Will I speak up or remain silent? Workplace ostracism and employee performance based on self-control perspective

Drawing on the self-control perspective, this study investigated the buffering effect of emotional suppression in reducing the harmful influence of workplace ostracism on employee performance. The research also studied the mediating role of employee silence and voice behaviors based on social exchange theory. We performed moderated mediation analysis on responses received from 159 employees working in the financial industry of the Southern Punjab region of Pakistan. The results showed that workplace ostracism harms employee performance via employee silence and voice behaviors. Furthermore, emotional suppression moderated the mediated relationship between workplace ostracism and employee performance. The results indicated that if ostracized employees adopt voice behavior, emotional suppression cannot aid them in performing better as compared to those who remain silent and regain their self-esteem. Our findings highlight the importance of emotional suppression capability in reducing the damaging outcomes of ostracism in organizational settings.

Stories in Action

Stories have played a central role in human social and political life for thousands of years. Despite their ubiquity in culture and custom, however, they feature only peripherally in formal government policymaking. Government policy has tended to rely on tools with more predictable responses-incentives, transfers, and prohibitions. We argue that stories can and should feature more centrally in government policymaking. We lay out how stories can make policy more effective, specifying how they complement established policy tools. We provide a working definition of stories' key characteristics, contrasting them with other forms of communication. We trace the evolution of stories from their ancient origins to their role in mediating the impact of modern technologies on society. We then provide an account of the mechanisms underlying stories' impacts on their audiences. We conclude by describing three functions of stories-learning, persuasion, and collective action.

Would victims blame victims? Effects of ostracism, sexual objectification, and empathy on victim blaming

In the current research, we examined whether ostracism and sexual objectification affect the tendency to blame the victim of sexual harassment. Previous research concerning victim blame examined the attribution of blame considering the characteristics of the victim, the perpetrator, and the relation between them. However, no research to date examined whether situational factors of the perceiver can affect their perception and judgment of blame. We propose that sexual objectification and ostracism may elicit empathy toward the victim, and in turn, reduce victim blame. In two experimental studies, women were instructed to imagine interacting with a videotaped man who either gazed at their body (objectification), away from them (ostracism), or at their face (treated well). Then, they were asked to read a newspaper article (study 1) or watch a video (study 2) portraying encounters in which the man's sexual advances continued after the woman expressed discomfort and lack of interest. In study 1, we found that sexually objectified women attributed less blame to the woman compared with the women who were treated well, with ostracized women falling in between and marginally different from both. In study 2, using mediation analysis we found an indirect effect such that sexually objectified women experienced greater empathy toward the victim, which was associated with reduced attribution of blame. It appears that greater similarity between the situation of the perceiver and the situation of the victim elicits greater empathy. This adds to the previous knowledge that personality similarities result in higher empathy.

Perceived organizational politics and turnover intentions: critical roles of social adaptive behavior and emotional regulation skills

With a basis in conservation of resources theory, this study investigates how social adaptive behavior might mediate the relationship between employees' perceptions of organizational politics and their turnover intentions, as well as a buffering role of their emotional regulation skills as a critical personal resource. Data collected from employees in the food sector reveal that beliefs about dysfunctional political games spur turnover intentions, driven by employees' unwillingness to adjust themselves to the actions of their organizational colleagues. This mediating role of social adaptive behavior, or its lack, is less salient when employees have a greater ability to control their own emotions though. For organizations, this study accordingly pinpoints a key mechanism—a reluctance to accommodate other members' preferences—by which perceived organizational politics can escalate into a desire to leave the organization. It also reveals how this mechanism can be better contained by employees' ability to remain calm, even in difficult situations.

Stranger, Lover, Friend?

