Responses to exclusion are moderated by its perceived fairness

Do targets of ostracism truthfully communicate their emotional reactions to sources?

Ostracism triggers negative emotions such as sadness, anger, and hurt feelings. Do targets of ostracism truthfully share their emotions with the sources of ostracism? Drawing on past research on social-functional accounts of emotions and interpersonal emotion regulation, we investigated the possibility that targets may misrepresent their emotions (i.e., gaming emotions). We conducted three experiments (N = 1058; two pre-registered) using an online ball-tossing game, in which participants were randomly assigned to be included or ostracized. Consistent with the literature, we found that ostracized individuals were more hurt, sad, and angry than included individuals. However, we found little and inconsistent evidence that ostracized (vs included) individuals misrepresented their emotional reactions to the sources. Further, Bayesian analyses offered more support against misrepresentation of emotions. These findings suggest that targets of ostracism truthfully communicated their social pain to the sources.

Direct and displaced aggression after exclusion: role of gender differences

The present studies consider the influence of exclusion on aggressive behavior depending on the target of the aggression and the gender of the aggressor. Previous studies have shown that after exclusion, aggressive behavior occurs toward the excluder as well as toward innocent bystanders. However, there is also evidence that men have a greater tendency toward direct aggression and women have a greater tendency toward displaced aggression. In Studies 1 (N = 89) and 2 (N = 120), participants were ostracized, in Studies 3 (N = 88) and 4 (N = 133), participants were rejected. Then, aggressive behavior toward the excluder or bystander was measured. The results confirmed the gender differences hypothesis, but only in the case of ostracism. After ostracism, more retaliatory aggression was observed in men, and more displaced aggression was noted in women. Rejection resulted in generalized aggressive behavior directed toward the excluder and the bystander in men and women. The results are discussed in light of Sexual Selection Theory.

Do Employees Work Less for Female Leaders? A Multi-Method Study of Entrepreneurial Firms

We propose that female-founded ventures receive a lower amount of employee labor for equal pay because employees are more likely to decline requests for additional labor by female founders. First, using longitudinal matched employer-employee data covering all founders of new ventures with personnel in Portugal between 2002 and 2012, we confirm that full-time employees contribute fewer regular hours and less overtime work to female-founded firms. Second, using a series of online experiments, we show that this variation in employee labor across female and male-founded firms is partly motivated by a difference in the employee’s expectations of work demands. Specifically, employees perceive female founders’ requests for additional labor to be unfair and more difficult than expected, and both these perceptions explain the lower amount of employee labor supplied in female-founded ventures. Overall, our findings uncover a novel mechanism that helps explain the existence of a gender gap in entrepreneurship beyond the entry stage.

Recovery From Ostracism Distress: The Role of Attribution

Ostracism is known to cause psychological distress. Thus, defining the factors that can lead to recovery or diminish these negative effects is crucial. Three experiments examined whether suggesting the possible causes of ostracism to victims could decrease or eliminate their ostracism distress. They also examined whether death-anxiety mediated the association between the suggested possible cause for being ostracized and recovery. Participants (N = 656) were randomly assigned to six experimental and control groups and were either ostracized or included in a game of Cyberball. Two control conditions were used: participants who were ostracized but received no explanation and participants who were included. Immediately after the ostracism experience, participants in the experimental groups were presented with one of four causes for being ostracized, using locus of control (internal, external) and stability (stable, unstable), the two causal dimensions of Weiner’s attribution theory. After a short delay they were administered a mood or needs-satisfaction questionnaire. The results highlight the interaction between locus of control and stability, and underscore the relative importance of different attributions in alleviating self-reported ostracism distress. Specifically, both external and unstable attributions decreased distress, and an unstable attribution led to complete recovery in some participants. Thus, recovery from ostracism may be accelerated when the victim receives an explanation for ostracism that attributes the incident to unstable, external causes soon after the incident. Death-anxiety fully mediated the association between locus of control attribution and mood, but for on needs-satisfaction or the stability of the attribution.

The effects of social exclusion on processing of social information - A cognitive psychology perspective

In this article, we review the research investigating the effects of social exclusion on processing of social information. We look into this topic from the point of view of cognitive psychology aiming to provide a systematic description of the effects of exclusion on workings of different cognitive mechanisms involved in social information processing. We focus on four lines of inquiry. First, we present the research on the effects of exclusion on memory for social information. Second, we review studies, which have investigated how exclusion changes the way people view and evaluate their social environment. Third, we look into the research which has investigated whether exclusion modulates early social information processing at the perceptual level. Finally, we discuss the research on the effects of exclusion on attentional processes. Importantly, we also present gaps in our understanding on these issues and provide suggestions as to how future research could provide a more detailed view on how exclusion modulates social information processing.

Social inclusion, but not exclusion, delays attentional disengagement from direct gaze

The present study investigated whether another person’s direct gaze holds a perceiver’s visuospatial attention and whether social exclusion or social inclusion would enhance this effect. Participants were socially excluded, socially included, or underwent a non-social control manipulation in a virtual ball-tossing game. The manipulation was followed by an attentional disengagement task, in which we measured manual response times in identification of peripheral stimuli shown to the left or right of centrally presented faces portraying direct or downward gaze. Contrary to our hypotheses, the response times were not, in general, longer for direct gaze trials than downward gaze trials, and exclusion did not increase the delay in direct gaze trials. Instead, we discovered that, in the social inclusion group, the response times were longer for direct gaze trials relative to downward gaze trials. Thus, social inclusion might have activated affiliation-related cognitive processes leading to delayed attentional disengagement from faces cueing affiliation.

