Ostracism in childhood and adolescence: Emotional, cognitive, and behavioral effects of social exclusion

Journal article

Drawing on theories of development, motivation, and personality, we examined children’s and adolescents’ emotional and cognitive perception of and explained their behavioral reactions to ostracism, in two experimental studies. In study one, 93 fourth and eighth graders (49 girls) were either socially included or excluded within a virtual ball-tossing game (cyberball). Results demonstrated that ostracism causes negative emotions and a selective memory for social events, similarly for children and adolescents, which verifies the usefulness of cyberball beyond self-reports. In study two, 97 fourth to ninth graders (43 girls) behaviorally reacted to the previously induced ostracism episode within a modified paradigm (cyberball-R). Multinomial logistic regression demonstrated that psychosocial differences between participants displaying prosocial, avoidant, and antisocial reactions followed the expected pattern, which provides initial evidence concerning moderators that prevent children and adolescents from receiving further aggression.

Authors: Wölfer, R; Scheithauer, H

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis
• Journal: Social Influence
• Volume: 8
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 217-236
• Publication date: 2012-06-01
• Acceptance date: 2012-06-19
• DOI: 10.1080/15534510.2012.706233
• EISSN: 1553-4529
• ISSN: 1553-4510
• Keywords: Behavioral reactions; Cyberball; Childhood and adolescence; Ostracism