### Shared pain solidifies social bonds > Recently, psychologists have started paying more attention to the function of pain in social relationships and specifically, in a pro-social (as opposed to anti-social) society. In 2014, Dr. Brock Bastian, a psychologist at the University of Melbourne in Australia, conducted a series of experiments designed to examine the question of whether painful experiences can promote social bonding. In one, he asked groups of strangers to hold their hands in icy water for as long as possible, hold a series of leg squats, and eat hot chili peppers. He found that groups that shared painful challenges were more cooperative during an economic game, as compared to those who didn’t go through the painful experiences. His lab’s conclusion was that shared painful experiences can solidify social bonds and can also create trust between people who don’t know each other at all—some of the participants even exchanged contact information after the experiment ended. > > In some ways, it seems like the more extreme the painful ritual, the more deeply felt the pro-social benefits. A 2013 study observing the Hindu festival of Thaipusam on the island of Mauritius—which involves celebrants piercing their ears, and the skin on their face, chest, and back, with skewers—found that not only did the people participating in the ritual donate more to the temple after their ordeal than people who didn’t, but people who watched also gave more. Researchers concluded, “Overall, extreme rituals appear to amplify pro-social attitudes and behaviors, and direct or empathic experiences of pain may be the link connecting these ordeals to pro-sociality.” In 2017, another field study examining similar religious rituals found that moral behavior increased among those watching painful and extreme rituals, suggesting that the rituals had “moral cleansing effect on the numerous individuals observing the rituals, which may imply that these rituals evolved to advance and maintain moral societies.” Reminds me of the [[age-sets]] phenomenon and military hazing. - [[Why Walking on Legos Hurts More Than Walking on Fire or Ice#Shared pain solidifies social bonds|View in Vault]]