Ignoring Someone Causes The Same Reaction In Their Brain As Physical Pain
Social Rejection & Pyhsical Pain
Nida Boğa
Izmir University of Economics
Abstract
Ostracism means being ignored and excluded by others. People may face with ostracism in every second of their life. The most simple examples of being ignored are thankless job day, after a job application getting no response, not even a letter of rejection or getting no response to your mail. The process of ostracism contains three steps: the initial acts of being ignored, coping, and resignation. Being ignored causes the same reaction as physical pain and because ostracism is experienced in three stages, the life of those painful feelings can be last for the long term (Smith & Williams K. D., 2004). Being excluded is painful because it threatens fundamental human needs, such as belonging and self-esteem, consequently sadness and anger increase (Williams K. D. , 2011). These effects inevitably emerge despite individual differences. The hypothesis is that being ignored causes the same reaction in people’s brain as physical pain. There are plenty of studies which have proven this hypothesis. In one study, the anterior insula and the anterior cingulate cortex of the participants were activated when they feel emotional pain same as physical pain. The subjects who had experienced recent social rejection were randomly assigned to take painkiller (acetaminophen) or placebo group for three weeks. As a result the participants in acetaminophen condition reported less hurt feelings in that three week period and it also observed that their anterior insula and the anterior cingulate cortex had shown less activation at the end of the treatment (Fogel, A., 2012). Based on this study we can observe the chemicals that release when people have physical pain and we can create a situation in which participants experience rejection such as romantically or just friendly to see if the same chemicals are observable during rejection. To conduct the experiment we can use PET scan and compare the results
Nida Boğa
Izmir University of Economics
Abstract
Ostracism means being ignored and excluded by others. People may face with ostracism in every second of their life. The most simple examples of being ignored are thankless job day, after a job application getting no response, not even a letter of rejection or getting no response to your mail. The process of ostracism contains three steps: the initial acts of being ignored, coping, and resignation. Being ignored causes the same reaction as physical pain and because ostracism is experienced in three stages, the life of those painful feelings can be last for the long term (Smith & Williams K. D., 2004). Being excluded is painful because it threatens fundamental human needs, such as belonging and self-esteem, consequently sadness and anger increase (Williams K. D. , 2011). These effects inevitably emerge despite individual differences. The hypothesis is that being ignored causes the same reaction in people’s brain as physical pain. There are plenty of studies which have proven this hypothesis. In one study, the anterior insula and the anterior cingulate cortex of the participants were activated when they feel emotional pain same as physical pain. The subjects who had experienced recent social rejection were randomly assigned to take painkiller (acetaminophen) or placebo group for three weeks. As a result the participants in acetaminophen condition reported less hurt feelings in that three week period and it also observed that their anterior insula and the anterior cingulate cortex had shown less activation at the end of the treatment (Fogel, A., 2012). Based on this study we can observe the chemicals that release when people have physical pain and we can create a situation in which participants experience rejection such as romantically or just friendly to see if the same chemicals are observable during rejection. To conduct the experiment we can use PET scan and compare the results
References: Eisenberger, N. I. (2012). The pain of social disconnection: examining the shared neural underpinnings of physical and social pain. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 13(6), 421-434. Williams, K. D., & Nida, S. A. (2011). Ostracism consequences and coping.Current Directions in Psychological Science, 20(2), 71-75. Hsu, D. T., Sanford, B. J., Meyers, K. K., Love, T. M., Hazlett, K. E., Wang, H., ... & Zubieta, J. K. (2013). Response of the μ-opioid system to social rejection and acceptance. Molecular psychiatry, 18(11), 1211-1217.