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Gepubliceerd in: Psychological Research 4/2021

07-04-2020 | Original Article

Pain and satisfaction: healthcare providers’ facial appearance matters

Auteurs: Katia Mattarozzi, Elisa Caponera, Paolo Maria Russo, Valentina Colonnello, Margherita Bassetti, Elena Farolfi, Alexander Todorov

Gepubliceerd in: Psychological Research | Uitgave 4/2021

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Abstract

Trait inferences based solely on facial appearance affect many social decisions. Here we tested whether the effects of such inferences extend to the perception of physical sensations. In an actual clinical setting, we show that healthcare providers’ facial appearance is a strong predictor of pain experienced by patients during a medical procedure. The effect was specific to familiarity: facial features of healthcare providers that convey feelings of familiarity were associated with a decrease in patients’ perception of pain. In addition, caring appearance of the healthcare providers was significantly related to patients’ satisfaction with the care they received. Besides indicating that rapid, unreflective trait inferences from facial appearance may affect important healthcare outcomes, these findings contribute to the understanding of the mechanisms underlying social modulation of pain perception.
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Metagegevens
Titel
Pain and satisfaction: healthcare providers’ facial appearance matters
Auteurs
Katia Mattarozzi
Elisa Caponera
Paolo Maria Russo
Valentina Colonnello
Margherita Bassetti
Elena Farolfi
Alexander Todorov
Publicatiedatum
07-04-2020
Uitgeverij
Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Gepubliceerd in
Psychological Research / Uitgave 4/2021
Print ISSN: 0340-0727
Elektronisch ISSN: 1430-2772
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-020-01330-3

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