Race, social pain minimization, and mental health

Abstract

People often believe Black individuals experience less social pain and require less social support to cope with distress than White individuals (e.g., Deska, Kunstman, Lloyd, et al., 2020). However, researchers have not tested whether biases in third-person pain judgments translate to first-person experiences with social pain minimization. For example, do Black individuals feel their social pain is underrecognized to a greater extent than White individuals? The current work tested whether Black individuals felt their social pain was minimized more than White individuals and if the experience of social pain minimization was related to worse mental health and greater life stress. Data from two cross-sectional, correlational studies provide initial support for these predictions ( Ntotal = 1,501). Black participants felt their social pain was minimized more than White participants and this race difference in social pain minimization was associated with worse mental health and greater life stress. These results suggest that Black individuals feel their pain is underrecognized and this experience of social pain minimization is related to worse mental health outcomes.

Examining the relation between discrimination and suicide among Black Americans: The role of social pain minimization and decreased bodily trust.

“…The full measure with all items can be found in Appendix. This measure has been found to exhibit discriminant validity and excellent reliability (Benbow et al, under review), and in the current study, the internal consistency of this measure was excellent (α = .94).…”

“…Moreover, the current study used cross-sectional data, and hence we were unable to test a serial mediation model that would allow us to make predictive inferences or assumptions about these phenomena over time. Additionally, the measure used to assess social pain minimization was developed by the authors, and has not yet been validated, though reliability was high in the current and previous studies (i.e., α = .93–.96; Benbow et al, under review). The current study also included only Black participants, and hence we are unable to generalize findings to other stigmatized identities.…”

“…In this article we propose a theoretical model and provide preliminary cross-sectional evidence that experiencing discrimination increases social pain minimization, which disrupts interoception and ultimately increases suicidal ideation (see Figure 1). Social pain minimization refers to the feeling that others devalue and dismiss negative affect and psychological distress following negative social experiences (e.g., unfairness, disrespect, exclusion; Benbow et al, under review). Interoception was operationalized as trust in bodily sensations (Mehling et al, 2012).…”

“…Consistent with the above theorizing, recent research finds that racial biases in third-party social pain judgments extend to first-person experiences with social pain minimization. Black individuals feel their social pain is minimized more than White individuals (Benbow et al, under review). Moreover, perceived social pain minimization was associated with more frequent daily experiences with social mistreatment and worse mental health (Benbow et al, under review).…”

“…Black individuals feel their social pain is minimized more than White individuals (Benbow et al, under review). Moreover, perceived social pain minimization was associated with more frequent daily experiences with social mistreatment and worse mental health (Benbow et al, under review). The more people experienced every day mistreatment, the more they felt others minimized their social pain.…”