WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.528 --> 00:00:03.945 (upbeat technical music) 2 00:00:08.810 --> 00:00:11.040 Imagine you get in a fight. 3 00:00:11.040 --> 00:00:11.963 line:15% A fist fight. 4 00:00:13.100 --> 00:00:16.523 line:15% Can you take a punch, and is that a good thing? 5 00:00:17.560 --> 00:00:19.270 My research explores this question 6 00:00:19.270 --> 00:00:21.763 by looking at both pain and aggression. 7 00:00:22.770 --> 00:00:26.150 So what is the relationship between pain and aggression? 8 00:00:26.150 --> 00:00:28.040 Well, previous research has shown 9 00:00:28.040 --> 00:00:30.900 that there is a relationship, that a person in pain 10 00:00:30.900 --> 00:00:33.333 is more likely to engage in aggressive behavior. 11 00:00:34.220 --> 00:00:36.230 But this explanation is a bit too simple. 12 00:00:36.230 --> 00:00:40.400 Because pain is a complex, multifaceted experience, 13 00:00:40.400 --> 00:00:42.350 with different components of the experience 14 00:00:42.350 --> 00:00:44.880 relating to aggression in different ways. 15 00:00:44.880 --> 00:00:49.130 So I asked, how might pain tolerance affect aggression? 16 00:00:49.130 --> 00:00:52.680 Taking a step further, how might pain tolerance 17 00:00:52.680 --> 00:00:54.450 play a role in the relationship 18 00:00:54.450 --> 00:00:56.450 between a history of aggression 19 00:00:56.450 --> 00:00:58.917 and current aggressive performance? 20 00:00:58.917 --> 00:01:01.090 To answer this, I analyzed data 21 00:01:01.090 --> 00:01:04.410 looking at a measure of lifetime history of aggression, 22 00:01:04.410 --> 00:01:06.850 and a measure of physical aggression, 23 00:01:06.850 --> 00:01:10.890 based on a task in a controlled laboratory setting. 24 00:01:10.890 --> 00:01:14.430 In this task, known as the Taylor Aggression Paradigm, 25 00:01:14.430 --> 00:01:17.570 80 participants engaged in 28 competitive 26 00:01:17.570 --> 00:01:21.700 reaction time trials against a fictitious opponent, 27 00:01:21.700 --> 00:01:23.680 with the participants winning 50% 28 00:01:23.680 --> 00:01:27.223 of the time, as pre-programed by the experimenter. 29 00:01:28.190 --> 00:01:30.470 The winner of each trial was allowed 30 00:01:30.470 --> 00:01:32.530 to administer an electric shock 31 00:01:32.530 --> 00:01:37.270 to the loser, with intensity ranging from zero to 10. 32 00:01:37.270 --> 00:01:39.270 With the level 10 shock corresponding 33 00:01:39.270 --> 00:01:41.440 with the participants' pain tolerance, 34 00:01:41.440 --> 00:01:43.543 determined before the start of the test. 35 00:01:44.470 --> 00:01:47.650 In addition, a level 20 shock was included, 36 00:01:47.650 --> 00:01:49.240 which was described to the participant 37 00:01:49.240 --> 00:01:52.700 to be twice the intensity of the level 10 shock, 38 00:01:52.700 --> 00:01:55.463 risking minor tissue damage for their opponent. 39 00:01:56.310 --> 00:01:58.723 This was used as a measure of aggression. 40 00:01:59.600 --> 00:02:01.470 And what our results indicated was that 41 00:02:01.470 --> 00:02:05.070 the relationship between life history aggression 42 00:02:05.070 --> 00:02:06.820 and current aggression was mediated 43 00:02:06.820 --> 00:02:08.320 by pain tolerance. 44 00:02:08.320 --> 00:02:10.760 Meaning that higher historic aggression 45 00:02:10.760 --> 00:02:12.670 predicted higher pain tolerance, 46 00:02:12.670 --> 00:02:14.913 which predicted higher current aggression. 47 00:02:16.490 --> 00:02:18.330 These findings and implications for both 48 00:02:18.330 --> 00:02:20.060 pain and aggression. 49 00:02:20.060 --> 00:02:22.700 So looking at aggression, you see 50 00:02:22.700 --> 00:02:25.240 things like broken relationships, 51 00:02:25.240 --> 00:02:28.460 domestic violence, workplace violence, 52 00:02:28.460 --> 00:02:31.210 all things that require effective interventions 53 00:02:31.210 --> 00:02:32.930 can be specifically tailored to the 54 00:02:32.930 --> 00:02:35.100 pain tolerance of the individual. 55 00:02:35.100 --> 00:02:36.970 And then looking at pain, you see 56 00:02:36.970 --> 00:02:39.080 things like the opioid epidemic, 57 00:02:39.080 --> 00:02:40.930 and how that might have implications 58 00:02:40.930 --> 00:02:43.880 for these drugs that increase pain tolerance 59 00:02:43.880 --> 00:02:46.143 might also be altering aggressive behavior. 60 00:02:47.260 --> 00:02:49.590 Ultimately, these findings afford us 61 00:02:49.590 --> 00:02:51.250 a better understanding of both pain 62 00:02:51.250 --> 00:02:53.990 management and aggression management, 63 00:02:53.990 --> 00:02:56.550 and how being able to take a punch 64 00:02:56.550 --> 00:02:58.920 might have more implications than we think. 65 00:02:58.920 --> 00:02:59.753 Thank you.