Figure 1.

Experimental design. Four different kinds of affective images (fear, disgust, happiness, neutral) were taken from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS). The cupping therapy images included images of several circular body areas with patches of redness, petechiae and ecchymoses, or bruising. Control images of body areas were matched as closely as possible for visual characteristics (e.g., colour, brightness, background scene). At the start of each trial, a fixation cross was displayed in the centre of the screen for 1000 ms. The fixation cross was followed by emotional stimuli, including IAPS and cupping therapy images, which were displayed for 2000 ms. After the presentation, participants were given 6000 ms to evaluate the valence and arousal level of each emotional stimulus. Using a computerised visual analogue scale, participants moved a button along a bar to indicate the valence or arousal value (valence: −5 = very unpleasant, 5= very pleasant; arousal: 0 = very calm, 100 = very aroused).