Investigating how ostracizing others affects one’s self-concept

Abstract

Social relationships are connected with an individual’s self-concept, so events that influence one’s relationships subsequently influence one’s self-concept. Ostracism, being excluded and ignored, is an aversive experience involving both a target (the one being ostracized) and source (the one ostracizing). We will discuss previous limitations of source paradigms and how we addressed them when developing our paradigms. We will also highlight current source research, from a co-edited special issue, and how this research is relevant to an individuals’ self-concept. Lastly, we will suggest how cognitive dissonance work can ground source research within a larger theoretical framework and inspire future research. We consider how one’s self-concept influences cognitive dissonance related to knowingly harming others through ostracism.

Keywords:

• Sources of ostracism
• burden
• ostracism
• social exclusion
• self-concept

Notes

1. We used the term ostracism throughout the manuscript given that the majority of the research we discussed used this term. However, some research we referenced may have used the terms rejection or social exclusion, which can have different theoretical and empirical implications (see Leary, Twenge, & Quinlivan, 2006; Williams, 2009).