Imagine, you can eliminate pain with one simple thought. The famous philosopher William James once said “Pessimism leads to weakness, optimism leads to power.” But is it actually that easy? Yes, it is.
Buckingham and Richardson (2020) did research about pain threshold, tolerance and optimism. 62 healthy students from the University of Montevallo participated in this study. First, the participants filled in a questionnaire about their level of resilience. After the questionnaire, researchers used the cold pressor test, a bucket with extremely cold water. The participants had to place one hand in this cold water to induce pain. The lower the temperature of the water, the higher the pain threshold of the participant.
They discovered that the optimistic participants had a higher tolerance and pain threshold compared to the less optimistic of pessimistic participants. This finding indicates that being more optimistic leads to a higher pain threshold and tolerance.
Thus, with more optimism in life, life will be easier!
“Optimism is essential to achievement and it is also the foundation of courage and true progress.” ~ Nicholas Murray Butler
Reference: Buckingham, A., Richardson, E.J. The Relationship Between Psychological Resilience and Pain Threshold and Tolerance: Optimism and Grit as Moderators. J Clin Psychol Med Settings (2020). https://doi-org.ezproxy.ub.unimaas.nl/10.1007/s10880-020-09731-7