Association Between Self-Construals, Social Pain Sensitivity, and Gender in Young Adults

Abstract

We experience pain in response to negative, unwanted social interaction with others (e.g., social rejection), and this type of pain is termed as social pain in the recent literature. While sensitivity to social pain may be beneficial to increase a chance for survival, social pain sensitivity could also be detrimental to elevate the risk of various health issues. Such opposing natures of social pain sensitivity warrants research to better identify factors that are linked to social pain sensitivity. Self-construals show perspectives on how to view oneself in relations to others, characterized as independent and interdependent self-construals, and may be linked to social pain sensitivity. Additionally, pervious data have indicated gender differences in social pain sensitivity, but it is unclear if self-construals explain gender differences in social pain sensitivity. Therefore, this study examined if self-construals were associated with social pain sensitivity, and gender differences in social pain sensitivity were accounted for by self-construals. The participants were 148 college students who completed several self-report questionnaires to evaluate self-construals and social pain sensitivity. The results indicated that interdependent tendency, which showed higher interdependent self-construal than independent self-construal, was associated with social pain sensitivity. While gender differences in social pain sensitivity were confirmed, gender differences in social pain sensitivity were not accounted for by interdependent tendency. The results suggest that interdependent tendency is associated with social pain sensitivity, but is not involved in gender differences in social pain sensitivity.

Keywords:

• Self-construals
• interdependence
• social pain
• gender differences

Availability of Data and Materials

Data and materials may be available upon request to the first author (MU).

Compliance with Ethical Standards

This study was fully approved by the Institutional Review Board at the University of Texas at San Antonio.

Disclosure Statement

The authors report there are no competing interests to declare.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.

Notes on contributors

Masataka Umeda

Masataka Umeda, PhD, is an assistant professor in kinesiology at the University of Texas at San Antonio. His research examines pain sensitivity using various laboratory pain tests and cardiovascular psychophysiology techniques in healthy individuals and individuals with chronic pain (e.g., fibromyalgia).

Se-Woong Park

Se-Woong Park, PhD, is an assistant professor in kinesiology at the University of Texas at San Antonio. His research examines upper limb motor control, movement variability in motor learning, and sensorimotor behavior in individuals with autism spectrum disorder.