Social lunch -- Dr. Jonathan Kunstman, (Auburn University).

Social pain, operationalized as the distress and negative affect caused by aversive interpersonal experiences (e.g., exclusion, disrespect, unfairness) damages both mind and body (e.g., Jackson et al., 2006) and these hurtful experiences occur to members of culturally stigmatized groups more than culturally dominant groups (e.g., Williams & Mohammed, 2009). However, despite this asymmetry in social pain experiences, there is reason to predict that people will paradoxically believe that socially painful events hurt Black individuals less than White individuals. Specifically, beliefs that hardship has toughened Black individuals making them insensitive to physical pain may generalize to judgments of social pain (Hoffman & Trawalter, 2016). The current talk examines this primary hypothesis and presents evidence for antecedents, consequences, and boundary conditions for race-based biases in social pain (Studies 1-13). The talk will also highlight how race-based stereotypes related to toughness and pain insensitivity can contribute to feelings of social pain minimization and invalidation among Black Americans and the downstream negative mental health consequences of these experiences (Studies 14-15).