Nelson Oliva, Diego Benedikt (2022) Ostracism and its Effects on Needs and Behavioral Responses: The Moderating Role of Personality. Bachelor thesis, Psychology.
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Abstract
Ostracism, which means being ignored or excluded, is painful and threatens fundamental psychological needs. Research findings diverge on how people react behaviorally to ostracism. The temporal need threat model of ostracism provides a theoretical framework regarding how an individual reacts psychologically and behaviorally to ostracism. In this study, I investigated how personality may influence reactions to ostracism, focusing on the personality traits of conscientiousness and agreeableness. I hypothesized that particularly people high in those traits would perceive a threat to their psychological needs after being ostracized and consequently distinctively choose prosocial behavior as a strategy to restore threatened needs. We ostracized or included adults from the U.S. (N = 449) in a social media-like online environment. Ostracized participants reported a significantly lower need satisfaction than included participants. Higher scores on conscientiousness and agreeableness were associated with higher need satisfaction in the ostracized as well as included group. Participants had the opportunity to engage in pro- or antisocial behavior towards an ostensible other person in a puzzle task. Most participants behaved prosocially, irrespective of their personality traits and whether they were ostracized or not. Nevertheless, the need satisfaction of ostracized individuals increased significantly, albeit still remaining below the satisfaction levels of included participants. Our findings suggested that ostracism in the context of social interaction via the internet has detrimental psychological effects. These effects can eventually be mitigated. The role of personality in these processes requires further investigation.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Bachelor) |
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| Supervisor name: | Agostini, M. |
| Degree programme: | Psychology |
| Differentiation route: | None [Bachelor Psychology] |
| Date Deposited: | 15 Jul 2022 08:49 |
| Last Modified: | 15 Jul 2022 08:49 |
| URI: | http://gmwpublic.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/962 |
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