Let's play…in-group vs. out-group: Game playing and ostracism in an immersive environment
Abstract
Ostracism, the act of being excluded by a person or a group, is a common experience among children, adolescents, and adults in our society. This research builds upon previous findings showing that adults become either angry or sad when ostracized. This study explores dissociations in people's reactions to ostracism, and specifically how people react when ostracized by either their in-group or out-group. It is hypothesized that being ostracized by an in-group will lead to feelings of distress and being ostracized by an out-group will lead to feelings of anger. The study exams personality characteristics of participants who become angry compared to those who become distressed. The manipulation checks for this study showed that participants were feeling ostracized but data did not support the hypotheses. Participants in the ostracized out-group condition did not score higher on the anger items on the emotion scale when compared to participants in the corresponding control group. These effects, however, may have been offset by the novelty of the experiment.
Subject Area
Social psychology|Psychology|Experiments
Recommended Citation
Carrillo, Kimberly Ann, "Let's play…in-group vs. out-group: Game playing and ostracism in an immersive environment" (2007). ETD Collection for University of Texas, El Paso. AAI1449740.
https://scholarworks.utep.edu/dissertations/AAI1449740