University of Trento, Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science, Corso Bettini 84, 38068, Rovereto, TN, Italy.
University of Milano-Bicocca, Department of Psychology, Italy.
J Adolesc. 2020 Apr;80:173-181. doi: 10.1016/j.adolescence.2020.02.010. Epub 2020 Mar 6.
Social-media can contribute to building up adolescents' relationships, but they might also bring negative exclusionary experiences. Being excluded is a subtle yet hurtful form of relational aggression, which affects people's psychological wellbeing, especially during developmental stages. In this study, we (1) analyzed the effects of social-media exclusion adapting the Ostracism Online paradigm to a cohort of Italian preadolescents (Mage = 11.47, 53% girls) and (2) tested the efficacy of two potential recovery strategies (i.e., social bonds vs. social surrogate).
Inclusionary status was manipulated through the number of "likes" participants received on a fictitious online social network. In the exclusion condition, participants received fewer likes than everyone else. In the inclusion condition, participants received a similar number of likes of other users. Then, all participants were asked to think of a significant positive relationship with a family member (social bonds), a celebrity (social surrogate), their present moment thoughts (control).
Preadolescents who received fewer likes than others reported higher levels of need threat (i.e., belong, self-esteem, meaningful existence, but not control) and negative emotions. Moreover, the social-bonds strategy generally brought a faster psychological recovery from social-media exclusion than the control condition. The efficacy of social-surrogates strategy was greater for boys than for girls, probably due to different choices in their favorite celebrities.
These findings show how offline life offers compensatory opportunities for adolescents' online life. When the lack of "Likes" signal exclusion on social-media, thinking of an existing social relationship help adolescents to cope with this negative experience.
社交媒体可以帮助青少年建立人际关系，但也可能带来负面的排斥体验。被排斥是一种微妙但伤人的关系攻击形式，它会影响人们的心理健康，尤其是在发展阶段。在这项研究中，我们（1）通过改编的排斥在线范式来分析社交媒体排斥对意大利青春期前儿童（Mage=11.47，53%为女孩）的影响，（2）测试了两种潜在的恢复策略（即社会联系和社会替代）的效果。
通过参与者在一个虚构的在线社交网络上收到的“赞”的数量来操纵包容性状态。在排斥条件下，参与者收到的赞比其他人少。在包容条件下，参与者收到的赞与其他用户相似。然后，要求所有参与者思考与家庭成员（社会联系）、名人（社会替代）、当下想法（控制）的一段重要积极关系。
收到的赞比别人少的青春期前儿童报告了更高水平的需求威胁（即归属、自尊、有意义的存在，但不是控制）和负面情绪。此外，与控制条件相比，社会联系策略通常能更快地从社交媒体排斥中恢复心理状态。社会替代策略对男孩的效果大于女孩，可能是因为他们对喜欢的名人有不同的选择。
这些发现表明，线下生活为青少年的线上生活提供了补偿机会。当社交媒体上缺乏“赞”表示排斥时，想到现有的社会关系有助于青少年应对这种负面体验。
