From an identity process theory perspective: a daily investigation of why and when ostracism triggers ingratiation

ABSTRACT

Although existing studies suggest the relationship between ostracism and ingratiation, the knowledge about why and when ostracism promotes ingratiatory behaviors remains limited. Drawing from identity process theory, the current study examines the influence of ostracism on ingratiatory behaviors through the mediating role of self-identity threat on a daily timescale and the cross-level moderation of core self-evaluation. Through a diary study of 117 Chinese college students across 14 consecutive days, we found that daily ostracism had a positive indirect effect on daily ingratiatory behaviors through daily self-identity threat. Core self-evaluation of students weakened the indirect effect, such that only students with low core self-evaluation engaged in daily ingratiatory behaviors to cope with self-identity threat from ostracism. More importantly, supplemental analyses suggested that averaged daily ingratiatory behaviors were negatively related to perceived ostracism one week later. We discussed several theoretical and practical implications of these findings and proposed future research directions.

KEYWORDS:

• Ostracism
• self-identity threat
• ingratiatory behaviors
• core self-evaluation
• diary study

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data described in this article are openly available in the Open Science Framework at https://osf.io/k4y3c

Open scholarship

This article has earned the Center for Open Science badges for Open Data and Open Materials through Open Practices Disclosure. The data and materials are openly accessible at https://osf.io/k4y3c

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.

Notes on contributors

Liang Hou

Liang Hou, Ph.D., is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Human Resource Management and Public Administration at Beijing Institute of Petrochemical Technology.

Xixi Gu

Xixi Gu, Ph.D., is currently an assistant professor in the School of Sociology at China University of Political Science and Law.

Guifeng Ding

Guifeng Ding, Ph.D., is a professor in the Institute of Psychology and Behavior at Henan University.