Abstract. Social exclusion, even from minimal game-based interactions, induces negative consequences. We investigated whether the nature of the relationship with the excluder modulates the effects of ostracism. Participants played a virtual ball-tossing game with a stranger and a friend (friend condition) or a stranger and their romantic partner (partner condition) while being fully included, fully excluded, excluded only by the stranger, or excluded only by their close other. Replicating previous findings, full exclusion impaired participants’ basic-need satisfaction and relationship evaluation most severely. While the degree of exclusion mattered, the relationship to the excluder did not: Classic null hypothesis testing and Bayesian statistics showed no modulation of ostracism effects depending on whether participants were excluded by a stranger, a friend, or their partner.

Better to brag: Underestimating the risks of avoiding positive self-disclosures in close relationships

OBJECTIVE

Capitalization, or disclosing positive news in close relationships, is interpersonally and intrapersonally beneficial and expected by relational partners. Why do some individuals avoid capitalizing? How do close relational partners react when they later discover that positive news was not directly disclosed to them?

METHOD

We conducted nine correlational and experimental studies using vignettes and recalled events (N = 2,177).

RESULTS

We find that individuals who are concerned about being seen as braggarts tend to avoid capitalizing with their close relationships even when it is likely their partner would ultimately learn of the news. Yet this concern may be relatively unwarranted and these individuals show a forecasting error: They overestimate how negatively their partner would react to disclosure and predict that their partner would react more positively if they discovered the news through external means. However,they neglect to predict that partners who later learn of the news and realize they were not disclosed toward in fact feel devalued. We discuss how this concern with bragging is linked to decreased extraversion, perspective taking, and empathy.

CONCLUSIONS

Uniquely in close relationships, being concerned about bragging may elicit negative relational outcomes, by hindering the positive self-disclosures that one's partners expect.

Being Ostracized Versus Out of the Loop: Redundant or Unique Predictors of Variance in Workplace Outcomes?

Based on the existing research, being excluded from information (i.e., being out of the loop) produces similar consequences as being ignored or excluded from activities. Consequently, one might wonder whether it is necessary to measure or study different types of exclusion in the workplace context, rather than just assessing a single type of exclusion. The current research investigated the associations between two types of workplace exclusion (i.e., being ostracized and being left out of the loop) and various workplace outcomes, with the purpose of determining whether these different types of exclusion predict unique or redundant variance in these workplace outcomes. In Study 1, we obtained better model fit when we assigned items measuring out-of-the-loop experiences at work to a different factor than items assessing experiences with ostracism at work. In Study 2, we observed that measuring employees' experiences with being out of the loop predicted unique variance in workplace outcomes (e.g., job satisfaction), above and beyond experiences with ostracism at work. Relative weight analyses suggested that both ostracism and out-of-the-loop experiences were equally important predictors of these outcomes. Together, these studies indicate that being ostracized and being left out of the loop may be distinct exclusion experiences and better predictions about workplace outcomes can be made by assessing both types of exclusion. On a practical level, measuring different types of exclusion may prove useful, because organizations may need to implement different interventions for addressing distinct types of exclusion.

Surrendering to social emptiness: Chronic social exclusion longitudinally predicts resignation in asylum seekers

The current knowledge of the long-term consequences of social exclusion mostly relies on theoretical assumptions. (Williams, 2009, Adv. Exp. Soc. Psychol., 41, 275) hypothesized that chronic ostracism drives individuals into a stage of resignation (depression, alienation, unworthiness, helplessness). We focused on asylum seekers (N = 112) as a social group at risk of experiencing prolonged instances of exclusion. Applying a three-wave longitudinal design with a three-month interval between each wave, we sought to advance the knowledge of the temporal development of chronic social exclusion. Cross-lagged panel analyses showed that social exclusion influenced the development of feelings of resignation in the long term, from baseline to six months and between three and six months. In the same time frame, the perception of social exclusion became stable and chronic. These findings provide empirical evidence that chronic exclusion predicts resignation and shed light on the temporal development of the detrimental impact that pervasive exclusion can have on people belonging to marginalized social groups.

