Effects of perceived efficacy of a prophylactic controlling mechanism on self-control under pain stimulation.

Abstract

Pain tolerance and threshold were studied as a function of variations in the stated efficacy of relaxation as a technique by which people cope with stress. High presented efficacy increased tolerance substantially and significantly; low presented efficacy had no effect. Physiological and subjective measures of actual relaxation showed that the coping technique itself was not affected, indicating that effects on pain tolerance were attributable to the cognitive appraisal of coping efficacy and not actual coping efficacy. Results were discussed in terms of the application of stress theory to the reduction of pain reactions, and the locus of such reduction with respect to the sensory vs. response-criterion aspects of reported pain.