Cleansing the Soul by Hurting the Flesh
研究了人们为何在感到内疚时更愿意承受身体疼痛，以及疼痛体验能否减轻内疚感，对理解自我惩罚的心理机制有启发。
Pain purifies. History is replete with examples of ritualized or self-inflicted pain aimed at achieving purification (Glucklich, 2001). Some people feel that they can achieve reparation for their sins by simply experiencing pain; this may be why seeking self-punishment is a basic response to feelings of guilt (Freud, 1916/1957; Nelissen & Zeelenberg, 2009). Why are pain and suffering believed to serve as atonement for sin? One reason may be that the experience of physical pain alleviates feelings of guilt associated with immoral behavior (Tangney, Stuewig, & Mashek, 2007). There has been very little research on the psychological benefits of experiencing pain. We tested two hypotheses relating to when and why people are likely to be motivated to experience pain—that people should be more motivated to subject themselves to a painful experience when they are reminded of their own immoral deeds, and that the experience of pain should reduce feelings of guilt.