Workplace ostracism and work-to-family conflict among female employees: moderating role of perceived organisational support

Purpose

Based on the conservation of resources theory, this study aims to develop and test the relationship between workplace ostracism and the work-to-family conflict of a female employee. And, it assumes that the direct link between workplace ostracism and the work-to-family conflict of a female employee is moderated by perceived organizational support.

Design/methodology/approach

For this, this study used a survey method and multiple regression analyses with multi-source data from 226 Korean female employees.

Findings

The results suggest the following. First, workplace ostracism was positively associated with the work-to-family conflict of a female employee. Second, there was a stronger positive relationship between workplace ostracism and work-to-family conflict for female employees with low as opposed to those with high levels of perceived organizational support.

Originality/value

To the best of author’s knowledge, this study is the first one to examine the moderating effect of perceived organizational support on the relationship between workplace ostracism and the work-to-family conflict of a female employee.

Daily life participation in childhood chronic disease: a qualitative study

OBJECTIVE

Opportunities to participate in daily life have improved considerably for children with chronic disease. Nevertheless, they still face challenges associated with their ever-present illness affecting every aspect of their lives. To best help these children, we aimed to assess the child's own perspective on participation and the main considerations that affect participation in a stable phase of disease.

METHODS

Qualitative study design was applied. Semistructured, indepth interviews were conducted and analysed by a general inductive approach using constant comparison, coding and categorisation. Children 8-18 years old with a chronic disease were recruited from a cohort study involving cystic fibrosis, autoimmune disease and post-treatment paediatric cancer.

RESULTS

31 of the 56 (55%) invited patients participated. From the perspective of children with chronic disease, participation is considered more than merely engaging in activities; rather, they view having a sense of belonging, the ability to affect social interactions and the capacity to keep up with peers as key elements of full participation. Some children typically placed a higher priority on participation, whereas other children typically placed a higher priority on their current and/or future needs, both weighing the costs and benefits of their choices and using disclosure as a strategy.

CONCLUSIONS

Enabling full participation from the child's perspective will help realise patient-centred care, ultimately helping children self-manage their participation. Caregivers can stimulate this participation by evaluating with children how to achieve a sense of belonging, active involvement and a role within a peer group. This requires active collaboration between children, healthcare providers and caregivers.

Neurophysiological Vigilance Characterisation and Assessment: Laboratory and Realistic Validations Involving Professional Air Traffic Controllers

Vigilance degradation usually causes significant performance decrement. It is also considered the major factor causing the out-of-the-loop phenomenon (OOTL) occurrence. OOTL is strongly related to a high level of automation in operative contexts such as the Air Traffic Management (ATM), and it could lead to a negative impact on the Air Traffic Controllers’ (ATCOs) engagement. As a consequence, being able to monitor the ATCOs’ vigilance would be very important to prevent risky situations. In this context, the present study aimed to characterise and assess the vigilance level by using electroencephalographic (EEG) measures. The first study, involving 13 participants in laboratory settings allowed to find out the neurophysiological features mostly related to vigilance decrements. Those results were also confirmed under realistic ATM settings recruiting 10 professional ATCOs. The results demonstrated that (i) there was a significant performance decrement related to vigilance reduction; (ii) there were no substantial differences between the identified neurophysiological features in controlled and ecological settings, and the EEG-channel configuration defined in laboratory was able to discriminate and classify vigilance changes in ATCOs’ vigilance with high accuracy (up to 84%); (iii) the derived two EEG-channel configuration was able to assess vigilance variations reporting only slight accuracy reduction.

A moderated mediation model of workplace ostracism and task performance

Purpose

Ostracism within organizations may pose communication challenges and reduce opportunities for interactions, potentially affecting coworker knowledge sharing and subsequent performance outcomes. Drawing on conservation of resources theory, the purpose of this paper is to examine whether knowledge sharing mediates the association between workplace ostracism and employees’ task performance, and whether the mediating effect is moderated by task interdependence.

Design/methodology/approach

Matched data were collected from a two-wave survey among 210 employees and their direct supervisors who work in two Chinese enterprises.

