Pain can be modulated by interpersonal processes that support the patient-provider relationship, and contextual factors related to the treatment environment. In this project, we investigate large-scale norms and beliefs about healthcare in America, and how perceptions of people and other visual cues in the treatment environment influence expectations about pain during treatment and about the pain other people feel. This project uses online survey methodologies to measure large scale normed beliefs and expectations from a geographically, ethnically, and socioeconomically diverse population of Americans. The purpose of this project is to investigate healthcare beliefs that may enhance or diminish pain in the clinic, which can be used to design studies in the laboratory to test if manipulating these beliefs can be advantageous for pain outcomes. This project was approved in late July 2018, and we have developed our survey instrument for online implementation, to begin at the start of FY19.
