ArticleNature human behaviour2019
Socially transmitted placebo effects.
Article in Nature human behaviour, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 52 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
52 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Pooled it
- Long-lasting effect of penetrating acupuncture among responders: Double-blind RCT of acupuncture for vulvodynia.The journal of pain · 2026Trial
- Independent effects of transcranial direct current stimulation and social influence on pain.Pain · 2025Trial
- Imaginary pills and open-label placebos can reduce test anxiety by means of placebo mechanisms.Scientific reports · 2023Trial
- Neural Signatures of Pain Modulation in Short-Term and Long-Term Mindfulness Training: A Randomized Active-Control Trial.The American journal of psychiatry · 2022Trial
- Intravenous vortioxetine to accelerate onset of effect in major depressive disorder: a 7-day randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled exploratory study.International clinical psychopharmacology · 2020Trial
- Trial
- Resolving temporal threat uncertainty by observational learning involves the amygdala, hippocampus and anterior insula.Translational psychiatry · 2026Article
- When emergency physicians meet patients displaying irritable behaviours: a randomised vignette-based experiment investigating physicians' emotions and clinical reasoning.BMJ quality & safety · 2026Article
- Reframing the Performance and Ethics of Empathic AI: Wisdom of the Crowd and Placebos.Perspectives on psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science · 2026Article
- Therapeutic mechanisms of acupuncture therapy for acute pain in the emergency department.Integrative medicine research · 2026Review
- The Impact of Rosenthal Effect-Based Psychological Nursing on Psychological State, Self-Efficacy, and Quality of Life in Patients Undergoing Total Hysterectomy for Uterine Fibroids: A Randomized Controlled Trial.International journal of women's health · 2026Article
- Efficacy of Rebox Electrotherapy in Pain Management: A Randomized Double-Blind Sham-Controlled Crossover Trial.Pain and therapy · 2025Article
- Chinese dental students' knowledge, attitudes, and practice regarding traumatic dental injuries in immature permanent teeth.BMC medical education · 2025Article
- Indigenous Epistemological Frameworks and Evidence-Informed Approaches to Consciousness and Body Representations in Osteopathic Care: A Call for Academic Engagement.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Artificial Empathy in Therapy and Healthcare: Advancements in Interpersonal Interaction Technologies.Cyborg and bionic systems (Washington, D.C.) · 2025Review
- Open-Label-Placebos can reduce pain, but not indigestion during gluten challenge in chronic pain patients.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
- Epistemological Flexibility in Person-Centered Care: The Cynefin Framework for (Re)Integrating Indigenous Body Representations in Manual Therapy.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Updating beliefs about pain following advice: Trustworthiness of social advice predicts pain expectations and experience.Cognition · 2024Article
- Interpersonal physiological and psychological synchrony predict the social transmission of nocebo hyperalgesia between individuals.Communications psychology · 2024Article
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Medical treatments typically occur in the context of a social interaction between healthcare providers and patients. Although decades of research have demonstrated that patients' expectations can dramatically affect treatment outcomes, less is known about the influence of providers' expectations. Here we systematically manipulated providers' expectations in a simulated clinical interaction involving administration of thermal pain and found that patients' subjective experiences of pain were directly modulated by providers' expectations of treatment success, as reflected in the patients' subjective ratings, skin conductance responses and facial expression behaviours. The belief manipulation also affected patients' perceptions of providers' empathy during the pain procedure and manifested as subtle changes in providers' facial expression behaviours during the clinical interaction. Importantly, these findings were replicated in two more independent samples. Together, our results provide evidence of a socially transmitted placebo effect, highlighting how healthcare providers' behaviour and cognitive mindsets can affect clinical interactions.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.