Intergroup Exclusion Elicits Levels of Distress and Hostility Similar to Interpersonal Exclusion

Marginalizing social groups has been identified as one of the main drivers of violent extremism across countries. However, most psychological research has focused on interpersonal rather than intergroup effects to understand the link between social exclusion and aggression. We compared the effects of intergroup and interpersonal using RateME, a new task designed to dissociate both types of exclusion, and Cyberball in a sample of 1200 UK residents. Intergroup exclusion elicited by RateME and interpersonal exclusion elicited by both RateME and Cyberball were independently associated with increased psychological distress and state hostility, regardless of participants’ degree of identification with the group. Exclusion of either type also increased collective narcissism, especially in participants who had experienced higher levels of psychological distress. Our work reveals similar detrimental psychological effects of intergroup exclusion compared to interpersonal exclusion, highlighting intergroup exclusion as a risk factor for mental health with potential implications for violent extremism.