Clarifying the Relationship Between Ostracism and Relational Devaluation

• Published in: The Journal of social psychology Vol. 154; no. 1; pp. 14 - 27
• Main Authors: Gerber, J. P., Wheeler, Ladd
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Philadelphia, PA Routledge 01-01-2014; Taylor & Francis; Taylor & Francis Inc
• Subjects: Adult; Affect - physiology; Biological and medical sciences; College students; Devaluation; Emotional disorders; Expectation; Expectations; Female; Forecasts; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; Interpersonal Relations; Male; Ostracism; Psychological Distress; Psychology; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; rejection; Rejection (Psychology); relational devaluation; Self Concept; Social Distance; Social exclusion; Social interactions. Communication. Group processes; Social Isolation - psychology; Social psychology; Students; Students - psychology; Threat; Young Adult; Human; Social interaction; Psychological distress; Prediction; Social rejection; relational devaluation; expectations; ostracism; Expectation; Interpersonal relation; rejection
• ISSN: 0022-4545; 1940-1183
• DOI: 10.1080/00224545.2013.826619

We examine how three perspectives on relational devaluation relate to needs threat following ostracism. In two experiments with 179 first-year psychology students, distress was greatest when participants were ostracized without any prior throws, and distress decreased linearly with increasing prior inclusion. In Experiment 3, using 76 first-year psychology students, we manipulated expectations of exclusion and found expectations predicted distress following ostracism, suggesting ostracism's distress can be influenced by norm-based expectations of inclusion, and that progressive relational devaluation is not a necessary condition for ostracism's distress.