理由：身体疼痛是人类最严重的经历之一。因此，它是最重要的理解之一。目的：本文报告了关于身体疼痛与经济状况之间联系的首次越野研究。研究的关键问题是社会中痛苦水平如何受到失业率的影响。方法：该研究使用了来自146个国家 /地区的合并横断面盖洛普数据。它估计控制个人特征的固定效果回归方程。结果：超过四分之一的世界公民处于身体痛苦中。繁荣时期的身体疼痛较低，经济不景气更大。估计效应尺寸是很大的。值得注意的是，疼痛的增加几乎完全由妇女承担，主要在富裕国家中发现。 These findings have paradoxical aspects. The counter-cyclicality of physical pain is not what would be predicted by conventional economic analysis: during an expansion, people typically work harder and longer, and accidents and injuries increase. Nor are the paper's results due to unemployed citizens experiencing more pain (although they do). Instead, the study's findings are consistent with an important hypothesis proposed recently, using different kinds of evidence, by brain and behavioural-science researchers such as Katja Wiech and Irene Tracey (2009) and Eileen Chou and colleagues (2016). The hypothesis is that economic worry can create physical pain. Conclusions: This study provides the first cross-country evidence that the level of physical pain in a nation depends on the state of the economy. Pain is high when the unemployment rate is high. That is not because of greater pain among people who lose their jobs -- it extends far beyond that into wider society. The increase in physical pain in a downturn is experienced disproportionately by women.