Eric D. Wesselmann

When Do We Ostracize

Ostracism is a common, yet painful social experience. Given the harmful consequences of ostracism, why would groups ostracize their members? Previous research suggests that ostracism is a form of social control used to influence those group members perceived as burdensome. The authors propose that individuals will ostracize a group member only when it is justified (i.e., the member seems burdensome) but will compensate a member who is ostracized undeservedly. In Study 1, a group member was ostracized undeservedly by the other players during an online ball-tossing game. Participants allocated more tosses to that ostracized group member than an included one, compensating the ostracized member. In Study 2, participants continued to compensate an ostracized group member, unless that member was burdensome. Participants indicated punitive motives for ostracizing a burdensome group member. These experimental studies extend research on when individuals use ostracism as social control.

To Be Looked at as Though Air Civil Attention Matters

Humans need social connections, and without them, people experience physical and psychological problems (Baumeister & Leary, 1995; Williams, 2009). Because social connections are fundamental to survival, researchers argue that humans evolved systems to detect the slightest cues of inclusion or exclusion (Kerr & Levine, 2008; Leary, Tambor, Terdal, & Downs, 1995; Pickett, Gardner, & Knowles, 2004; Williams, 2009). For example, simple eye contact is sufficient to convey inclusion. In contrast, withholding eye contact can signal exclusion. One form this signal can take relates to the German expression “wie Luft behandeln,” which literally means “to be looked at as though air.” Even though one person looks in the general direction of another, no eye contact is made, and the latter feels invisible. Survey data suggest that people purposefully withhold eye contact as a form of ostracism (Williams, Shore, & Grahe, 1998). Diary data suggest that people feel ostracized even when strangers fail to give them eye contact (Williams, Govan, Wheeler, & Nezlek, 2004). Experimental data confirm that eye contact signals social inclusion, and lack of eye contact signals ostracism (Wirth, Sacco, Hugenberg, & Williams, 2010). We investigated the effect of acknowledgment compared with the effect of being “looked at as though air” in a field experiment in which we further tested the subtle conditions that can fulfill or threaten humans’ need to belong. We hypothesized that being acknowledged by a stranger via eye contact would decrease an individual’s feelings of disconnection, whereas being looked at as though air would increase these feelings. We also tested whether an acknowledgment with a smile was necessary to induce feelings of social connection (Grahe, Williams, & Hinsz, 2000).

Virtually ostracized: studying ostracism in immersive virtual environments.

Electronic-based communication (such as Immersive Virtual Environments; IVEs) may offer new ways of satisfying the need for social connection, but they also provide ways this need can be thwarted. Ostracism, being ignored and excluded, is a common social experience that threatens fundamental human needs (i.e., belonging, control, self-esteem, and meaningful existence). Previous ostracism research has made use of a variety of paradigms, including minimal electronic-based interactions (e.g., Cyberball) and communication (e.g., chatrooms and Short Message Services). These paradigms, however, lack the mundane realism that many IVEs now offer. Further, IVE paradigms designed to measure ostracism may allow researchers to test more nuanced hypotheses about the effects of ostracism. We created an IVE in which ostracism could be manipulated experimentally, emulating a previously validated minimal ostracism paradigm. We found that participants who were ostracized in this IVE experienced the same negative effects demonstrated in other ostracism paradigms, providing, to our knowledge, the first evidence of the negative effects of ostracism in virtual environments. Though further research directly exploring these effects in online virtual environments is needed, this research suggests that individuals encountering ostracism in other virtual environments (such as massively multiplayer online role playing games; MMORPGs) may experience negative effects similar to those of being ostracized in real life. This possibility may have serious implications for individuals who are marginalized in their real life and turn to IVEs to satisfy their need for social connection.

Rumination Hinders Recovery From Ostracism

Ostracism—being ignored and excluded—is a painful event that threatens fundamental needs. Ostracized individuals’ reflective responses focus on cognitive appraisal and motivated recovery, and previous research suggests these appraisals can help or hinder recovery. Rumination is a negative style of cognitive appraisal that often leads to maladaptive coping strategies by prolonging distress and impeding individuals’ active actions toward problem solving. We hypothesized that rumination would hinder individuals’ ability to recover from ostracism in a laboratory experiment. We randomly assigned participants (N= 112, average age 19.67) to be included or ostracized in an online group interaction, and then either allowed them to ruminate or distracted them. Ostracized participants who were allowed to ruminate reported more distress than ostracized participants who were distracted, suggesting less recovery. We then discuss the developmental implications for rumination and effects on chronically ostracized individuals. Keyword Ostracism, Cyberball, rumination, social exclusion, rejection, recovery

When Pain Does Not Heal: The Common Antecedents and Consequences of Chronic Social and Physical Pain

Researchers find that social and physical pain overlap in acute episodes. In this article, we hypothesize that social and physical pain overlap in chronic conditions as well. To support this hypothesis, we reviewed the literature and introduced the Integrated Chronic Pain Model (ICPM), which posits that chronic social and physical pain overlap in their psychological antecedents and consequences. Specifically, the ICPM proposes several common factors that play a role in the onset and maintenance of both social and physical chronic pain and indicates that both forms of pain persistently impair self-regulatory resources and threaten the same basic psychological needs.