Findings

Results indicate that workplace ostracism is negatively associated with task performance and that knowledge sharing mediates this relation. Further, task interdependence exacerbated the main effect of workplace ostracism and the indirect effect of knowledge sharing.

Originality/value

This paper offers an alternative perspective (i.e. pragmatic impacts of workplace ostracism) to understand how workplace ostracism undermines employees’ task performance. Moreover, the findings emphasize that contextual factors may strengthen the detrimental effects of workplace ostracism in the practical domain.

Why do I contribute to organizational learning when I am ostracized? A moderated mediation analysis

Drawing on social exchange and emotional regulation perspectives, this study investigates the role of emotional suppression in reducing the detrimental effects of workplace ostracism on organizational learning. Based on the responses of 162 participants from the financial industry, and with the application of moderated mediation analysis, the findings demonstrate that workplace ostracism is mediated by employee silence, which has a negative effect on organizational learning. Interestingly, however, the results exhibit that emotional suppression operates as a buffer between workplace ostracism, employee silence and organizational learning, which leads to the achievement of organizational learning motives. Therefore, the silent employees, who experience workplace ostracism, may still be contributing toward organizational learning, if they are proficient in suppressing their emotions. Given that, the study implies that emotional suppression is fundamentally important to reduce the injurious outcomes of workplace ostracism, in the contemporary organizational settings, particularly with regard to organizational learning.

Brain-Computer Interface-Based Adaptive Automation to Prevent Out-Of-The-Loop Phenomenon in Air Traffic Controllers Dealing With Highly Automated Systems

Increasing the level of automation in air traffic management is seen as a measure to increase the performance of the service to satisfy the predicted future demand. This is expected to result in new roles for the human operator: he will mainly monitor highly automated systems and seldom intervene. Therefore, air traffic controllers (ATCos) would often work in a supervisory or control mode rather than in a direct operating mode. However, it has been demonstrated how human operators in such a role are affected by human performance issues, known as Out-Of-The-Loop (OOTL) phenomenon, consisting in lack of attention, loss of situational awareness and de-skilling. A countermeasure to this phenomenon has been identified in the adaptive automation (AA), i.e., a system able to allocate the operative tasks to the machine or to the operator depending on their needs. In this context, psychophysiological measures have been highlighted as powerful tool to provide a reliable, unobtrusive and real-time assessment of the ATCo's mental state to be used as control logic for AA-based systems. In this paper, it is presented the so-called "Vigilance and Attention Controller", a system based on electroencephalography (EEG) and eye-tracking (ET) techniques, aimed to assess in real time the vigilance level of an ATCo dealing with a highly automated human-machine interface and to use this measure to adapt the level of automation of the interface itself. The system has been tested on 14 professional ATCos performing two highly realistic scenarios, one with the system disabled and one with the system enabled. The results confirmed that (i) long high automated tasks induce vigilance decreasing and OOTL-related phenomena; (ii) EEG measures are sensitive to these kinds of mental impairments; and (iii) AA was able to counteract this negative effect by keeping the ATCo more involved within the operative task. The results were confirmed by EEG and ET measures as well as by performance and subjective ones, providing a clear example of potential applications and related benefits of AA.

Leadership Ostracism Behaviors From the Target's Perspective: A Content and Behavioral Typology Model Derived From Interviews With Chinese Employees

Leadership ostracism denotes a severe work stressor, potentially entailing more serious negative effects than other types of workplace ostracism. However, scholars have paid relatively little attention to ostracism carried out by leaders, leaving the phenomenon insufficiently accounted for in the literature. Hence, the present study aims to explore the content and typology of leadership ostracism behavior by in-depth interviews and inductive analyses based on grounded theory, in order to give a thorough presentation and description of the leadership ostracism concept as perceived and construed by Chinese subordinates. Respondents were invited using a snowball sampling technique, and the final sample consisted of 26 individuals employed in different Chinese firms. Based on the reported experience of the interviewees, 11 concrete leadership ostracism behaviors emerged from the data. Further analyses revealed a leadership ostracism behavioral typology model reflecting five core categories, i.e., general ignoring, neglect, exclusion, differential treatment, and undermining. These findings appear to partly replicate and partly expand on previous conceptualizations of workplace ostracism, indicating that leadership ostracism may reflect a distinct variant of the phenomenon, eligible to be studied in its own right. The present study also discusses certain culture-specific aspects of leadership ostracism that can be taken into consideration in future studies.

