Department of Psychology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
PLoS One. 2020 Jun 25;15(6):e0234540. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0234540. eCollection 2020.
The importance of social connection to well-being is underscored by individuals' reactivity to events highlighting the potential for rejection and exclusion, which extends even to observing the social exclusion of others ("vicarious ostracism"). Because responses to vicarious ostracism depend at least in part on empathy with the target, and individuals tend to empathize less readily with outgroup than ingroup members, the question arises as to whether there is a boundary condition on vicarious ostracism effects whereby individuals are relatively immune to observing ingroup-on-outgroup ostracism. Of particular interest is the case where members of a dominant ethnic group observe fellow ingroup members ostracize a member of a disadvantaged ethnic minority group, as here there is a compelling potential alternative: Perceived violation of contemporary social norms condemning prejudice and discrimination might instead lead dominant group members to be especially upset by "dominant-on-disadvantaged" ostracism. Accordingly, the present research examines, across four studies and 4413 participants, individuals' affective reactions to observing dominant-on-disadvantaged versus dominant-on-dominant ostracism. In each study, dominant group members (White/Europeans) observed dominant group members include or ostracize a fellow dominant group member or a disadvantaged ethnic minority group member (a Black individual) in an online Cyberball game. Results revealed that dominant group members felt more guilt, anger, and sadness after observing severe ostracism of a disadvantaged as opposed to dominant group member. Although no direct effects emerged on behavioral outcomes, exploratory analyses suggested that observing ostracism of a disadvantaged (versus dominant) group member had indirect effects on behavior via increased feelings of anger. These results suggest that observing ostracism may be a sufficiently potent and relatable experience that when it occurs across group boundaries it awakens individuals' sensitivity to injustice and discrimination.
社会联系对幸福感的重要性，突出体现在个体对潜在拒绝和排斥事件的反应上，这种反应甚至延伸到观察到他人的社会排斥（“替代性排斥”）。由于对替代性排斥的反应至少部分取决于对目标的同理心，而且个体往往不太容易与外群体成员产生共鸣，而不是内群体成员，因此出现了一个问题，即替代性排斥效应是否存在一个边界条件，即个体相对不容易观察到内群体对外群体的排斥。特别有趣的是，占主导地位的族群成员观察到自己的内群体成员排斥处于劣势的少数民族群体成员的情况，因为这里存在一个引人注目的替代方案：对当代社会规范谴责偏见和歧视的感知可能会导致占主导地位的群体成员对“占主导地位的对处于劣势的”排斥感到特别不安。因此，本研究通过四项研究和 4413 名参与者，考察了个体在观察到主导群体对劣势群体与主导群体对主导群体的排斥时的情感反应。在每项研究中，占主导地位的群体成员（白人/欧洲人）在在线 Cyberball 游戏中观察到主导群体成员包括或排斥一个内群体成员或一个处于劣势的少数民族群体成员（一个黑人个体）。结果表明，占主导地位的群体成员在观察到处于劣势的群体成员受到严重排斥时，感到更多的内疚、愤怒和悲伤。尽管在行为结果上没有直接影响，但探索性分析表明，观察到处于劣势的（而不是主导的）群体成员被排斥会通过增加愤怒感对行为产生间接影响。这些结果表明，观察排斥可能是一种足够强烈和相关的体验，当它跨越群体边界发生时，它会唤醒个体对不公正和歧视的敏感性。
