Cultural Variation in the Inference of Pain
- 1 June 1988
- journal article
- research article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology
- Vol. 19 (2) , 232-242
- https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022188192008
Abstract
This research investigates cultural variation in pain inference by quantifying the amount of pain attributed to nine conditions, by means of Thurstone's technique of paired comparisons. Subjects were selected from four cultural groups residing in Western Canada: the Canadian (Anglophone), the Ukrainian, the East Indian, and the Hutterite. Inter group differences were found in both the rank ordering and the quantitative evaluation of the painfulness of nine conditions. The authors conclude that the amount of pain inferred or attributed to these conditions is culturally learned.Keywords
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