Is it always this cold? Chilly interpersonal climates as a barrier to the well-being of early-career women faculty in STEM

Purpose

The purpose of this project was to examine the extent to which early-career women faculty in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) experience working in a chilly interpersonal climate (as indicated by experiences of ostracism and incivility) and how those experiences relate to work and non-work well-being outcomes.

Design/methodology/approach

Data came from a sample of 96 early-career STEM faculty (Study 1) and a sample of 68 early-career women STEM faculty (Study 2). Both samples completed online surveys assessing their experiences of working in a chilly interpersonal climate and well-being.

Findings

In Study 1, early-career women STEM faculty reported greater experiences of ostracism and incivility and more negative occupational well-being outcomes associated with these experiences compared to early-career men STEM faculty. In Study 2, early-career women STEM faculty reported more ostracism and incivility from their male colleagues than from their female colleagues. Experiences of ostracism (and, to a lesser extent, incivility) from male colleagues also related to negative occupational and psychological well-being outcomes.

Originality/value

This paper documents that exposure to a chilly interpersonal climate in the form of ostracism and incivility is a potential explanation for the lack and withdrawal of junior women faculty in STEM academic fields.

PILAR: A Model of Collaboration to Encapsulate Social Psychology

This article presents an iterative examination of a grounded theory of collaboration in conjunction with social psychology literature. The resulting PILAR (Prospects, Involved, Liked, Agency, Respect) model of collaboration encapsulates over 30 social and group psychology (SGP) theories, including social identity theory, social network analysis, and psychological safety. Selected works of the early 20th-century scholars Lewin, Moreno, Simmel, and Foucault resonate with the PILAR model. We considered that, in constructing a generalized model of collaboration made possible by the availability of modern SGP theory, PILAR may represent advancement toward accomplishing these early scholars’ original intent. To validate PILAR, we proposed an empirical investigation for its consistency with organizational psychology, positive psychology, and appreciative inquiry, and for testing whether learning PILAR may improve collaboration skills for individuals lacking empathy.

The Use of Social Media to Combat Research-Isolation

Research-isolation is a common problem affecting many researchers who are disconnected from their research communities. It can be caused by a number of factors, including physical isolation, unfamiliar research topics, diversity, and the nature of the supervisory relationship. All of these aspects can have an impact on both work and the mental health of researchers. Increasingly, researchers are turning to social media for support, by both looking for communities and for increasing the impact of their work. In this paper, we set out a brief introduction to a range of social media platforms used by researchers and present a discussion of the networks within those platforms aimed at reducing research-isolation. These examples highlight just a few of the number of small communities that have grown online to meet the needs of those seeking support through social media. We conclude with some recommendations for those affected by research-isolation and highlight the need for more research into the role of social media on mental health in academics.

When inclusion hurts: The role of valence in moderating the effects of being in the loop

We explored conditions under which being in the loop may be an undesirable experience. We tested whether information valence moderates the effects of being in versus out of the loop in four studies. In a pilot study, participants imagined positive and negative events and indicated the degree to which they would like to know this information. In Study 1, participants imagined being in or out of the loop on positive or negative information and indicated how they would feel. In Study 2, participants relived an actual experience when they were in or out of the loop on positive or negative information. In Study 3, participants were in or out of the loop on positive or negative information needed for an upcoming task. These studies provide evidence that being in the loop on negative information can be an unenjoyable experience, threatening fundamental needs and increasing negative affect.

