Table Of ContentOSTRACISM, EXCLUSION,
AND REJECTION
This volume examines research into the related phenomena of ostracism,
exclusion and rejection. Most individuals have experienced both sides of the
coin: being ostracized and ostracizing others. People experience mild forms of
ostracism on a daily basis, but some endure years and decades of being the social
outcast. How does it feel to be shunned, left out, not wanted? Research suggests
that even the mildest and briefest forms of ostracism are painful and have
downstream consequences to our feelings of social connection. Longer-term
ostracism has devastating consequences on individuals’ health and well-being.
This innovative compilation covers how being cast out affects the brain and
body chemistry, feelings and emotions, thoughts and beliefs, and behaviors. In
addition to the primary focus on targets of ostracism, researchers also examine the
motives and consequences of ostracizing. Social scientists from social psychology,
developmental psychology, neuroscience, communication science, cross-cultural
psychology, and anthropology tackle these questions with cutting-edge methods
and provocative theories. A key volume for all in those fields, this book also
presents applications from the schoolyard to the workplace, and sounds a much-
needed call for further research on this universal behavior of all social animals.
Kipling D. Williams is Professor of Psychological Sciences at Purdue University.
His prior posts have been at Macquarie University and the University of New
South Wales, the University of Toledo, and Drake University. His research
focuses on ostracism and social influence.
Steve A. Nida is Professor and Head of the Department of Psychology at The
Citadel, in Charleston, South Carolina. He is a social psychologist whose research
interests have also included helping behavior and sport psychology.
FRONTIERS OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
Series Editors:
Arie W. Kruglanski, University of Maryland at College Park
Joseph P. Forgas, University of New South Wales
Frontiers of Social Psychology is a series of domain-specific handbooks. Each volume provides
readers with an overview of the most recent theoretical, methodological, and practical
developments in a substantive area of social psychology, in greater depth than is possible
in general social psychology handbooks. The editors and contributors are all internationally
renowned scholars whose work is at the cutting edge of research.
Scholarly, yet accessible, the volumes in the Frontiers series are an essential resource for
senior undergraduates, postgraduates, researchers, and practitioners and are suitable as texts
in advanced courses in specific subareas of social psychology.
Published Titles
Ostracism, Exclusion, and Rejection, Williams & Nida
Political Psychology, Krosnick, Chiang & Stark
Aggression and Violence, Brad J. Bushman
Social Neuroscience, Harmon-Jones & Inzlicht
Addictions, Kopetz & Lejuez
Social Communication, Fiedler
Attitudes and Attitude Change, Crano
Negotiation Theory and Research, Thompson
The Self, Sedikides & Spencer
Social Psychology and the Unconscious, Bargh
Evolution and Social Psychology, Schaller, Simpson & Kenrick
The Science of Social Influence, Pratkanis
Close Relationships, Noller & Feeney
Affect in Social Thinking and Behavior, Forgas
Personality and Social Behavior, Rhodewalt
Stereotyping and Prejudice, Stangor & Crandall
Group Processes, Levine
Social Metacognition, Briñol & DeMarree
Goal-directed Behavior, Aarts & Elliot
Social Judgment and Decision Making, Krueger
Intergroup Conflicts and their Resolution, Bar-Tal
Social Motivation, Dunning
Social Cognition, Strack & Förster
Social Psychology of Consumer Behavior, Wänke
Forthcoming Titles
For continually updated information about published and forthcoming titles in the Frontiers of
Social Psychology series, please visit: https://www.routledge.com/psychology/series/FSP
OSTRACISM,
EXCLUSION, AND
REJECTION
Edited by
Kipling D. Williams and Steve A. Nida
First published 2017
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
and by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2017 Taylor & Francis
The right of Kipling D. Williams and Steve A. Nida to be identified as the authors of the editorial
