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How Witnessing Pain Online Brings Us Together
New research on how collective attention to pain drives affiliation.
Pain is a universal experience, shared not only among human beings but also by members of the animal kingdom, and perhaps beyond. Pain can leave us isolated and feeling abandoned, but it can also bring us together.
As reported in a recent research paper in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology (Mitchell, Occhipinti, and Oaten, 2018), shared painful experiences build team cohesion and empathy. After a brief review of research on in-person shared pain, the researchers examine how collective attention to pain in online environments increases affiliation.
Birds of a Feather Hurt Together
One study among the many discussed by Mitchell, Occhipinti, and Oaten found that teammates who had shared a painfully spicy meal, compared with those who had not, had increased supportive interactions during a simulated work task, with subsequently increased creativity.
Social pain-which shares overlapping features with physical pain as far as the brain is concerned (the “social pain overlap theory” or “SPOT,” by Eisenberg and Lieberman, 2004)-similarly has been shown to increase empathy, and encourage cooperation and hard work on behalf of the…
