ArticleAnnals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine2023
Socially Acquired Nocebo Effects Generalize but Are Not Attenuated by Choice.
Article in Annals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Investigating whether socially acquired nocebo effects can spread to other treatments.Scientific reports · 2025Trial
- Cholecystokinin input from the anterior cingulate cortex to the lateral periaqueductal gray mediates nocebo pain behavior in mice.Nature communications · 2026Article
- The "Are You OK?" Paradox: A Scoping Review of Nocebo and Negative Suggestion in Healthcare Communication.Dentistry journal · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundSocially observing a negative treatment-related experience has been shown to modulate our own experience with the same intervention, leading to worsened health outcomes. However, whether this social learning generalizes to similar but distinct interventions has not been explored nor what manipulations can reduce these effects. PURPOSE: To determine whether socially acquired nocebo effects can be generated by observing a negative experience with a similar, but distinct intervention, and whether choice can reduce these effects.
methodsAcross three experiments, a community sample of healthy adults (N = 336) either watched a confederate report cybersickness to the same Virtual Reality (VR) activity they were assigned to (Social Modeling: Consistent); a similar, but different VR activity (Social Modeling: Inconsistent); or did not view the confederate (No Social Modeling). Participants were either given choice over the VR (Choice) or assigned by the experimenter (No Choice).
resultsAcross the experiments, there was significantly greater cybersickness in both Social Modeling groups relative to No Social Modeling, while the two Social Modeling groups did not differ. There was no significant effect of Choice or a Choice by Social Modeling interaction. Social Modeling elicited greater anxiety and expectancies for cybersickness. Furthermore, these mechanisms mediated the association between social modeling and cybersickness.
conclusionsSocially acquired side-effects were demonstrated to generalize to similar, but distinct interventions, highlighting the diffuse and robust effect social modeling can have on our experiences. However, choice did not attenuate the experience of cybersickness, highlighting the need for alternative methods to counteract the effect of social modeling.
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Registered trials
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