material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with
sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or
by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission
in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are
used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
A catalog record for this title has been requested
ISBN: 978-1-84872-557-7 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-84872-558-4 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-30847-0 (ebk)
Typeset in Bembo
by Saxon Graphics Ltd, Derby
CONTENTS
List of Contributors viii
1 Introduction and Overview 1
Kipling D. Williams and Steve A. Nida
2 Ostracism: Being Ignored and Excluded 10
Dongning Ren, Andrew H. Hales, and Kipling D. Williams
3 Alone and Impulsive: Self-regulatory Capacity Mediates and
Moderates the Implications of Exclusion 29
Levi R. Baker and Roy F. Baumeister
4 Motivational and Emotional Aspects of Interpersonal
Rejection: Twenty-Five Years of Theory and Research 46
Mark R. Leary
5 The Shared Neural Substrates of Physical and Social Pain 61
Kristina Tchalova and Naomi I. Eisenberger
6 Acute and Chronic Physiological Consequences of
Social Rejection 81
Ellie Shuo Jin and Robert A. Josephs
vi Contents
7 Only the Lonely: The Curious Case of Exclusion
and Aggression 95
C. Nathan DeWall, Brian Enjaian, and Sarah Beth Bell
8 Social Exclusion and the Self 113
Cynthia L. Pickett and Yanine D. Hess
9 Creating the Silence: Ostracism from the Perspective
of the Source 130
Lisa Zadro, Alexandra Godwin, Elena Svetieva, Nisha Sethi,
Rose Iannuzzelli, and Karen Gonsalkorale
10 Social Surrogates and Rejection: How Reading,
Watching TV, and Eating Comfort Food Can Ease the
Pain of Social Isolation 146
Shira Gabriel and Jennifer Valenti
11 Rejection in Romantic Relationships 162
Danu Anthony Stinson, John G. Holmes, and Theresa H. He
12 Ostracism from a Cross-Cultural Perspective 177
Juliette Schaafsma
13 Ostracism in Children and Adolescents 192
Steve A. Nida and Conway F. Saylor
14 Normative Exclusion and Attraction to Extreme Groups:
Resolving Identity-Uncertainty 207
Michael A. Hogg and Joseph A. Wagoner
15 Workplace Ostracism 224
Sandra Robinson and Kira Schabram
16 Social Media and Ostracism 240
Peter Vorderer and Frank M. Schneider
17 Anthropological Aspects of Ostracism 258
Patrik Söderberg and Douglas P. Fry
Contents vii
18 Social Exclusion, Ostracism, and Rejection Research:
Where Do we Go from Here? 273
Eric D. Wesselmann, Kipling D. Williams, and Steve A. Nida
Index 290
CONTRIBUTORS
Levi R. Baker Florida State University, USA
Roy F. Baumeister University of Queensland, Australia
Sarah Beth Bell University of Kentucky, USA
C. Nathan DeWall University of Kentucky, USA
Naomi I. Eisenberger University of California, Los Angeles, USA
Brian Enjaian University of Kentucky, USA
Douglas P. Fry University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA
Shira Gabriel SUNY University at Buffalo, USA
Alexandra Godwin University of Sydney, Australia
Karen Gonsalkorale University of Sydney, Australia
Andrew H. Hales Purdue University, USA
Theresa H. He University of Victoria, Canada
Yanine D. Hess SUNY Purchase College, USA
Contributors ix
Michael A. Hogg Claremont Graduate University, USA
John G. Holmes University of Waterloo, Canada
Rose Iannuzzelli University of Sydney, Australia
Ellie Shuo Jin University of Texas at Austin, USA
Robert A. Josephs University of Texas at Austin, USA
Mark R. Leary Duke University, USA
Steve A. Nida The Citadel, USA
Cynthia L. Pickett University of California, Davis, USA
Dongning Ren Tilburg University, The Netherlands
Sandra Robinson University of British Columbia, Canada
Conway F. Saylor The Citadel, USA
Juliette Schaafsma Tilburg University, the Netherlands
Kira Schabram University of British Columbia, Canada
Frank M. Schneider University of Mannheim, Germany
Nisha Sethi Peter Walker & Associates, Clinical Psychologists, Australia
Patrik Söderberg Åbo Akademi University, Finland
Danu Anthony Stinson University of Victoria, Canada
Elena Svetieva Católica-Lisbon School of Business & Economics, Portugal
Kristina Tchalova McGill University, Canada
Jennifer Valenti SUNY University at Buffalo, USA
Peter Vorderer University of Mannheim, Germany
