Not all social exclusions are created equal: Emotional distress following social exclusion is moderated by exclusion paradigm

Although one's intuition may be that social exclusion causes emotional distress, evidence both supports and refutes this perception. Some research has shown that exclusion results in decreased mood, self-esteem, and other needs, whereas other work has shown that exclusion results not in distress but rather in a relatively flat affective state. We assert that the paradigm used to induce social exclusion may moderate its effect on emotional distress. We found in two studies that Cyberball exclusion resulted in decreased basic needs satisfaction and mood relative to Cyberball inclusion, whereas no differences emerged on these same measures between Future-Life exclusion and inclusion conditions. Implications of these results for understanding the broader effects of exclusion paradigm are discussed.