Those who had written about immoral behaviour rated the ice-bucket experience at an average of 2.8 on the pain scale.

ECONOMIST: Religion got it right: pain seems to assuage guilt

Dr Bastian reports in Psychological Science that those who wrote about immoral behaviour exposed themselves to the ice for an average of 86.7 seconds whereas those who had written about everyday experiences exposed themselves for an average of only 64.4.

ECONOMIST: Religion got it right: pain seems to assuage guilt