Answer:
B. high hopes of success induced high levels of cortisol.
Step-by-step explanation:
A large body of evidence is dedicated to elucidating the relationship between pain and stress. Numerous prospective studies have reported baseline anxiety scores to be significant predictors of pain, depression, and a reduced quality of life. Importantly, pain itself is a stressor, and a maladaptive response to acute pain may intensify the pain experience and condition a sensitized physiologic stress response to pain-provoking stimuli. Exaggerated, prolonged, or recurrent activation of a sensitized stress response to pain or non–pain-related stressors may initiate or exacerbate pain and disability. Although the relationship between pain and stress is widely accepted, the underlying neuroendocrine mechanisms involved are less understood.