of attention (EF), enhanced expectancies (EE), and autonomy support (AS) are key attentional and motivational variables that optimise motor performance. We examined how integrating an EF into EE and AS interventions would impact young adolescents' standing long jump performance and self-efficacy, perceived competence, task effort, task importance and positive affect. Forty-eight participants completed 3 jumps in a baseline, EF (focus on jumping towards the cone), EE-EF (positive social-comparative feedback/high success probability) and AS-EF (self-definition of success) conditions. Both the EF and AS-EF conditions (but not the EE-EF condition) improved jump performance from baseline. The EF, EE-EF and AS-EF conditions improved young adolescents' self-efficacy, perceived competence, task effort and positive affect in comparison to baseline and were predictors of jump performance (as was task importance). However, in the EE-EF condition motivational states improved (from baseline) but this did not translate into performance improvements. The findings show that directing attention to visual external cues both independently and when framed within AS conditions enhanced young adolescents' jump performance and motivation through efficient goal-action coupling. In practice, PE teachers and sports coaches working with young adolescents can support autonomy by allowing self-definition of success using an external cue to enhance effective goal-action coupling, motor performance and motivation.