Ostracism and Aggression

Humans desire to connect socially with others, and they experience negative physical and psychological outcomes when this need is thwarted (Baumeister & Leary, 1995). Ostracism (i.e., being excluded and ignored) and other forms of social exclusion are common negative social experiences that thwart this need for social connection (Williams, 2009).1 Ostracism can occur physically (e.g., being exiled or incarcerated; Boehm, 1986; Mahdi, 1986; Zippelius, 1986), socially (being ignored and excluded while in the physical face-to-face presence of others; Warburton et al., 2006; Wesselmann et al., 2012; Williams & Sommer, 1997), or in cyber interactions (e.g., chat rooms, text messages, video chats, social networking sites, and online games; Goodacre & Zadro, 2010; Smith & Williams, 2004; Tobin et al., 2015; Williams et al., 2000; Williams et al., 2002; Wolf et al., 2014). Even minimal social cues that suggest one is relationally devalued (e.g., averted eye gaze, hurtful laughter, or uncomfortable silences) can elicit feelings of ostracism (Böckler et al., 2014; Klages &Wirth, 2014; Koudenburg et al., 2011; Wirth et al., 2010).