Race and gender biases in assessing pain intensity and medication needs among Chinese observers

Zhiyuan Liu, Tzu Ying Chuang, Shan Wang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Introduction: Pain-related decision-making can be influenced by the caregiver and sufferer’s demographic factors, such as race and gender, which are commonly considered individually. However, such factors may influence pain assessment interdependently based on caregivers’ stereotypical beliefs. 

Objectives: This study investigated how sufferers’ race and gender affect Chinese observers’ evaluations of pain intensity and medication needs and the associations with the observers’ race and gender-related stereotypical beliefs. 

Methods: One hundred sixty-two Chinese participants completed a pain facial expression rating task assessing the level of pain intensity and the extent to which they believe the sufferer needs pain medication for East Asian, White, and Black sufferers, followed by a battery of questionnaires measuring their gender and race role expectation of pain. 

Results: Chinese observers were more stringent on East Asians’ pain intensity and needs for medication than Whites and Blacks’. However, when Black and East Asian sufferers were perceived to have a similar level of pain, East Asians were more likely to receive medication than Blacks, which is partly due to the observers’ stereotypical beliefs that Blacks would have a speedier recovery than East Asians. 

Conclusions: Our results provided evidence that in addition to the in-versus-out-group preferences, one’s sociocultural-related stereotypical beliefs can account for racial disparities in pain-related decision-making.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere1231
JournalPain Reports
Volume10
Issue number1
Early online date28 Feb 2025
DOIs
Publication statusAcceptance date - 2 Jan 2025

Data Availability Statement

Deidentified data that support the findings of this study are available upon request from the corresponding author.

Acknowledgements

Z.L. conceptualized the study, led the study design, collected the data, contributed to data file preparation, conducted the analysis, interpreted the results, and wrote the manuscript; T.C. contributed to stimuli selection, helped with data collection and data preparation, and commented on the manuscript; S.W. conceptualized the study, supervised the study design, data collection, and data preparation, conducted the statistical analysis, and edited the manuscript.

The authors thank Edmund Keogh (University of Bath) and Francis Keefe (Duke University) for their advice and all the participants of this study.

Funding

This work was funded by the Duke Kunshan University Humanities Research Center Health Humanities Lab fund awarded to Z.L. and supported by the Summer Research Scholar Program, Undergraduate Studies Duke Kunshan University.

Keywords

  • Facial expressions
  • Gender
  • Pain assessment
  • Race
  • Stereotypical beliefs

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine

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