A new study links a dominant posture to better tolerance of pain and a submissive posture to higher pain sensitivity, according to report by PsychCentral.
Researchers at the University of Southern California and the University of Toronto found that by simply adopting more dominant poses, subjects felt more in control and are thus more able to tolerate distress. Conversely, subjects adopting submissive poses in response to someone's dominant pose showed a lower tolerance of pain.
To alleviate the pain, researchers suggested that caregivers should take a more submissive position and surrender control to patients who are about to undergo a painful procedure.
Read the PsychCentral report on pain tolerance.
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