A substantial number of recent investigations have focused upon the role of psychological factors (such as coping strategies) in mediating the experience of pain. One goal of this research has been to identify strategies that are particularly effective or ineffective in enabling persons to tolerate nociceptive stimulation. Although research in this direction appears promising, the field has lacked an adequate means for quantitatively comparing and contrasting strategies that persons actually use. The current studies were undertaken to describe empirically the latent dimensions along which subjects perceive coping strategies used by persons experiencing the cold pressor test to differ and to demonstrate a methodology using multidimensional scaling for developing empirically based classificatory schemes of strategies for coping with other forms of pain.