Organizational Ostracism: A Potential Framework in Order to Deal with It

Background

Organizational ostracism is defined as a violation of norms that we are suggested to acknowledge at the workplace. It results in the exclusion of one person or multiple persons, and causes damage to our innate need to belong. This kind of behaviorism can be engaged through a hierarchical or nonhierarchical relationship. Three elements interact in the framework of organizational ostracism: the actor, the target, and the institution. Our aim was to describe the different factors interacting with every element in order to produce recommendations targeting to prevent the occurrence of such behaviorism in an institution and to help targets of such a violence in order to handle this situation and go forward. As psychological impact of ostracism has frequently been studied in the literature, we focused on its impact on professional tasks.

Methods

We performed a questionnaire-based study about organizational ostracism. This questionnaire was established through an online platform (https://www.sondageonline.com) and made available through the following link: https://goo.gl/forms/KrkVXe3bMEc79cau2. A keyword was sent to all participants. We created a 23-interrogation questionnaire with open and short questions. Nonwritten consent was obtained from all participants.

Results

The actor of ostracism engaged in ostracism, in most of the cases, with other persons without a real purpose. The actor of ostracism had an antecedent of problematic relationship at work in 82.9% of the cases. Of the participants, 58.5% were of the view that ostracism aimed to cause hurt and isolate them. Professional isolation was observed in 58.5% of the cases; 51.2% of the participants tried to improve their work potential and explained their reaction by an intrinsic motivation. The organization atmosphere was judged to be bad in most of the cases.

Conclusion

Our study showed that ostracism was mainly observed in public practice.

Subtle Discrimination as Natural “Equal Reaction” to Organizational Actions, and Practical Ways To Soften It

The article on subtle discrimination by Jones and colleagues (K. P. Jones, Arena, Nittrouer, Alonso, & Lindsey, 2017) describes in detail and enriches the knowledge on this undesirable yet quite common phenomenon in organizations. In this comment, we argue that subtle discrimination behaviors are natural and predictable in view of organizational actions taken to increase diversity on one hand and prevent overt discrimination on the other hand. Also, practical ways to reduce the phenomenon are suggested.

Examining Workplace Ostracism Experiences in Academia: Understanding How Differences in the Faculty Ranks Influence Inclusive Climates on Campus

Research on the retention of women in academia has focused on challenges, including a "chilly climate," devaluation, and incivility. The unique consequences of workplace ostracism - being ignored and excluded by others in an organizational setting - require focus on this experience as another interpersonal challenge for women in academia. The purpose of this study is to examine differences in the faculty experiences and outcomes of workplace ostracism, and to determine if these experiences are affected significantly by the gender composition of an employee's specific department. Participants were recruited at two time points to complete campus climate surveys that were distributed to faculty at a large, public, research university. We examined the number of reported ostracism experiences (Study 1) and perceived information sharing (Study 2) among male and female university faculty. The findings indicated that female faculty members perceived more workplace ostracism than male faculty members. Analyses of department gender ratios suggested that the proportion of women in the department did not reduce the amount of workplace ostracism experienced by women. No gender differences were found in perceived information sharing. However, we found that Faculty of Color, both men and women, reported more frequent information exclusion than White faculty. These results have important implications for theoretical and practical understandings of workplace demography and suggest that it is necessary to look at subtle, ambiguous forms of discrimination in order to increase retention of faculty from underrepresented groups in academia.

