What factors fuel racial bias in pain perception and treatment?: A meta-analysis across 40 experimental studies

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jingrun Lin ◽  
Alexis Drain ◽  
Azaadeh Goharzad ◽  
Peter Mende-Siedlecki
Keyword(s):  
Pain Perception ◽  
Racial Bias ◽  
Group Membership ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Intergroup Contact ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Black And White ◽  
Pain Care ◽  
Black Faces ◽  
Shed Light

Racial disparities in pain care may be linked to a perceptual source: perceivers see pain less readily on Black (versus white) faces. We conducted an internal meta-analysis (40 studies; N=6252) to assess the generalizability, robustness, and psychological bases of this phenomenon. Meta-analysis strongly confirmed race-based gaps in pain perception and treatment. Moreover, bias in perception consistently facilitated bias in treatment. These effects were robust to differences in stimuli, samples, and perceiver gender and race. Notably, both Black and white perceivers showed a tendency to see pain less readily on Black faces, suggesting this bias is not merely a consequence of group membership. Further, increased dehumanization of and decreased intergroup contact with Black individuals was associated with racial bias in pain perception and treatment, though these effects were small. These results demonstrate the robustness of perceptual contributions to racial pain disparities and shed light on potential targets for future intervention.

Seeing no pain: Assessing the generalizability of racial bias in pain perception

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Mende-Siedlecki ◽  
Jingrun Lin ◽  
Sloan Ferron ◽  
Christopher Gibbons ◽  
Alexis Drain ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Emotion Recognition ◽  
Racial Disparities ◽  
Pain Perception ◽  
Racial Bias ◽  
Negative Emotion ◽  
Racial Stereotypes ◽  
Total N ◽  
Black And White ◽  
Pain Care ◽  
Black Faces

Previous work demonstrates that racial disparities in pain care may stem, in part, from perceptual roots. It remains unresolved, however, whether this perceptual gap is driven by general deficits in intergroup emotion recognition, endorsement of specific racial stereotypes, or an interaction between the two. We conducted four experiments (total N = 635) assessing relationships between biases in pain perception and treatment with biases in the perception of anger, happiness, fear, and sadness. Participants saw Black and White targets making increasingly painful and angry (Experiment 1), happy (Experiment 2), fearful (Experiment 3), or sad expressions (Experiment 4). The effect of target race consistently varied based on the emotion presented. Participants consistently saw pain more readily on White (versus Black) faces. However, while the perception of sadness was also disrupted on Black faces, the perception of anger, fear, and happiness did not vary by target race. Moreover, the tendency to see pain less readily on Black faces predicted similar disruptions in recognizing (particularly negative) expressions, though only racial bias in pain perception facilitated similar biases in treatment. Finally, while endorsement of racial stereotypes about threat facilitated recognition of angry expressions and impeded recognition of happy expressions on Black faces, gaps in pain perception were not reliably related to stereotype endorsement. These data suggest that while racial bias in pain perception is associated with general disruptions in recognizing negative emotion on Black faces, the effects of target race on pain perception are particularly robust and have distinct consequences for gaps in treatment recommendations.

Perceptual contributions to racial bias in pain recognition

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Mende-Siedlecki ◽  
Jennie Wen Qu-Lee ◽  
Robert Backer ◽  
Jay Joseph Van Bavel
Keyword(s):  
Pain Perception ◽  
Racial Bias ◽  
Pain Treatment ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Pain Tolerance ◽  
Intergroup Bias ◽  
Racial Biases ◽  
Pain Recognition ◽  
Black Faces ◽  
Biological Differences

The pain of Black Americans is systematically under-diagnosed and under-treated, compared to the pain of their White counterparts. Extensive research has examined the psychological factors that might account for such biases, including status judgments, racial prejudice, and stereotypes about biological differences between Blacks and Whites. Across seven experiments we accumulated evidence that lower-level perceptual processes also uniquely contribute to downstream racial biases in pain recognition. We repeatedly observed that White participants showed more stringent thresholds for perceiving pain on Black faces, compared to White faces. A tendency to see painful expressions on Black faces less readily arose, in part, from a disruption in configural processing associated with other-race faces. Subsequent analyses revealed that this racial bias in pain perception could not be easily attributed to stimulus features (e.g., color, luminance, or contrast), subjective evaluations related to pain tolerance and experience (e.g., masculinity, dominance, etc.), or objective differences in face structure and expression intensity between Black and White faces. Finally, we observed that racial biases in perception facilitated biases in pain treatment decisions, and that this relationship existed over and above biased judgments of status and strength, explicit racial bias, and endorsement of false beliefs regarding biological differences. A meta-analysis across nine total experiments (N = 1289) confirmed the robustness and size of these effects. This research establishes a subtle, albeit influential, perceptual pathway to intergroup bias in pain care and treatment. Implications for racial bias, face perception, and medical treatment are discussed.

