Racial bias in perceptions of children's pain.

Autor: Summers KM; Department of Psychology, University of Denver., Pitts S; Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham., Lloyd EP; Department of Psychology, University of Denver.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Journal of experimental psychology. Applied [J Exp Psychol Appl] 2024 Mar; Vol. 30 (1), pp. 135-155. Date of Electronic Publication: 2023 Sep 07.
DOI: 10.1037/xap0000491
Abstrakt: Across eight experiments, we investigated whether adult perceivers (both lay perceivers and elementary school teachers) evaluate children's pain differently depending on the child's race. We found evidence that adults varying in racial and ethnic identities (but primarily White) believed 4- to 6-year-old Black children felt less pain than 4- to 6-year-old White children (Experiments 1-7), and this effect was not moderated by child sex (Experiments 6-7). We also examined perceptions of life hardship as a mediator of this race-to-pain effect, finding that adults evaluated Black children as having lived harder lives and thus as feeling less pain than White children (Experiments 1-3). Finally, we examined downstream consequences for hypothetical treatment recommendations among samples of both lay perceivers and elementary school teachers. We found that adults' perceptions of pain sensitivity were linked with hypothetical pain treatment decisions (Experiments 5a-7). Thus, we consistently observed that adults' race-based pain stereotypes biased evaluations of 4- to 6-year-old children's pain and may influence pain care. This racial bias in evaluations of young children's pain has implications for psychological theory and equitable treatment of children's pain. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).
Databáze: MEDLINE