Personality and Pain Tolerance Measures

Abstract

In an attempt to resolve a controversy in the literature about the relation of extraversion to pain tolerance, a Hardy-Wolff-Goodell heat test and a cold-pressure test of pain tolerance were given to 60 female Ss who comprised two groups. Analysis of the data indicated that neither extraversion not neuroticism was significantly related to pain tolerance as measured by either heat or cold methods ( rs ranged from –.09 to .09). Introverted Ss were much more variable in their pain tolerance on the cold pressor test than extroverts.