Examining Workplace Ostracism Experiences in Academia: Understanding How Differences in the Faculty Ranks Influence Inclusive Climates on Campus

Research on the retention of women in academia has focused on challenges, including a "chilly climate," devaluation, and incivility. The unique consequences of workplace ostracism - being ignored and excluded by others in an organizational setting - require focus on this experience as another interpersonal challenge for women in academia. The purpose of this study is to examine differences in the faculty experiences and outcomes of workplace ostracism, and to determine if these experiences are affected significantly by the gender composition of an employee's specific department. Participants were recruited at two time points to complete campus climate surveys that were distributed to faculty at a large, public, research university. We examined the number of reported ostracism experiences (Study 1) and perceived information sharing (Study 2) among male and female university faculty. The findings indicated that female faculty members perceived more workplace ostracism than male faculty members. Analyses of department gender ratios suggested that the proportion of women in the department did not reduce the amount of workplace ostracism experienced by women. No gender differences were found in perceived information sharing. However, we found that Faculty of Color, both men and women, reported more frequent information exclusion than White faculty. These results have important implications for theoretical and practical understandings of workplace demography and suggest that it is necessary to look at subtle, ambiguous forms of discrimination in order to increase retention of faculty from underrepresented groups in academia.

Changes in Eye Contact and Attraction Scores Relative to Ostracism and Dissent

Ostracism casts a number of harms on group members who are targets, yet little is known about the behaviors which can lead group members to become ostracism targets. Here, we investigated whether dissent—an important and beneficial behavior for group decision making—led the group to ostracize the members who voiced dissent. This study examined ostracism and two types of dissent—disagreement with the group’s decision-making process and disagreement with specific ideas. Confederates who dissented with ideas were ostracized, as evidenced by lower attraction scores when compared to confederates in control groups. By contrast, process dissenters were not ostracized. Rather, eye contact with process dissenters was significantly higher than eye contact with confederates in control groups. These results suggest that questioning a group’s decision-making process may be one way to draw the attention of the group without being ostracized whereas challenging the prevailing decision itself may subject the dissenter to social exclusion.

Cyberbomb

Recent research has shown that ostracism is distressful regardless of mitigating circumstances, providing evidence that humans are hard-wired to be hypervigilant to ostracism cues. Arguing that it is also highly adaptive to avoid being in a situation that signals a threat to survival we reasoned that the immediate distress to ostracism would be mitigated in a game of bomb-toss (Cyberbomb) compared to a game of ball-toss (Cyberball). Results showed that such a symbolic threat to survival is able to reduce the immediate distress caused by ostracism (Study 1 and Study 2), and––when the negative consequences of not surviving are highlighted––still powerful enough to induce aggression to fellow game players (Study 2). Taken together the studies speak to the often assumed but relatively untested relation between exclusion and survival that has been proposed in theories on belonging, exclusion and ostracism.

"Why am I out of the loop?" attributions influence responses to information exclusion

Studies show the importance of information sharing in decision making. However, information sharing also affects intrapersonal perceptions and group dynamics. Three experiments demonstrated that out-of-the-loop individuals experienced thwarted needs (e.g., belonging) and decreased trust and liking of group members. Experiment 1 showed these deleterious effects only occurred when information exclusion appeared intentional. Experiment 2 established that constructive motives could mitigate negative effects of intentional information exclusion. Experiment 3 showed that unintentional information exclusion deflated participants only when perceived as preventable. These experiments also provided evidence for a mediating process. Information exclusion, particularly when ill intentioned or preventable, signals poor group standing, leading to deleterious psychological effects.

Social Ostracism in Task Groups: The Effects of Group Composition

Social ostracism—being ignored or excluded—threatens needs for self-esteem, belongingness, control, and meaningful existence. In the conventional laboratory paradigms, a lone participant is ostracized by either confederates or imagined group members and then completes measures of threatened needs. This approach prohibits asking questions about the group dynamics involved in ostracism situations, such as conditions under which sources of ostracism choose to ignore targets and the communication between them. This new paradigm for studying social ostracism uses unstructured group discussions in which an uninformed member is ignored. In an experiment using three-person, mixed-gender groups, we found that the psychological threat associated with being ignored during group discussion depended on the group’s composition. Being a target of ostracism hurt more when the pair of sources included one in-group (same sex) and one out-group (opposite sex) member compared with when both sources belonged to the out-group (opposite sex).