A study published in Psychological Science and carried out by psychological scientist Brock Bastian of the University of Queensland, Australia explores bodily pain and psychological consequences.

Each young man and woman in the group were recruited and told that they were taking part in a study on mental and physical acuity. The study group consisted of young men and women. The control group wrote about a routine event in their lives. The study group was told to write about a time in their lives when they had ostracized someone, with the intent that the memories would serve to make them feel guilty.Afterward, some of both the control group and the study group were instructed to hold their hand in a bucket of ice water as long as they could. Others held their hand in a bucket of warm water and all were then asked to rate their pain levels.

The premise was that those who had experienced guilt (the study group) would hold their hands in the ice water longer and also feel more pain, both of which served to be true in the study. Additionally, the study also showed that experiencing the pain reduced their feelings of guilt more than those who experienced the (painless) warm water. For more information about this study and the implications for psychological nuances in regards to pain and guilt please visit http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/218658.php.