Sex Differences and Personality Factors in Responsivity to Pain

TLDR

The literature suggests that masculinity‑femininity and social desirability may explain why men typically have higher pain thresholds and tolerances than women. This study examined how levels of masculinity‑femininity and social desirability relate to pain responsivity in men and women. A significant interaction between masculinity‑femininity and sex was found for pain thresholds, with higher masculinity associated with higher thresholds in men but not women, yet sex remained a significant predictor of thresholds and tolerances even after controlling for these variables.

Abstract

This study investigated the relationship between measured levels of masculinity-femininity, social desirability, and responsivity to pain in men and women. The literature suggests that the two personality variables might provide an explanation for the common findings of higher pain thresholds and tolerances in men than in women. A significant interaction was found between masculinity-femininity and sex for pain thresholds. Analysis of this interaction indicated that for men, but not women, there was a significant correlation between masculinity-femininity and pain, where higher masculinity was associated with higher pain thresholds. However, this finding did not account for the sex difference in pain threshold. The sex of the subject remained a significant predictor of both pain thresholds and tolerances after allowing for the influence of masculinity-femininity, social desirability, and their associated interactions.