Gender Differences in Pain Perception
We have all experienced physical pain sometime in our life. Some of us even must suffer it on a day to day basis. But are some people genetically made to handle pain easier than most? Sure, why not? I mean, we are all made differently and react differently to special stimuli. Most believe that men are able to bare pain better than the average woman. Others agree that because of childbirth, women are able to withstand pain at the same level or even better than a man. The question is which theory is correct? Could there be a defining difference between the two genders or does it depend mainly on the individual? There has been research and studies conducted over the years to find the answers to these questions. In the experimental report, Gender differences in pain perception: the mediating role of self-efficacy beliefs by Jackson, Iezzi, Gunderson, Nagasaka, and Fritch, researchers hypothesize the reasoning behind the differences of pain perception of the genders and test their theories. You will find that their research findings are not much different from those of other research groups, but that their reasoning is a bit different. This project will tell of psychological influence
The researchers were very detailed about their experiment and gave much information regarding self-efficacy. Many of the studies have shown that the women in the reports were more susceptible and less tolerant of pain than the men but the psychological reasoning behind it was not determined. Although women are said to be more sensitive to pain, they overlooked that men can be a major cause of our pain. Sensory adaptation, according to Lahey (2004), is said to lower the sensation of the cold water on the hand, but water that cold can be quite painful after a few minutes. Those who think negatively don't usually get far. Such other reasons are more physical, such as hormones. Afterwards were all subjected to the cold pressor test (CPT) which consisted of them submerging their non-dominant hand in a container of ice water measuring at about three degrees Celsius. It seems to me that there is a psychological approach to every subject matter out there and not just a scientific point of view. Ibuprofen, for example, "has been proven to be less effective at providing pain relief for women than men" (Young & Baar, 2002). (2002) had based their theory on the many studies done throughout the years that agree that women in general have been thought to suffer more with pain. And most the men thought that they could. (2002), self-efficacy is defined as, "an experimentation that one can successfully perform behaviors necessary to produce a successful outcome" (p. If a drug is less effective for women, then they are going to be more susceptible to the pain. This article has added another logical explanation to many other causes of heightened pain in women. The results table accompanied with the article was very much jumbled and hard to interpret but it was clarified well in the text.
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