Perfectionism, Perceived Stress, and Pain Sensitivity in Asian and White College Students (2008)

Undergraduates: Ellen Ji, Michael Addamo Beth Mechlin

Faculty Advisor: Beth Mechlin
Department: Psychology & Neuroscience

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The purpose of this study is to examine differences between non-Hispanic Whites (nHWs) and Asians in the relationship between perfectionism (PERF), perceived stress (PS), and pain sensitivity. The final study will consist of 30 Asian (50% female) and 30 nHW (50% female) healthy individuals; however, the results in this abstract represent data collected from 16 Asians and 27 nHWs. Participants filled out questionnaires assessing PERF and PS and then underwent a hand cold pressor pain testing (CP) procedure. The participant put his/her hand in a cooler of ice water (4°C) and indicated when s/he was no longer willing or able to tolerate the pain. There were no ethnic or gender differences in PERF (Fs(1, 42) = 0.01 to 0.05, ps < .80). For PS there was a main effect of gender (F(1, 42) = 6.44, p < .05); however, there was also a gender x ethnic interaction (F(1, 42) = 5.05, p < .05), since Asian females reported more PS than Asian males, but there was not a gender difference in reports of stress for nHWs. There were no ethnic or gender differences in CP pain tolerance. Higher levels of both PS (r = -.40, p < .05) and PERF (r = -.49, p < .01) were associated with lower CP tolerance in the nHWs but not the Asians. There were no relationships between PERF and PS for either ethnic group. However, these results should be considered preliminary since our sample of Asians is not large enough to draw conclusions at this point in time.