Pain can be influenced by its social context. We aimed to examine under controlled
experimental conditions how empathy from a partner and personal attachment style affect
pain report, tolerance, and facial expressions of pain. Fifty-four participants, divided into
secure, anxious, and avoidant attachment style groups, underwent a cold pressor task with
their partners present. We manipulated how much empathy the participants perceived that
their partners had for them. We observed a significant main effect of perceived empathy on�…