Evidence for another response to ostracism : Solitude seeking

People may choose to move toward, move against, or move away in reaction to threatening social situations. Ostracism induces both prosocial behaviors (moving toward) and antisocial behaviors (moving against). One reason that moving away may be missing from these observed responses is the absence of including such a response in experiments. In four studies, we examined whether ostracized individuals would avail themselves of a moving away response (i.e., seeking solitude), if offered, and also whether one individual difference—introversion—predicted higher desires to move away. Correlational data (Study 1) showed that participants who reported more ostracism experiences indicated stronger desires to be alone; three experiments (Studies 2–4) demonstrated that manipulated ostracism experience increases the desire to be alone in a subsequent activity, especially among introverts. These findings suggest that ostracized individuals may desire a phase of solitude to cope with the social pain.

The potential balm of religion and spirituality for recovering from ostracism

Ostracism – being ignored and excluded – is a common and painful experience with negative psychological consequences. We present a social psychological conceptualization of ostracism, and review the extensive research conducted on this phenomenon during the past fifteen years. We discuss this research within a stage model that examines the effects of ostracism over time. This model argues that immediate reactions to ostracism are ubiquitous and largely uniform, but various coping procedures become more important after individuals have had time to reflect upon their experiences. We suggest that individuals who are coping with ostracism may find their spiritual beliefs useful in their recovery. However, spiritual coping may be exploited by opportunistic proselytizers for cults or other dubious groups. We suggest that workplace spirituality may be another method of recovery that can be encouraged by organizations that wish to remain secular and respect those employees who do not have spiritual affiliations.

Ostracism in Everyday Life: The Effects of Ostracism on Those Who Ostracize.

ABSTRACT Ostracism is a negative interpersonal experience that has been studied primarily in laboratory settings. Moreover, these studies have focused primarily on how people feel when they have been ostracized. The present study extended this research by investigating ostracism as it occurs in daily life, focusing on how people feel about ostracizing someone. Using a method modeled after the Rochester Interaction Record (RIR), for two weeks, 64 participants (adults residing in the community) described what happened each time they ostracized someone. The questions in the diary were based on Williams’s (2001) need–threat model of ostracism. Most ostracism episodes were directed toward people of equal status, and participants reported lower levels of belonging but higher levels of control after ostracizing someone. Punitive ostracism was associated with more positive outcomes for the source than when people ostracized someone for other reasons.

The Role of Burden and Deviation in Ostracizing Others

ABSTRACT Ostracism (being excluded and ignored) is a painful experience, so why do individuals ostracize others? Previous research suggests individuals often ostracize those who are deviate, but not always. We posit that there may be two types of deviation, burdensome and non-burdensome, and the former is most likely to be ostracized. Study 1 manipulated burdensome deviation by programming a group member to perform more slowly (8 or 16 sec.) than others (4 sec.) in a virtual ball-toss game. Participants perceived slower players as more burdensome and deviate than normal speed players. Additionally, participants ostracized (gave fewer ball tosses to) the slowest player. Study 2 examined participant responses to both burdensome deviation (8- and 16-sec. players) and non-burdensome deviation (goth appearance). Participants again perceived the slower players to be burdensome and deviate, and ostracized them. They perceived the goth player to be deviate but not burdensome and did not ostracize this player.

Social cues establish expectations of rejection and affect the response to being rejected

Violating one’s expectations of inclusion may influence the pain of rejection. This is supported by neurological evidence on expectation violation processing (Somerville, Heatherton, & Kelley, 2006). We asked: Can an expectation of a specific social outcome affect how it feels to be rejected or included? We tested the premise that expectations for the outcome of an interaction are derived from social information. Participants were either liked or disliked following a get-acquainted exercise (Study 1), or were given inclusionary versus exclusionary cues (Study 2) or no social information (Study 3) in an imagined scenario before being rejected or included. Rejection felt worse than inclusion; however, we found rejected individuals felt increasingly worse after receiving inclusionary cues than receiving exclusionary cues. Included individuals felt an increase in need satisfaction and reduced negative affect when they initially expected to be rejected compared to when they expected to be included.