Kevin Pang
PSYC144: Psychobiology and Culture of Pain
Fall 2003
Final Project

Abstract

   For my final project, I researched the socioeconomic factors in pain. Specifically, I looked at how people of lower socioeconomic status perceive, express, and experience pain. I believe that socioeconomic status plays a huge role in how people look at, and react to, pain/illness in their lives. Unlike racial or cultural associations, socioeconomic status can be quantitatively measured, allowing us to develop more conclusive results. The tests we observed in class over the semester focused primarily on the cultural factors in pain. And while those tests were interesting, they often had difficulty accounting for discrepencies between a test subject's biological heritage and their preferred cultural association. Classifying people based on socioeconomic status removes that influence of personal opinion from the tests.

   In this web site I intend to show how the poor community experiences pain. I will explain why I believe the poor experience more pain than those higher up the socioeconomic ladder and why they are reluctant to reveal and obtain treatment for this pain.

Links

Hypothesis
Paper 1: Socioeconomic Variations in Responses to Chest Pain
Paper 2: Socioeconomic Status and Back Pain Disability
Paper 3: The Denial of Chronic Pain
Paper 4: Socioeconomic Status and Health
Conclusions
References

Powerpoint Presentation