Visualizing the mental representation of a "Good Doctor": testing its effects on pain modulation

This PhD project explores the influence of social stimuli, particularly facial cues, on pain perception and the potential for placebo hypoalgesia. The research bridges the gap between social modulation of pain and facial-appearance based inferences, aiming to understand these effects more deeply. In the first study, a group-level mental representation of a “good doctor” was developed using ratings and machine learning with an Italian sample. This model manipulated facial features to match perceived traits— ethnicity and perceived similarity, attractiveness, trustworthiness, familiarity and professional look/intelligence —highlighting its relevance to healthcare. The second study examined if this representation influences pain perception by reducing threat through familiarity inferences, considering genetic factors. Results showed modulation of pain intensity and unpleasantness by faces aligning with the “good doctor” representation, with genetic polymorphisms affecting the outcome. Study 3 focused on creating idiosyncratic models of the “good doctor” stereotype using generative models. These personalized models reflected participants' own stereotypes more accurately and were seen as more familiar, emphasizing intrinsic familiarity as crucial. The fourth study preliminarily assessed (N=30) whether idiosyncratic representations modulated pain perception more effectively than non-idiosyncratic ones. Preliminary findings, based on a small sample, confirm a significant modulation of the pain affective component, such as unpleasantness, particularly at the idiosyncratic level (between high and low representations). Overall, this project underlines the importance of facial cues as social signals influencing pain responses, contributing to theoretical insights and potentially guiding clinical interventions