Two sides of the ostracism coin: How sources and targets of social exclusion perceive themselves and one another

Abstract

Ostracism involves two parties: The group doing the exclusion (i.e., sources) and the target of the exclusion. Research on social exclusion has often focused on the targets. The current study, however, considers the experiences of both sources and targets. Members of four-person groups were randomly assigned to the roles of targets or sources of exclusion, and then interacted in a face-to-face setting. Participants’ perceptions of themselves and other group members were then evaluated and also compared with control group members. Although targets were negatively affected by exclusion, the sources of exclusion also suffered negative consequences. In addition, these interactions (which were videotaped) were coded by independent judges. The observational data revealed that people use a variety of behaviors to exclude a target, and more stringent forms of exclusion corresponded to more negative outcomes.