Enhancing placebo analgesia: Unravelling the powerful interplay of ownership and verbal suggestion.

BACKGROUND: Placebo analgesic research demonstrates pain reduction after using a placebo analgesic. Recent studies have documented that sometimes possessing a placebo analgesic induces placebo analgesia. These prior studies used a 'cream' as the stimulus and proposed that the effect is driven by an expectancy of obtaining benefits from the owned analgesic. This paper examines three pivotal components of placebo analgesia: placebo form, ownership and expectancy induced by verbal suggestion. We investigate analgesic expectancy between cream versus oil form of placebo stimulus and systematically isolate the effects of ownership, verbal suggestion and their interaction, comparing with the effect of use, to decipher the dynamics of placebo analgesia. METHODS: Study 1 (N = 46) evaluated analgesic expectancy between cream and oil. Study 2 (N = 119) exposed participants to a placebo analgesic oil and randomized them into PU (possess and use), PA (possess and anticipate), P (possess-only) or A (anticipate-only) conditions. Pain outcomes were assessed using a cold pressor test. Comparing PA and P conditions assessed the verbal suggestion effect, comparing PA and A conditions evaluated the possession effect, while comparing PU and PA conditions shed light on the use effect. RESULTS: In Study 1, participants showed comparable analgesic expectancy for cream and oil. In Study 2, both PA and PU groups performed equally well, reporting higher pain threshold, F(3, 115) = 5.14, p = 0.002, η p 2 $$ {\eta}_p^2 $$ = 0.12; and a greater probability of persistent hand submersion than P and A groups, X2(3) = 8.06, p = 0.045. CONCLUSION: The findings highlight the significance of integrating possession with expectancy to induce placebo analgesia, which has clinical implications. SIGNIFICANCE: This study delves into the intricate dynamics of placebo analgesia, shedding light on the significant influence of ownership and verbal suggestion. Through a meticulous exploration of the relationship between ownership and expectancy induced by verbal suggestion, we propose novel avenues for enhancing placebo responses. This research has implications for clinical practice and pain management strategies, potentially revolutionizing approaches to pain relief and therapeutic outcomes. Our findings contribute to a paradigm shift in understanding placebo analgesia, emphasizing the pivotal interaction between ownership and verbal suggestion.

Social mindfulness predicts concern for nature and immigrants across 36 nations.

People cooperate every day in ways that range from largescale contributions that mitigate climate change to simple actions such as leaving another individual with choice - known as social mindfulness. It is not yet clear whether and how these complex and more simple forms of cooperation relate. Prior work has found that countries with individuals who made more socially mindful choices were linked to a higher country environmental performance - a proxy for complex cooperation. Here we replicated this initial finding in 41 samples around the world, demonstrating the robustness of the association between social mindfulness and environmental performance, and substantially built on it to show this relationship extended to a wide range of complex cooperative indices, tied closely to many current societal issues. We found that greater social mindfulness expressed by an individual was related to living in countries with more social capital, more community participation and reduced prejudice towards immigrants. Our findings speak to the symbiotic relationship between simple and more complex forms of cooperation in societies.

Perceiving societal pressure to be happy is linked to poor well-being, especially in happy nations.

Happiness is a valuable experience, and societies want their citizens to be happy. Although this societal commitment seems laudable, overly emphasizing positivity (versus negativity) may create an unattainable emotion norm that ironically compromises individual well-being. In this multi-national study (40 countries; 7443 participants), we investigate how societal pressure to be happy and not sad predicts emotional, cognitive and clinical indicators of well-being around the world, and examine how these relations differ as a function of countries' national happiness levels (collected from the World Happiness Report). Although detrimental well-being associations manifest for an average country, the strength of these relations varies across countries. People's felt societal pressure to be happy and not sad is particularly linked to poor well-being in countries with a higher World Happiness Index. Although the cross-sectional nature of our work prohibits causal conclusions, our findings highlight the correlational link between social emotion valuation and individual well-being, and suggest that high national happiness levels may have downsides for some.

Temporal expectancy induced by the mere possession of a placebo analgesic affects placebo analgesia: preliminary findings from a randomized controlled trial.

Research on placebo analgesia usually shows that people experienced a reduction in pain after using a placebo analgesic. An emerging line of research argues that, under some circumstances, merely possessing (but not using) a placebo analgesic could induce placebo analgesia. The current study investigates how temporary expectation of pain reduction associated with different forms of possessing a placebo analgesic affects pain outcomes. Healthy participants (n = 90) were presented with a vial of olive oil (placebo), described as a blended essential oil that blocks pain sensations upon nasal inhalation, and were asked to anticipate the benefits of such analgesic oil to the self (such as anticipating the analgesic oil to reduce their pain). Participants were randomized into one of three different possession conditions: physical-possession condition (participants possessed a tangible placebo analgesic oil, inducing an expectation to acquire analgesic benefit early upon the experience of pain), psychological-possession condition (participants possessed a coupon, which can be redeemed for a placebo analgesic oil, inducing an expectation to acquire analgesic benefit later upon the experience of pain), or no-possession condition. Participants did a cold pressor test (CPT) to experience experimentally-induced pain on their non-dominant hand. Their objective physical pain responses (pain-threshold and pain-tolerance), and subjective psychological pain perception (pain intensity, severity, quality, and unpleasantness) were measured. Results revealed that participants in the physical-possession condition reported greater pain-threshold, F(2, 85) = 6.65, p = 0.002, and longer pain-tolerance, F(2, 85) = 7.19, p = 0.001 than participants in the psychological-possession and no-possession conditions. No significant group difference was found in subjective pain perception. The results of this study can advance knowledge about pain mechanisms and novel pain management.

