The effects of experimenter gender on pain report in male and female subjects

An experiment was conducted that investigated the effect of experimenter gender on the report of pain of male and female subjects. In order to evoke gender-related motives, experimenters were selected for their attractiveness. Subjects were asked to rate cold pressor pain in front of either a male or female experimenter. The results indicated that males reported significantly less pain in front of a female experimenter than a male experimenter. The difference in female subjects was not significant although they tended to report higher pain to the male experimenter.