School of Psychology, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
School of Psychology, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
PLoS One. 2024 May 31;19(5):e0303510. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0303510. eCollection 2024.
Individuals ostracize others for myriad reasons, yet the influence of those reasons on the psychological experience of ostracizing is yet unknown. Two studies aimed to determine the emotional and behavioral sequelae of ostracizing for different motives, directly comparing punitive to defensive motives. We focused our examination on a suite of emotions expected to arise as a function of (1) the situations that give rise to ostracizing for punitive and defensive reasons (anger, fear, anxiety, and sadness) and (2) the act of ostracizing itself (i.e., pride and guilt). The research employed a novel paradigm to induce the experience of ostracizing for defensive or punitive motives. Study 1 (N = 372) investigated sources' experienced emotion as a function of motive. Study 2 (N = 743) expanded consideration to behavioral intentions, including intentions to continue ostracizing and to recruit others to join in ostracizing the target. Across both studies and supported by an internal meta-analysis, ostracizing for defensive reasons was associated with higher levels of guilt, fear, and anxiety, and lower levels of anger, compared to ostracizing for punitive reasons. Neither sadness nor positive emotion (pride or happiness) differed significantly according to motive in either study. Moreover, guilt and anger mediated the impact of motive on intentions to continue ostracizing and recruit others to join them in ostracizing. To the extent that punitive sources experienced anger relative to defensive sources, they expressed greater intentions to continue ostracizing the target and to recruit others to join in ostracizing the target. To the extent that defensive sources experienced guilt relative to punitive sources, they reported reduced intentions to continue ostracizing the target. Findings add to a growing literature on ostracism sources, and highlight the mediating role of sources' emotion in guiding future actions.
个体出于无数原因排斥他人，但这些原因对排斥他人的心理体验的影响尚不清楚。两项研究旨在确定出于不同动机排斥他人的情绪和行为后果，直接比较惩罚性和防御性动机。我们专注于一系列预期会随着（1）导致惩罚性和防御性排斥的情况以及（2）排斥本身的行为而产生的情绪，来检验这些情绪。研究采用了一种新颖的范式来诱发出于防御性或惩罚性动机排斥的体验。研究 1（N=372）调查了动机对来源体验情绪的影响。研究 2（N=743）将考虑范围扩大到行为意图，包括继续排斥和招募他人一起排斥目标的意图。在两项研究中，内部元分析支持了这一观点，即与出于惩罚性动机排斥相比，出于防御性动机排斥与更高水平的内疚、恐惧和焦虑以及更低水平的愤怒相关。在任何一项研究中，悲伤或积极情绪（骄傲或幸福）都没有因动机而异。此外，内疚和愤怒在动机对继续排斥和招募他人一起排斥的意图的影响中起中介作用。惩罚性来源体验到愤怒的程度相对于防御性来源，他们表示更愿意继续排斥目标，并招募他人一起排斥目标。防御性来源体验到内疚的程度相对于惩罚性来源，他们报告说减少了继续排斥目标的意图。这些发现增加了关于排斥来源的不断增长的文献，并强调了来源情绪在指导未来行为中的中介作用。
