This study examined the relationship between personality traits, pain tolerance, and exercise frequency in 97 undergraduate college students. Participants completed questionnaires on personality and exercise habits and a cold pressor task to measure pain tolerance. The study found no significant correlations between pain tolerance and personality traits like extraversion or neuroticism. There were also no significant correlations found between exercise frequency and pain tolerance or personality traits. The lack of significant findings may be due to limited variability in exercise habits and a lack of competitive athletes in the study population. Future research with a wider range of athletic abilities is needed to better understand connections between personality, pain tolerance, and athleticism.

1. Jenna Hamza, Marlene Torres, Lily Trinh
Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Care
Michelle A. Fortier, PhD
Personality, Pain Tolerance and Athleticism
in College Students
Introduction
•Pain tolerance has been associated both with athleticism and personality constructs such as
extraversion, low cooperativeness and high reward dependence, coping strategy and even to the
occurrence of traumatic childhood events.1,2,3,4,5,6
•The implication that athletes put themselves at a higher risk for injury lends itself to the benefits of
linking personality and pain experience.
•Injury rehabilitation would be made quicker and more effective if physicians were able to tailor
recovery programs in order to target unique personality types. It would also allow us to pinpoint at-risk
groups for chronic pain conditions, which have become increasingly prevalent among athletes in
recent years.5,7
•The primary aim of the present study was to examine the relationship between personality
dimensions, pain tolerance, and exercise frequency (EF) in a college-level population.
•We expected exercise frequency to be positively correlated with pain tolerance, extraversion, and
internal locus of control.
Abstract
High pain tolerance has been associated with athleticism and personality constructs; however these
associations have not previously been examined in a college population. The aim of this study was to
examine the role of locus of control, personality constructs, athleticism and pain tolerance in a sample
of college undergraduates. It was hypothesized that exercise frequency would be positively correlated
with pain tolerance, extraversion, and internal locus of control. Participants completed the cold pressor
task (CPT), in which the non-dominant hand was submerged in continuously circulating 4°C water.
Researchers obtained 0-10 pain ratings every 30 seconds and at the time of removal. Participants
included 97 UC Irvine students (24 male, 73 female), 20.55 ± 1.99 years of age, and reported a
median of 3.00 (4.50) hours of exercise per week. Pain tolerance (time to hand removal) was 85.72 ±
8.63 seconds and average pain score at time of removal was 8.01 ± 1.95. Nonparametric and
correlational analyses were calculated to determine the effect of several predictors (exercise
frequency, locus of control, extraversion, psychoticism, neuroticism) on pain tolerance. Analyses did
not support our hypotheses and no significant associations between variables were found. It is
possible the lack of findings reflected limited variability in exercise frequency and intensity in our
population. Future research including a wider range of athletic ability is warranted to better understand
potential associations between personality, pain, and athleticism.
References
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65-73). Ann Arbur, MI: McNaughton & Gunn.
Methods
Participants
97 undergraduate students were recruited from the UCI School of Social Science Research
Participation Pool via SONA Systems Ltd. and were compensated ½ unit of extra credit for every 30
minutes of participation in the study.
Procedure
•Questionnaires: demographic information, exercise frequency, Revised Eysenck Personality
Questionnaire (EPQ-R), Locus of Control (LOC)
•Experimental Pain Task: experimental pain was measured by a cold pressor task (CPT) in which
participants submerged their non-dominant hand up to the wrist in a commercial chiller filled with
recirculating 4°C water (Figure 2) until they could no longer withstand the pain or until they reached the
4 minute uninformed ceiling. Hand temperature was normalized for two minutes in 20°C water. Pain
tolerance was recorded as time to removal in seconds (in 4°C water). Pain scores of 0-10 were taken
every 30 seconds and at the time of hand removal.8,9,10
Statistical Analysis
Analyses were performed using SPSS 21.0. Independent t-tests tested for correlations between
exercise frequency and pain tolerance. Non-parametric tests were run to determine correlations
between pain tolerance and personality traits.
Table 1. Participant Demographics
Table 2. Average Pain Tolerance (sec to removal) by
Eysenck Personality Traits
Figure 2. The Cold Pressor Pain Task
Results
•Demographic data are presented in Table 1 and race and ethnicity data in Figure 1.
•As seen in table 2, participants with a low neuroticism index, on average, had CPT times of 25.2
seconds more than those with a high neuroticism index. Participants with a high psychoticism
index averaged CPT times of 15.42 seconds more than those with a lower psychoticism index.
Participants on either end of the extraversion scale (high or low) reported similar average times
in the CPT. These results were not statistically significant (p>0.05).
•Table 3 and Figure 3 show that, when comparing CPT times (pain tolerance) with exercise
frequency, participants that exercised more had higher average pain tolerance. However, these
results were not statistically significant (p>0.05).
Acknowledgements
Michelle Fortier, PhD, Zeev Kain, PhD, Eva Maurer, Brooke Gentle, Robert Stevenson Ariana Martinez
Age (M+SD) 20.55 + 1.99
Year in School (M+SD) 2.79 + 1.12
Exercise Frequency (median, IQR; hr/wk) 3.00 (4.50)
Pain Tolerance (M+SD; seconds to hand removal) 85.72 + 8.63
Pain Score at Time of Removal (M+SD) 8.01 + 1.95
Low High
Neuroticism 92.49 67.23
Extraversion 85.43 85.96
Psychoticism 76.98 92.40
Conclusion
•Future research including a wider range of athletic abilities (competitive/elite athletes and
sedentary individuals) is warranted to better understand potential associations between
personality, pain, and athleticism. Results could be compared with data on alternate populations
to determine whether pain and personality relationships are consistent across varied groups.
•No conclusions can be drawn from the present study that may be helpful in rehabilitation or in
regards to groups at risk for chronic pain conditions.
Figure 1. Race and Ethnicity
Pain Tolerance (sec to removal) < 3 minutes 3-4 minutes
Hours of Exercise per Week
Mean (SD)
4.69 (4.74) 5.48 (5.78)
Figure 3. Density Curve of Exercise Frequency (hrs/wk) Based On
Pain Tolerance (sec to removal)
Table 3. Average Exercise Frequency Versus Pain Tolerance
(sec to removal)
Discussion
•Analyses did not support our hypotheses that exercise frequency would be positively correlated
with pain tolerance, extraversion, and internal locus of control.
•Lack of findings could be as a result of exercise frequency being self-reported rather than
measured in terms of physical fitness or another means of athleticism.
•Furthermore, the population consisted entirely of non-athletes at UC Irvine: they did not play
club sports nor were they part of the UC Irvine Athletics program. Therefore, although median EF
was three hours per week (i.e. one hour three days a week), it is possible that if the intensity of
this self-reported exercise were taken into consideration, the variability would look much
different.
•Previous studies that have shown an association between pain tolerance and athleticism2 or
athleticism and personality constructs4 made the distinction between athletes and non-athletes
by categorizing the former as those who participated in competitive or elite sports. Because of
limited data variability in the present study, EF was dichotomized into the bottom 25 percent (low
EF) and the top 75 percent (high EF), or groups of less than 1.75 hours per week and 1.75 hours
and above. Thus, the data cannot be accurately compared to previous studies that recruited
competitive or elite athletes for high EF.