Prior Pain Exposure and Mere Possession of a Placebo Analgesic Predict Placebo Analgesia: Findings From a Randomized, Double-Blinded, Controlled Trial.

A recent study found that merely possessing a placebo analgesic reduces pain. The current study tested for a possible moderator of this effect. Specifically, does the mere possession of a placebo analgesic affect pain for individuals with and without immediate prior experience with the pain task? Healthy participants (N = 127) were randomized to prior pain (PP) condition or without prior pain (No-PP) condition. In the PP condition, participants first did a preliminary trial of a cold pressor test (CPT) to induce direct experience with this pain stimulus. Then they were randomized to possess an inert cream described as either an analgesic cream or an anti-itch cream (pain-irrelevant control object). Participants then completed the main CPT. In the No-PP condition, participants underwent identical procedures and randomization except that they did not do a preliminary CPT, thus having no immediate prior CPT pain experience. We found a significant prior pain experience and possession status interaction effect on placebo analgesia. Participants in the No-PP condition showed evidence of lower pain when they merely possessed an analgesic cream than an anti-itch cream. Such mere possession effect was not found in the PP condition. The impact of expectancy and emotion on the underlying process are discussed. PERSPECTIVE: This article presents a novel finding that prior pain exposure and mere possession of a placebo analgesic predicted placebo analgesia. It offers a novel perspective on the time course of placebo effect. It provides practical implications on potential pain intervention for clinicians and paradigm design for researchers of placebo study.

Measurement invariance of the moral vitalism scale across 28 cultural groups.

Moral vitalism refers to a tendency to view good and evil as actual forces that can influence people and events. The Moral Vitalism Scale had been designed to assess moral vitalism in a brief survey form. Previous studies established the reliability and validity of the scale in US-American and Australian samples. In this study, the cross-cultural comparability of the scale was tested across 28 different cultural groups worldwide through measurement invariance tests. A series of exact invariance tests marginally supported partial metric invariance, however, an approximate invariance approach provided evidence of partial scalar invariance for a 5-item measure. The established level of measurement invariance allows for comparisons of latent means across cultures. We conclude that the brief measure of moral vitalism is invariant across 28 cultures and can be used to estimate levels of moral vitalism with the same precision across very different cultural settings.

Explaining illness with evil: pathogen prevalence fosters moral vitalism.

Pathogens represent a significant threat to human health leading to the emergence of strategies designed to help manage their negative impact. We examined how spiritual beliefs developed to explain and predict the devastating effects of pathogens and spread of infectious disease. Analysis of existing data in studies 1 and 2 suggests that moral vitalism (beliefs about spiritual forces of evil) is higher in geographical regions characterized by historical higher levels of pathogens. Furthermore, drawing on a sample of 3140 participants from 28 countries in study 3, we found that historical higher levels of pathogens were associated with stronger endorsement of moral vitalistic beliefs. Furthermore, endorsement of moral vitalistic beliefs statistically mediated the previously reported relationship between pathogen prevalence and conservative ideologies, suggesting these beliefs reinforce behavioural strategies which function to prevent infection. We conclude that moral vitalism may be adaptive: by emphasizing concerns over contagion, it provided an explanatory model that enabled human groups to reduce rates of contagious disease.

Western Cultural Identification Explains Variations in the Objectification Model for Eating Pathology Across Australian Caucasians and Asian Women.

Objective: To assess differences in trait objectifying measures and eating pathology between Australian Caucasians and Asian women living in Australia and in Hong Kong with high and low levels of western cultural identification (WCI) and to see if exposure to objectifying images had an effect on state-objectification. A further aim was to assess using path analyses whether an extended version of the objectification model, including thin-ideal internalization, differed depending on the level of WCI. Method: A total of 424 participants comprising 162 Australian Caucasians and 262 Asians (n = 183 currently residing in Australia and n = 79 living in Hong Kong) took part in the study. Of the overall Asian sample, 133 individuals were classified as high-WCI and 129 participants as low-WCI. Participants were randomly allocated into one of two conditions, presenting either objectifying images of attractive and thin Asian and Caucasian female models (objectification group, n = 204), or showing neutral images of objects (e.g., chairs, tables; control group, n = 220). Subsequently, participants were asked to complete a series of questionnaires assessing objectification processes and eating pathology. Results: Findings revealed that the Caucasian group presented with significantly higher internalization and body surveillance scores than either of the two Asian groups and also revealed higher scores on trait-self-objectification than the low-WCI Asian sample. As regards to the effects of objectifying images on state self-objectification, we found that ratings were higher after exposure to women than to control objects for all groups. Finally, multi-group analyses revealed that our revised objectification model functioned equally across the Caucasian and the high-WCI Asian group, but differed between the Caucasian and the low-WCI Asian group. Conclusion: Our findings outline that individuals with varying levels of WCI might respond differently to self-objectification processes. Levels of WCI should therefore be taken into consideration when working with women from different cultural backgrounds.

Attitudes toward cosmetic surgery patients: the role of culture and social contact.

Cosmetic surgery is increasingly popular globally, but how cosmetic surgery patients are socially evaluated is largely unknown. The present research documents attitudes toward these patients in multiple cultures (Hong Kong, Japan, and the United States). Across these cultures, attitudes toward cosmetic surgery patients were predominantly negative: Participants ascribed more negative attributes to cosmetic surgery patients and found cosmetic surgery not acceptable. Also, participants in Hong Kong and Japan were not willing to form social relationships, particularly intimate ones, with these patients. These attitudes were less negative in the United States than in Hong Kong and Japan, partly because social contact, which reduced negativity in attitudes toward cosmetic surgery patients, was more prevalent in the United States. These findings bear important implications for the subjective well-being of cosmetic surgery patients, who very often expect improvement in their social relationships through the surgery.