Objectives: Emotional states could affect sensitivity to pain through the descending nociceptive modulatory system. Drawing on the theory of unconscious nociceptive processing and the idea that ascending sensory signals could be unconscious due to the distraction of external events, this study examined whether boredom would increase sensitivity to pain by lowering pressure pain thresholds (PPTs) in four body locations (right m.trapezius; left m. trapezius; right m.tibialis anterior; left m.tibialis anterior) in pain-free individuals.

Methods: Pain-free individuals (n=114) were randomly assigned to three different mental state inductions (boring; humorous; control). Baseline PPTs were measured after an emotionally neutral video and induction PPTs were measured after each of the mental state inductions. Pre-validated videos were used for emotion induction, and a manipulation check was conducted at each test session.

Results: The results showed that boredom significantly lowered PPTs in all four body locations, with large effect sizes. Induced humor significantly elevated PPTs in the right and left m. trapezius, with moderate effect sizes.

Conclusions:It was concluded that boredom increases sensitivity to pain in healthy individuals. Whether this effect extends to clinical pain populations should be examined in future research due to its potential implications for the treatment of pain.

Construal-level theory (CLT) proposes that psychological distance influences the level of abstraction at which something is mentally construed: Things perceived as less probable (likelihood) or further away from the here (spatial distance), now (temporal distance), or self (social distance) are thought about more abstractly. In this international multilab study, we tested four basic hypotheses derived from core assumptions of CLT and explore potential moderators and boundary conditions of the effects. Participants (N = 11,775) from 27 countries and regions were randomly assigned to one of four experimental protocols focused on different types of psychological distance (temporal, spatial, social, or likelihood), and each experiment manipulated psychological distance (close vs. distant). The protocols for temporal distance (n = 2,941) and spatial distance (n = 2,973) were direct replications of Liberman and Trope (Study 1) and Fujita et al. (Study 1), respectively. The remaining two protocols were paradigmatic replications, applying to social distance (n = 2,926) and likelihood (n = 2,936). The effects of psychological distance on construal level for the four present studies were as follows (positive effects are consistent with hypotheses): temporal, d = 0.08, 95% confidence interval [CI] = [0.003, 0.16] (effect in original study: d = 0.92); spatial, d = 0.04, 95% CI = [-0.03, 0.11] (effect in original study: d = 0.55); social, d = -0.27, 95% CI = [-0.34, -0.19]; and likelihood, d = 0.03, 95% CI = [-0.05, 0.11]. Pretests indicated that valence and abstraction were confounded in response options on the outcome measure. Controlling for this confound eliminated the hypothesis-inconsistent effect of social distance, d = 0.006, 95% CI = [-0.05, 0.07]. These findings provide limited evidence for the predictions of the theory and present a critical challenge for CLT.

Background: Discrimination and inequities in healthcare have gained increased attention worldwide. Although many healthcare systems strive to provide equal care, evidence indicates that treatment can be influenced by patient characteristics such as gender, age, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. In particular, research exploring healthcare professionals’ perceptions on equality in acute, life-threatening conditions remains limited. This study aimed to describe Swedish healthcare professionals’ perceptions of unequal and equal care when treating patients with cardiac arrest.

Methods: The study adopted a qualitative inductive design, using semi-structured interviews with 12 physicians and nurses who work in acute care clinics in Sweden. Data were analysed using thematic analysis.

Results: The overarching theme, “Equal care under pressure—guided by principles, shaped by context”, captured how professionals perceive the provision of cardiopulonary resuscitation (CPR) during sudden cardiac arrest as fundamentally equal. CPR was described as an automatic, protocol-driven intervention offered to all patients, reinforcing the principle of equality and without any clear discrimination based on ethnicity, gender, or socioeconomic background. However, equality in practice was nuanced. Decision-making about CPR introduce ethical complexity, particularly for older patients from whom prognostic uncertainty and emotional factors could influence care. Team competence was critical for maintaining equity under pressure, while contextual factors such as location, cultural norms, and safety concerns could delay or complicate treatment. Finally, professionals emphasize the need for structured reflection, recognizing its role in learning and ethical decision-making. Together, these findings illustrate that while CPR was guided by principles of equal care, its delivery was shaped by clinical judgment, team dynamics, and situational realities.

