The Effect of the Model’s Social Status on Placebo Analgesia Induced by Social Observational Learning

BACKGROUND: Placebo analgesia can be induced by social observational learning. The aim of this study was to determine whether this effect can be influenced by the social status of a model. METHODS: Healthy volunteers were randomly assigned to three groups: a group that observed a video featuring a high-status model (introduced as a professor), a group that observed a video featuring a low-status model (introduced as a janitor), and a control group. Participants observed videos showing a model (of high or low status) undergoing the experimental procedure, during which he received pain stimuli. In each group, half of participants watched a video in which the model rated blue stimuli as more painful (6–8 on the numeric rating scale) and orange stimuli as less painful (1–3 on the numeric rating scale), whereas the other half of participants watched a video in which the model rated orange stimuli as more painful and blue stimuli as less painful. Participants in the control group did not watch any video. Then, all participants received 16 electrocutaneous pain stimuli of the same intensity, preceded by either blue or orange colors. The perceived social status of the model and the trait empathy of participants were measured. RESULTS: Placebo analgesia was induced in both experimental groups, yet no difference in the magnitude of the effect was found. However, we found that the participants’ individual ratings of the model’s social status predicted the magnitude of placebo analgesia. CONCLUSION: This is the first study to show that the perception of a model’s social status is related to the magnitude of placebo analgesia induced by observational learning.