It hurts more from a man

For a given amount of pressure, it hurts more when a man is making you feel bad:

Participants placed a finger in a clamp which was tightened using a pressure gauge until they reported feeling pain. Both men and women appeared to feel pain more quickly if the person turning the clamp was a man.

Previous studies have shown that men report feeling less pain in front of a female experimenters – but this was put down to their wanting to appear more macho.

David Williams, who carried out the study at the University of Westminster in the UK, says his findings contradict this assumption. Williams suggests that the subjects of his study may be socially conditioned to expect men to be more likely to inflict harm. The effect, “is likely to be a result of what participants subconsciously expect, based on socially acquired gender stereotypes,” he says.

We are susceptible to the power of suggestion in other ways as well:

The study also shows that a person’s surroundings can affect their sensitivity to pain. Objects that might be associated with suffering – such as a chart showing wounds or a poster related to blood donations – were found to make the participants report feeling pain more readily.

Here is the full story, here is the researcher.

The bottom line? No, it is not all in your head. Nonetheless a stoic attitude may help you endure discomfort. Furthermore we seem programmed to think that men are the bad guys. They usually are.