Racial prototypicality cues exacerbate racial bias in pain perception from the bottom up and the top down

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexis Drain ◽  
Azaadeh Goharzad ◽  
Jennie Qu-Lee ◽  
Jingrun Lin ◽  
Peter Mende-Siedlecki
Keyword(s):  
Pain Perception ◽  
Racial Bias ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Structural Features ◽  
Facial Structure ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Race And Gender ◽  
Pain Outcomes ◽  
And Gender

Racial disparities in pain care may stem, in part, from a perceptual source. While perceptual disruptions in recognizing painful expressions on Black faces have been demonstrated under tightly-controlled conditions (e.g., controlling for low-level stimulus differences in luminance and facial structure, using all male stimuli), these effects may be exacerbated by cues to racial prototypicality. Indeed, both bottom-up (e.g., skin tone, facial structure) and top-down (e.g., stereotype associations between race and gender) factors related to racial prototypicality moderate social perception, with some evidence pointing towards deleterious consequences in the domain of health. Here, we assessed whether these factors shape racial bias in pain perception: we examined the effect of racially prototypical features in Experiments 1 and 2 and target gender in a meta-analysis across five additional experiments. Overall, darker skin tones were associated with more stringent pain perception and more conservative treatment, while racially prototypic structural features exacerbated racial bias in pain outcomes. Moreover, target gender reliably moderated the effect of race on pain outcomes: racial biases in both pain perception and treatment were larger for male (versus female) targets. Taken together, these data demonstrate the overall robustness of racial bias in pain perception and its facilitation of gaps in treatment, but also the extent to which these biases are moderated by both bottom-up and top-down factors related to racial prototypicality.

scholarly journals Crime and punishment

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barry Goldman ◽  
Dylan Cooper ◽  
Tamar Kugler
Keyword(s):  
Racial Bias ◽  
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Conflict Theory ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Negative Stereotypes ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Convicted Felons ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Shed Light

Purpose A surprisingly large proportion of the working population of the USA consists of individuals with felony convictions. Moreover, the issue of employability of these individuals is compounded for minorities. This paper aims to present two experimental studies investigating whether minorities with felony backgrounds have a more difficult time being selected for employment than identically situated white applicants. The authors ground the paper in realistic group conflict theory. Results indicate discrimination is more acute against minorities with felony backgrounds than whites with the same background and shed light on the mechanisms leading to this discrimination. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. Design/methodology/approach This paper involves two experimental studies involving working adults engaging with realistic survey situations using mTurk. Findings Results of both studies indicate discrimination is more acute against minorities with felony backgrounds than whites with the same background, and shed light on the mechanisms leading to this discrimination. Research limitations/implications One limitation of the methodology is that the authors used fictional candidates and jobs. This may have led to understating the effects of discrimination on minorities because it allowed applicants to answer in socially desirable ways (e.g. absent of racial bias) without suffering any of the anticipated negative consequences of actually hiring individuals about whom they hold negative stereotypes. Practical implications This research has several important implications for practice. First, organizations should be keenly aware of the potential for subtle and unconscious bias to affect the job application process even among well-intentioned hiring managers. Second, as the bias is often triggered by threats, organizations should share with their employees the nature of the threat involved with former felons. Social implications Organizations should deliberately address issues associated with the use of criminal background checks. For many organizations, a felony conviction in an applicant’s background automatically eliminates that person from employment. However, a substantial amount of the workforce now has a felony in their background. Indeed, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (2012) has issued guidelines that detail important factors that organizations should consider on a case-by-case basis when considering employment for former felons. Organizations may consider updating any blanket exclusions regarding the hiring of ex-felons – not only because it makes good policy but also because it may help the organization hire the best people. Originality/value This research studies an important – and growing – societal problem related to the hiring of convicted felons, and the related issue of racial discrimination that affects black convicted felons particularly hard. There has been very little work in the management area on this topic. Moreover, there has been very little work in all areas that includes experimental methods. The use of such methods is particularly useful to eliminate confounds found in field data.

scholarly journals Pain perception in Parkinson’s disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis of experimental studies

2017 ◽  
Vol 35 ◽  
pp. 74-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
Trevor Thompson ◽  
Katy Gallop ◽  
Christoph U. Correll ◽  
Andre F. Carvalho ◽  
Nicola Veronese ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Parkinson’S Disease ◽  
Parkinson's Disease ◽  
Pain Perception ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Experimental Studies

scholarly journals National identity exploration attenuates the identification–prejudice link

2021 ◽  
pp. 136843022199009
Author(s):  
Olivia Spiegler ◽  
Oliver Christ ◽  
Maykel Verkuyten
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Social Identity ◽  
Group Membership ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Developmental Theory ◽  
Intergroup Threat ◽  
Identity Exploration ◽  
Positive Identification

Social identity exploration is a process whereby individuals actively seek information about their group membership and show efforts to understand its meaning. Developmental theory argues that exploration-based ingroup commitment is the basis for outgroup positivity. We tested this notion in relation to national identity and attitudes towards immigrants. The results of five experimental studies among German adolescents and early adults ( N = 1,146; 16–25 years) and one internal meta-analysis suggest that the positive identification–prejudice link is weaker when participants are instructed to explore the meaning of their identity (Study 1). This is not mediated via self-uncertainty (Study 2), but via a reduction in intergroup threat (Study 3) and an increase in deprovincialization (Study 4). In addition, identity exploration enabled strong identifiers to oppose descriptive ingroup norms (Study 5). We conclude that identity exploration can contribute to a further understanding of the identification–prejudice link.

