SOCIAL MODELING, MONETARY INCENTIVES, AND PAIN ENDURANCE - THE ROLE OF SELF-EFFICACY AND PAIN PERCEPTION

The present experiment investigated the effects of social modeling and monetary incentives on pain endurance as mediated by sel-efficacy and pain perception. Using a 3 x 3 factorial design that crossed three le vels of modeling (tolerant, no model, intolerant) with three rates of pay ($0, $1, and $2 per 20 s), 90 males performed an isometric exercis e. Social modeling affected pain endurance, pain threshold, pain inten sity, physiological strain, and self-efficacy; money had no effects. E xposure to intolerant models led participants to detect pain immediate ly and to rapidly perceive extreme pain producing low endurance. Those who saw tolerant models took longer to feel pain and experienced only a gradual increase in pain enabling them to endure longer. Self-effic acy did not mediate these effects. Structural equation analyses showed that the effects of social modeling on endurance work through percept ions of pain.