(Ohio University)
https://www.ohio.edu/cas/mischkow
Looking Closer at the Subjective Nature of Pain: A Multi-Method Approach
Physical pain – we all have experienced it and most of us try to avoid it. Fortunately, physical pain is not just an inevitable, reflexive physiological response but highly modifiable by psychological factors. Returning to my old stomping grounds, I will showcase my postdoctoral research program aimed at (a) probing how subjective aspects of pain may drive the autonomic threat response to pain, and (b) testing dispositional mindfulness as a psychological factor that alleviates the subjective pain response – at least when pain is assessed in hindsight. Together, these findings highlight that a lot of pain is “in the mind” and emphasize the pain-relieving potential for social-psychological interventions aimed at reducing psychological distress.
The colloquium will be held in Psychology Building 035.