Department of Social Psychology, Tilburg University.
Department of Psychology, Illinois State University.
Emotion. 2023 Jun;23(4):997-1010. doi: 10.1037/emo0001157. Epub 2022 Sep 1.
Social exclusion triggers aversive reactions (e.g., increased negative affect), but being excluded may bring substantial benefits by reducing pathogen exposure associated with social interactions. Is exclusion less aversive when cues of infectious diseases are salient in the environment? We conducted two preregistered experiments with a 2 (belonging status: included vs. excluded) × 2 (disease salience: low vs. high) design, using scenarios (Study 1, = 347) and a well-validated exclusion paradigm, Cyberball (Study 2, = 519). Positive affect and negative affect were measured as the key outcomes. Across the 2 studies, we found little evidence that disease salience moderated the effect of exclusion (vs. inclusion) on positive affect. At the same time, we observed consistent evidence that disease salience moderated the effect of exclusion (vs. inclusion) on the other affective component: negative affect. Concretely, disease salience increased participants' negative affect in inclusion conditions; in exclusion conditions, the effect of disease salience on negative affect was negligible or nearly zero. Using a novel and robust approach of mediation analysis (interventional indirect effects), we further showed that the motive of disease avoidance rivals the motive of affiliation in shaping people's experiences of social interactions. These findings suggest that cues of disease salience alter people's affective experience with inclusion but not exclusion. The current research represents an important step toward understanding people's affective responses to social exclusion and inclusion in complex social situations involving multiple, and potentially conflicting motives. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).
社会排斥会引发厌恶反应（例如，增加负面情绪），但通过减少与社交互动相关的病原体暴露，被排斥可能会带来实质性的好处。当环境中突出显示传染病线索时，排斥是否不那么令人厌恶？我们使用场景（研究 1，n = 347）和经过充分验证的排斥范式 Cyberball（研究 2，n = 519）进行了两项预先注册的实验，采用 2（归属状态：包括与排除）×2（疾病显著性：低与高）设计。积极情绪和消极情绪是作为关键结果进行测量的。在这两项研究中，我们几乎没有发现证据表明疾病显著性会调节排斥（与包含）对积极情绪的影响。同时，我们观察到一致的证据表明，疾病显著性会调节排斥（与包含）对另一个情感成分的影响：消极情绪。具体来说，疾病显著性增加了参与者在包含条件下的消极情绪；在排斥条件下，疾病显著性对消极情绪的影响可以忽略不计或几乎为零。通过使用中介分析（干预间接效应）的一种新颖而强大的方法，我们进一步表明，疾病回避的动机与隶属动机在塑造人们对社交互动的体验方面具有同等重要性。这些发现表明，疾病显著性线索改变了人们对包含的情感体验，但不会改变对排斥的情感体验。当前的研究是理解在涉及多种、潜在冲突动机的复杂社交情境中，人们对社会排斥和包容的情感反应的重要一步。（PsycInfo 数据库记录（c）2023 APA，保留所有权利）。