Assessing the speed, spontaneity, and robustness of racial bias in pain perception

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Mende-Siedlecki ◽  
Azaadeh Goharzad ◽  
Aizihaer Tuerxuntuoheti ◽  
Patrick Gilbert Mercado Reyes ◽  
Jingrun Lin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pain Perception ◽  
Racial Bias ◽  
Diagnostic Information ◽  
Racial Stereotypes ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Pain Experience ◽  
Black And White ◽  
Controlled Processing ◽  
Low Load ◽  
Other Information

A growing body of evidence demonstrates that perceivers recognize painful expressions less readily on Black (compared to white) faces. However, it is unclear whether this bias occurs independent of controlled processing (for example, the deliberate engagement of racial stereotypes) and whether this bias is still observed when other diagnostic information (e.g., self-reported pain experience) is available. Across five experiments we examined the speed, spontaneity, and robustness of racial bias in pain perception. First, we observed that racial bias in pain perception was still evident under minimal presentation conditions (as brief as 33ms) and was most apparent for ambiguous (versus high intensity) pain expressions (Exp. 1). Next, we manipulated the amount of cognitive load participants were under while viewing and rating Black and white faces in varying degrees of pain (Exps. 2A-B). Here, we observed that perceivers had more stringent thresholds for seeing pain on Black (versus white) faces regardless of whether participants were under high (versus low) load. Finally, we examined whether this bias would persist when participants were also provided with other information regarding targets’ pain – specifically, self-reported pain experience (Exps. 3A-B). While self-report information reduced perceivers’ thresholds for seeing pain overall, racial bias in pain perception was not reliably moderated by self-reported pain experience. Together, these data demonstrate that racial bias in pain perception occurs automatically, based on minimal visual input, and above and beyond other diagnostic information.

3-D reconstruction and analysis of mammalian mitotic spindle structure

1992 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 578-579
Author(s):  
Kent McDonald ◽  
David Mastronarde ◽  
Rubai Ding ◽  
Eileen O'Toole ◽  
J. Richard McIntosh
Keyword(s):  
Cross Sections ◽  
Mitotic Spindle ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Video Camera ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Mitotic Spindles ◽  
Black And White ◽  
Reconstruction Methods ◽  
Spindle Structure ◽  
Tissue Culture Line

Mammalian spindles are generally large and may contain over a thousand microtubules (MTs). For this reason they are difficult to reconstruct in three dimensions and many researchers have chosen to study the smaller and simpler spindles of lower eukaryotes. Nevertheless, the mammalian spindle is used for many experimental studies and it would be useful to know its detailed structure.We have been using serial cross sections and computer reconstruction methods to analyze MT distributions in mitotic spindles of PtK cells, a mammalian tissue culture line. Images from EM negatives are digtized on a light box by a Dage MTI video camera containing a black and white Saticon tube. The signal is digitized by a Parallax 1280 graphics device in a MicroVax III computer. Microtubules are digitized at a magnification such that each is 10-12 pixels in diameter.

Chronic Pain: Fundamental Scientific Considerations, Specifically for Legal Claims

2013 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert J. Barth
Keyword(s):  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Pain Perception ◽  
Driving Forces ◽  
Psychological Treatment ◽  
Dominant Role ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
General Medicine ◽  
Pain Syndrome ◽  
Problematic Relationship

Abstract Scientific findings have indicated that psychological and social factors are the driving forces behind most chronic benign pain presentations, especially in a claim context, and are relevant to at least three of the AMA Guides publications: AMA Guides to Evaluation of Disease and Injury Causation, AMA Guides to Work Ability and Return to Work, and AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment. The author reviews and summarizes studies that have identified the dominant role of financial, psychological, and other non–general medicine factors in patients who report low back pain. For example, one meta-analysis found that compensation results in an increase in pain perception and a reduction in the ability to benefit from medical and psychological treatment. Other studies have found a correlation between the level of compensation and health outcomes (greater compensation is associated with worse outcomes), and legal systems that discourage compensation for pain produce better health outcomes. One study found that, among persons with carpal tunnel syndrome, claimants had worse outcomes than nonclaimants despite receiving more treatment; another examined the problematic relationship between complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) and compensation and found that cases of CRPS are dominated by legal claims, a disparity that highlights the dominant role of compensation. Workers’ compensation claimants are almost never evaluated for personality disorders or mental illness. The article concludes with recommendations that evaluators can consider in individual cases.

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