Comment by spfzero
4 years ago
You have to suspect that the underlying reason people are taking a pain reliever in the first place also makes them less empathetic to others. That could even be a larger effect than the one found in the study.
Understand that's controlled for in the OA, just mentioning another aspect in real-life situations.
In this experiment participants didn't get to choose whether they would get paracetamol or not, so that shouldn't be a factor.
Right, I mentioned it was controlled for. I meant people not in a study, that are in pain, being less empathetic to others.
The study showed that people taking this drug became less empathetic, due to the drug, not the pain. I'm saying there is an additional consideration based on experiencing pain, that you then may or may not take drugs for, but that has its own effect.
Are you saying that you think people who want relief from their own pain are people who have reduced empathy toward others?
It might be that just being in pain yourself can lower your empathy. For example your body could raise pain threshold a bit so it's easier for you to suffer your pain which could cause empathetic pain not to register at all.