What to say when they won't let you play? The effectiveness of cognitive reappraisal on social exclusion
Year: 2015
Type: dissertation
Abstract: This study explores the effects of cognitive reappraisal in the context of ostracism. We argue that this emotion regulation strategy is mediated by language, as it involves formulating a reinterpretation of an emotional situation. We investigated the effects of reappraisals with different linguistic contents on the experience of social exclusion in a virtual ball game. Emotional responding of forty participants was compared in four conditions, in which they were given 1) a reappraisal with a positive content, 2) a reappraisal with a negative content, 3) a non-emotional linguistic load or 4) no specific instruction. A significant result was found for the participants’ judgement of the other players in the game: the excluders were rated less friendly in the negative reappraisal condition and the no-instruction condition. We conclude that linguistic content influences the effectiveness of cognitive reappraisal: a reappraisal with a non-negative (i.e. neutral or positive) content is more advantageous for the relationship with the excluders than a negative reappraisal.
Author: Elisabeth G.I. Nieuwburg
Language: English
Subfield: Social Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1428249640