Conclusions: Healthcare professionals perceive cardiac arrest care as predominantly equal. However, subtle vulnerabilities challenge this perception. Older age emerged as the most influential factor in CPR decisions, raising concerns about potential ageism and the need for clearer Do Not Attempt Resuscitation (DNAR) criteria and patient involvement. Promoting equality requires team competence, structured reflection, and proactive communication about resuscitation preferences. Further research should examine age, multimorbidity, psychiatric illness, DNAR practices, and gender differences to strengthen equity in cardiac arrest care.

Previous research suggests that gender shapes how liberals and conservatives are perceived in terms of stereotype content. However, whether these tendencies extend to discrimination against job applicants who express a dissimilar political affiliation is yet to be examined. We conducted a preregistered online experiment with Democrats and Republicans (N= 1684) to examine whether applicant affiliation interacts with gender to produce discrimination and stereotyping of political opponents, focusing on hiring judgments, willingness to cooperate and socialize with the applicant, and perceptions of warmth and competence. Besides replicating previous findings of substantial discrimination against political opponents, the results revealed that for hiring judgments and willingness to cooperate and socialize, political affiliation interacted with gender. Specifically, the tendency to discriminate against applicants with an opposing political affiliation was stronger when the applicants were men rather than women. These findings have implications for understanding discrimination and stereotyping in personnel selection.

Pain is self-immersive, leading to a narrow, egocentric focus on the self in the here and now. Preliminary evidence suggests that distancing oneself from the pain can reduce experimentally induced pain. The primary aim of this experimental study was to examine whether a hitherto unexplored, simple self-distancing strategy – “third-person self-talk” – has an analgesic effect on physiological and psychological pain variables. Participants (N = 292) were randomly assigned to one of four conditions (third-person self-talk, first-person self-talk, and two control conditions). Pain was induced with a cold pressor apparatus and pain tolerance, pain intensity, negative affect and blood pressure were measured for each group. While in pain, participants engaged in strategic self-talk aided by cue-cards. Data were analyzed with univariate planned comparisons. Few significant differences emerged for the third-person self-talk versus the other conditions. It is concluded that third-person self-talk does not seem to have a meaningful effect on physiological and psychological pain variables, although a small effect size could not be ruled out. Practical implications are discussed.

Aim: Self-reported cognitive function has been described as an important complement to performance-based measurements but has seldom been investigated in cardiac arrest (CA) survivors. Therefore, the aim was to describe self-reported cognitive function and its association with health status, psychological distress, and life satisfaction.

Methods: This study utilised data from the Swedish Register of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (2018–2021), registered 3–6 months post-CA. Cognitive function was assessed by a single question: “How do you experience your memory, concentration, and/or planning abilities today compared to before the cardiac arrest?”. Health status was measured using the EQ VAS, psychological distress with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and overall life satisfaction with the Life Satisfaction checklist. Data were analysed using binary logistic regression.

Results: Among 4026 identified survivors, 1254 fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The mean age was 65.9 years (SD = 13.4) and 31.7% were female. Self-reported cognitive function among survivors was reported as: ‘Much worse’ by 3.1%, ‘Worse’ by 23.8%, ‘Unchanged’ by 68.3%, ‘Better’ by 3.3%, and ‘Much better’ by 1.5%. Declined cognitive function was associated with lower health status (OR = 2.76, 95% CI = 2.09–3.64), symptoms of anxiety (OR = 3.84, 95% CI = 2.80–5.24) and depression (OR = 4.52, 95% CI = 3.22–6.32), and being dissatisfied with overall life (OR = 2.74, 95% CI = 2.11–3.54). These associations remained significant after age, sex, place of CA, aetiology, initial rhythm, initial witnessed status, and cerebral performance were controlled.

Conclusions: Survivors experiencing declined cognitive function post-CA are at a higher risk of poorer health status, increased psychological distress, and reduced life satisfaction, and these risks should be acknowledged by healthcare professionals.

Theories on stereotype content suggest that job applicants should be perceived as more hireable when they belong to a social group whose stereotype content matches that of the occupation. However, few experimental studies have examined matching effects from the perspective of the stereotype content model (SCM; Fiske et al. 2002), simultaneously focusing on the combination of multiple social categories. This survey experiment examines whether matching occurs at the intersection of gender and sexual orientation, which gives rise to different warmth and competence stereotype content profiles according to the SCM. Similarly, matching is examined in relation to occupations characterized by different warmth and competence profiles. Participants consisted of 1,563 employees recruited through Prolific. They were asked to assess job suitability for (otherwise identical) gay and straight male and female jobseekers who had ostensibly submitted letters of interest for positions belonging to occupations whose stereotype content matched (e.g., personal assistant) or were opposite (e.g., accountant) of that, of the job-seeker’s social group (e.g., gay men). The results yielded no support for a matching effect. Instead, gay applicants received more positive evaluations regardless of gender and occupation. Field experimental research on actual hiring decisions is needed to examine whether the lack of matching effect is replicated in the real labor market.

