ISIEA: An image database of social inclusion and exclusion in young Asian adults

Abstract Human beings have a fundamental need to belong. Evaluating and dealing with social exclusion and social inclusion events, which represent negative and positive social interactions, respectively, are closely linked to our physical and mental health. In addition to traditional paradigms that simulate scenarios of social interaction, images are utilized as effective visual stimuli for research on socio-emotional processing and regulation. Since the current mainstream emotional image database lacks social stimuli based on a specific social context, we introduced an open-access image database of social inclusion/exclusion in young Asian adults (ISIEA). This database contains a set of 164 images depicting social interaction scenarios under three categories of social contexts (social exclusion, social neutral, and social inclusion). All images were normatively rated on valence, arousal, inclusion score, and vicarious feeling by 150 participants in Study 1. We additionally examined the relationships between image ratings and the potential factors influencing ratings. The importance of facial expression and social context in the image rating of ISIEA was examined in Study 2. We believe that this database allows researchers to select appropriate materials for socially related studies and to flexibly conduct experimental control.