Does Loneliness Change Social Judgments in Ambiguous Situations?:The Effects of Ostracism on Lonely Individuals
Year: 2018
Type: article
Abstract: Although lonely individuals experience ostracism fairly often, relatively little research exists on how they respond to it.In what little previous research does exist, ostracism has been found to be an almost universally negative experience for lonely and non-lonely individuals alike.Despite this the current study attempted to explore two different hypothesis that lonely individuals respond differently to ostracism than non-lonely individuals.Specifically, the hypothesis that lonely individuals experience greater social pain in an ambiguous condition that could or could not be seen as ostracism based on their own judgment (the rejection attribution bias), and the hypothesis that lonely individuals might be predisposed to a more generalized sensitivity to social pain based on their previous experiences.The study's findings confirm previous research that explicit ostracism is generally perceived as negative regardless of individual differences such as loneliness, and additionally provided indications in support of both the generalized sensitivity hypothesis and the rejection attribution bias theory in lonely individuals.
Author: Lawrence, David Evan
Institution: Marietta College
Language: English
Subfield: Social Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7065171028