BackgroundResearch on ethnic and socioeconomic treatment differences following in-hospital cardiac arrest (IHCA) largely draws on register data. Due to the correlational nature of such data, it cannot be concluded whether detected differences reflect treatment bias/discrimination – whereby otherwise identical patients are treated differently solely due to sociodemographic factors. To be able to establish discrimination, experimental research is needed.ObjectiveThe primary aim of this experimental study was to examine whether simulated IHCA patients receive different treatment recommendations based on ethnicity and socioeconomic status (SES), holding all other factors (e.g., health status) constant. Another aim was to examine health care professionals’ (HCP) stereotypical beliefs about these groups.MethodsHCP (N = 235) working in acute care made anonymous treatment recommendations while reading IHCA clinical vignettes wherein the patient's ethnicity (Swedish vs. Middle Eastern) and SES had been manipulated. Afterwards they estimated to what extent hospital staff associate these patient groups with certain traits (stereotypes).ResultsNo significant differences in treatment recommendations for Swedish versus Middle Eastern or high versus low SES patients were found. Reported stereotypes about Middle Eastern patients were uniformly negative. SES-related stereotypes, however, were mixed. High SES patients were believed to be more competent (e.g., respected), but less warm (e.g., friendly) than low SES patients.ConclusionsSwedish HCP do not seem to discriminate against patients with Middle Eastern or low SES backgrounds when recommending treatment for simulated IHCA cases, despite the existence of negative stereotypes about these groups. Implications for health care equality and quality are discussed.

Whether people think less abstractly when they experience physical pain has been examined in previous research. However, the reverse causal possibility—that abstraction reduces sensitivity to painful stimuli—does not appear to have been empirically tested. The aim of this study was to investigate whether abstraction reduces sensitivity to painful stimuli. Using the cold pressor method, university students (N = 205) were exposed to experimental pain. Participants were randomly assigned to an abstract mindset, concrete mindset, cognitive distraction (control task), or no task (control) condition. As a manipulation of abstraction, participants focused on why they felt pain (abstract condition) versus how they felt pain (concrete condition). Pain endurance and pain intensity were evaluated. The abstract mindset condition did not show significantly lower pain sensitivity compared with the other experimental conditions. We found no evidence suggesting that abstract thinking would reduce pain sensitivity. The effectiveness of other techniques that induce abstraction, such as third-person (versus first-person) self-talk should be examined in future research. Since experimentally induced pain in healthy participants differs from clinical pain, whether abstract thinking may reduce pain sensitivity in chronic pain patients should also be examined.

Background: Studies investigating sex disparities related to treatment and outcome of in-hospital cardiac arrest (IHCA) have produced divergent findings and have typically been unable to adjust for outstanding confounding variables.

Objectives: The aim was to examine sex differences in treatment and survival following IHCA, using a comprehensive set of control variables including e.g., age, comorbidity, and patient-level socioeconomic status. Methods: This retrospective study was based on data from the Swedish Register of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Statistics Sweden. In the primary analyses, logistic regression models and ordinary least square regressions were estimated.

Results: The study included 24,217 patients and the majority (70.4%) were men. In the unadjusted analyses, women had a lower chance of survival after cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) attempt, at hospital discharge (with good neurological function) and at 30 days (p<0.01). In the adjusted regression models, female sex was associated with a higher chance of survival after the CPR attempt (B = 1.09, p<0.01) and at 30-days (B = 1.09, p<0.05). In contrast, there was no significant association between sex and survival to discharge with good neurological outcome. Except for treatment duration (B=-0.07, p<0.01), no significant associations between sex and treatment were identified.

Conclusions: No signs of treatment disparities or discrimination related to sex were identified. However, women had a better chance of surviving IHCA compared to men. The finding that women went from having a survival disadvantage (unadjusted analysis) to a survival advantage (adjusted analysis) attests to the importance of including a comprehensive set of control variables, when examining sex differences.