In the study by Kurt Gray and Daniel Wegner, 48 participants were paired with a partner (a confederate) who could choose which of two tasks the participant should do: either a pitch-judgement task or a discomfort-judgement task (rating how uncomfortable an electric shock is).
In the intentional condition, participants were shocked when their partner chose the discomfort judgement task, whereas in the unintentional condition, participants were shocked when their partner chose the pitch-judgement task. This means that in the second condition participants recieved an electric shock when their partner did not intend them to.
A computer screen showed the confederate's choice and that a shock would be coming. This means that participants were aware of the confederate's intentions and ensured that they were not surprised when the shock came.
Although both intentional and accidental shocks were identical participants in the intentional condition rated the shocks as significantly more painful.
"This study shows that even if two harmful events are physically identical, the one delivered with the intention to hurt actually hurts more," claimed Gray
As the study progressed with the partners continuing to intentionally or unintentionally expose the participants to shocks, those in the unintentional condition rated the pain as diminishing each time (even though it wasn't), while those in the intentional conditioning felt the pain worsen each time.
According to Gray, this response has evolved in humans, "The more something hurts, the more likely we are to take notice and stop whatever is hurting us," he says. "If it's an accidental harm, chances are it's a one-time thing, and there's no need to do anything about it. If it's an intentional harm, however, it may be the first of many, so it's good to take notice and do something about it. It makes sense that our bodies and brains might amplify our experience of pain when we know that the pain could signal threats to our survival."
Source: Adapted from materials provided by EurekAlert