I don't need your attention: ostracism can narrow the cone of gaze

Previous research has shown that ostracized participants seek inclusive cues, such as gaze directed at them, when trying to reaffiliate. However, instead of seeking reinclusion, ostracized individuals may sometimes withdraw from interactions if not offered an opportunity for reaffiliation. In the current study, after an ostracism manipulation with no reaffiliation opportunity, participants judged whether faces portraying direct gaze or slightly averted gaze (2°-8° to the left and to the right) were looking at them or not. Compared to an inclusion group and a non-social control group, ostracized participants accepted a smaller range of gaze directions as being directed at them, i.e., they had a narrower "cone of gaze". The width of the gaze cone was equally wide in the inclusion and control groups. We propose that, without an opportunity for reaffiliation, ostracized participants may start to view other people as particularly unapproachable, possibly indicative of a motivational tendency to disengage from interactions.

Effects of intergroup exclusion on individual needs threat and behavior tendencies

This study explores the effects of intergroup exclusion on need-threat and the behavioral tendencies of excluded individuals. Results show that those excluded by in-group members perceived more threat to relational needs, while participants excluded by out-group members perceived more threat to efficacy needs. In addition, participants excluded by out-group members displayed significantly more aggression intention and less helping intention than those who were excluded by in-group members. This study indicates that the group relationship between excluders and the excluded will directly affect threat perception and behavioral responses.

Safety in Beauty

Abstract. Individuals regularly exhibit antisocial responses after social exclusion. In four unregistered studies (1a, 1b, 2, and 3) and one preregistered experiment (Study 4), we tested the hypothesis that the excluder’s physical attractiveness reduces the relationship between social exclusion and negative responding. Results showed that exclusion by a highly attractive source caused less aggressive and more prosocial responses than exclusion by a less attractive source (Studies 1–3). The interaction effect was mediated by perceived likeability of the excluding person (Study 3). The preregistered experiment did not confirm the interactive effect between exclusion and attractiveness (Study 4); however, exploratory analyses indicated the effect on pro- (but not antisocial) responding. Inconsistent findings as well as the theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Competitions between prosocial exclusions and punishments in finite populations

Prosocial punishment has been proved to be a powerful mean to promote cooperation. Recent studies have found that social exclusion, which indeed can be regarded as a kind of punishment, can also support cooperation. However, if prosocial punishment and exclusion are both present, it is still unclear which strategy is more advantageous to curb free-riders. Here we first study the direct competition between different types of punishment and exclusion. We find that pool (peer) exclusion can always outperform pool (peer) punishment both in the optional and in the compulsory public goods game, no matter whether second-order sanctioning is considered or not. Furthermore, peer exclusion does better than pool exclusion both in the optional and in the compulsory game, but the situation is reversed in the presence of second-order exclusion. Finally, we extend the competition among all possible sanctioning strategies and find that peer exclusion can outperform all other strategies in the absence of second-order exclusion and punishment, while pool exclusion prevails when second-order sanctioning is possible. Our results demonstrate that exclusion is a more powerful strategy than punishment for the resolution of social dilemmas.

Under threat by popular vote: German-speaking immigrants' affect and cognitions following the Swiss vote against mass immigration

A popular initiative in support of regulating future immigration to Switzerland was accepted by the electorate in 2014. Assuming that the initiative acted as an exclusionary threat for current immigrants of Switzerland, we conducted an online survey among a sample of highly-skilled German-speaking immigrants (“expats”). Participants reported having experienced negative affect following the vote. Moreover, having a more left-wing orientation, living in a political constituency that had voted pro-regulation and having proportionally few Swiss friends positively predicted negative affect following the vote. Negative affect was associated with a reported negative change in one’s attitudes towards Switzerland, increased considerations to leave the country, and impaired satisfaction with life. In sum, the results suggest that a powerful exclusionary threat such as a national vote may be experienced as distressful by highly-skilled immigrants currently living in the country.

Rejection Via Video

Abstract. This study introduces an easy-to-implement, controlled, vivid, and functional rejection paradigm. Participants empathized with the protagonist of a video who was rejected or accepted individually or as part of a group. In the rejection condition, more perceived exclusion and lower basic need fulfillment were reported. The paradigm also induced nuance in situational factors: Observing somebody being rejected as part of a group led to less pronounced reactions than individual rejection. The video-based rejection paradigm taps into the less studied area of group rejection and offers a new method to test established and novel theoretical predictions.

When It’s Okay That I Don’t Play

Being excluded and ignored has been shown to threaten fundamental human needs and cause pain. Such reflexive reactions to social exclusion have been conceptualized as direct and unmoderated (temporal need threat model of ostracism). Here, we propose an extension and argue that reflexive reactions depend on how social exclusion situations are construed. If being excluded is understood as a violation of an inclusion norm, individuals will react with pain and threat. In contrast, if being excluded is consistent with the prevailing norm, the exclusion situation is interpreted as less threatening, and negative reflexive reactions to ostracism should be attenuated. Four studies empirically support this conceptual model. Studies 3 and 4 further show that to guide situated construal, the norm has to be endorsed by the individual. In both Studies 1 and 3, the effect of the norm is mediated by the objective situation’s subjective construal.