Does a Manipulation of Socioeconomic Status Influence One's Susceptibility to the Nocebo Effect (2015)

Undergraduate: Katelyn Jones

Faculty Advisor: Keith Payne
Department: Psychology & Neuroscience

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Because individuals with low socioeconomic status (SES) are exposed to greater stressors and perceive having more limited resources, they may be far more susceptible to the nocebo effect than individuals with higher SES. The nocebo effect is a negative reaction to the suggestion that a person may feel negatively, despite no environmental reason why this suggestion alone should induce a negative state. We examined the effects of a nocebo suggestion and social status on health symptoms. After administering our nocebo¿¿¿a suggestion that the lab environment was potentially harmful¿¿¿we manipulated participants¿¿¿ subjective social status. We then examined health symptoms. Our results indicated that being low in subjective SES caused greater health symptoms. However we did not find any differences in health symptoms caused by the nocebo, nor did we find an interaction between our nocebo and subjective SES. Overall, the findings provide unique insight into the nature of SES and the nocebo effect, and the implications of the findings are discussed.