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Is Viewing Ostracism onTelevision Distressing?Sarah M. Coyne a , David A. Nelson a , Simon L.Robinson b & Nicola C. Gundersen ba Brigham Young Universityb University of Central LancashirePublished online: 19 Apr 2011.

To cite this article: Sarah M. Coyne , David A. Nelson , Simon L. Robinson & NicolaC. Gundersen (2011) Is Viewing Ostracism on Television Distressing?, The Journal ofSocial Psychology, 151:3, 213-217, DOI: 10.1080/00224540903365570

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00224540903365570

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The Journal of Social Psychology, 2011, 151(3), 213–217

Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

REPLICATIONS AND REFINEMENTS

Is Viewing Ostracism on TelevisionDistressing?

SARAH M. COYNEDAVID A. NELSON

Brigham Young University

SIMON L. ROBINSONNICOLA C. GUNDERSEN

University of Central Lancashire

ABSTRACT. Being ostracized can be a painful and distressing experience and can lead tosubsequent aggression by the victim. However, it is unknown whether watching someoneelse be ostracized either in real life or on television is similarly distressing. The purposeof the current study was to examine what type of distress (if any) is induced after viewingostracism on television. The study consisted of 50 participants, half who viewed a movieclip containing ostracism and half who viewed a control clip. Physiological and self-reportdata revealed that viewing ostracism was distressing to participants. In particular, partici-pants who viewed the ostracism clip reported a lower sense of belonging, self esteem, andmood, and a greater increase in heart rate and skin conductivity than those who viewed thecontrol clip.

Keywords: distress, media, ostracism, rejection, social exclusion, television

BELONGING TO A GROUP FULFILS four fundamental human needs: self-esteem, control, belonging, and meaningful existence. Various researchers havefound that being ostracized (being ignored and excluded) threatens these needs(e.g. Williams & Zadro, 2005) and impacts mood (Williams, 2007). Physiologicalstudies have also revealed that experienced ostracism is linked to higher cortisollevels (produced in stressful situations), and higher blood pressure (Stroud,Tanofsky-Kraff, Wilfley, & Salovey, 2000). To rid themselves of painful feelings,

Address correspondence to Sarah M. Coyne, Brigham Young University, School of FamilyLife, 2087 JFSB, Provo, UT 84602, USA; smcoyne@byu.edu (e-mail).

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214 The Journal of Social Psychology

ostracized individuals often engage in either prosocial (Williams & Sommer,1997) or aggressive behavior (Warburton, Williams, & Cairns, 2006).

To date, most ostracism research involves the individual being ostracized(or imagining they are being ostracized) and then taking various “distress” mea-surements. This approach suggests that feelings of distress are initiated primarilywhen the self is threatened. However, it is plausible that individuals may similarlyexperience a painful response when viewing others being ostracized, whether inreal life or on television. Hypothetically, such vicarious distress could also resultin behavioral outcomes (such as prosocial or aggressive behavior) as the individ-ual attempts to reduce feelings of distress. Thus, the aim of the current study is toexamine whether vicariously being exposed to ostracism (in the media) can resultin feelings of distress.

Method

Participants

Fifty participants took part in the study (60% female). Twenty-seven (54%)participants were psychology students at the university, while the rest wererecruited through advertisements placed in an urban community setting. Ageranged from 17–50 years old (M = 24.69, SD = 8.35) and the vast majority ofparticipants were of white British origin (90%). There were 25 participants in theostracism condition and 25 in the control condition.

Materials/Procedure

Video clip. Participants viewed one of two video clips (10 minutes in length)from the movie Harriet the Spy (rated PG). The film involves a pre-adolescentgirl (Harriet) who writes down her thoughts about the world in her notebook. Inthe ostracism clip, Harriet’s peers read the notebook and then ostracize Harrietfrom the group, writing mean notes, ignoring, and creating an exclusive club withthe sole purpose of excluding Harriet. The control clip is also from the movie butshows a light-hearted scene with Harriet and her friends meeting an interestingwoman and playing in her garden.

Physiological measures. Physiological measurements (blood pressure, heartrate, and galvanic skin response) were taken just before and just after eachclip to assess current distress levels of participants. Blood pressure (BP) andheart rate (HR) were analyzed using a UA767+ Digital Blood Pressure Monitor(clinically validated by the British Hypertension Society; see O’Brien et al.,1993). Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) was analyzed using an Autogenics skinconductance monitor. Previous research shows that GSR machines generally

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Coyne et al. 215

show moderate reliability, especially in the short term (e.g., Fredrickson, Annas,Georgiades, Hursti, & Tersman, 1993).

Basic needs questionnaire. This questionnaire was completed directly after finalphysiological measurements were taken. This measures whether a person feelsthat specific fundamental needs (as described previously) have been threatened(e.g. van Beest, & Williams, 2006). For each question, participants were askedto circle the number (on a 1–5 point Likert scale) that best represented the feel-ings they experienced during the clip. Four items were used to measure feelingsof meaningful existence (e.g., “I felt invisible”), four items measured a sense ofbelonging (e.g., “I felt rejected”), four items measured self esteem (e.g., “I feltgood about myself”), and four items measured feelings of control (e.g., “I felt Ihad control”). Eight items assessed participants’ mood during the clip (e.g., happy,sad, friendly, etc.). Reliability for these scales was acceptable, especially consider-ing the low number of items for each scale (Cortina, 1993; meaningful existence,α = 0.73; belongingness, α = 0.66; self esteem, α = 0.72; control, α = 0.71,mood, α = 0.91).

Results

Physiological Measures

A MANOVA was conducted to reveal any differences between the ostracismand control group in physiological change scores. A significant multivariate effectwas found, F(4, 45) = 2.74, p < .05, η2 = .20. An examination of the univariateeffects revealed that participants viewing the ostracism video had a significantlygreater increase in galvanic skin response, F(1, 48) = 5.37, p < .05, η2 = .10(M = 1.47, SD = 1.86; M = .52, SD = .86), and heart rate (at the level of a trend),F(1, 48) =3.60, p = .06, η2 = .07, (M = 4.80, SD = 11.64; M = −.52, SD = 8.25)than the control condition. However, the two groups did not differ significantlyon systolic F(1, 48) = 1.45, p = .23 .05, η2 = .03 (M = 3.40, SD = 16.21;M = −2.36, SD = 17.58), or diastolic blood pressure, F(1, 48) = .13, p = .72,η2 = .00 (M =3.28, SD = 14.55; M = 1.80, SD = 14.02), though these were bothin the predicted direction.

Basic-Needs Measure

A MANOVA was conducted to assess how viewing ostracism on televisionimpacted feelings regarding the four fundamental needs as described earlier, aswell as mood. A significant multivariate effect of video viewed was revealed,F(5, 44) = 3.68, p < .01, η2 = .30. Univariate effects revealed that partici-pants who viewed the ostracism video reported a lowered sense of belonging,

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216 The Journal of Social Psychology

F(1, 48) = 5.12, p < .05, η2 = .10, (M = 3.10, SD = .76; M = 3.54, SD = .60),self esteem, F(1, 48) = 4.15, p < .05, η2 = .08, (M = 2.76, SD = .77;M = 3.17, SD = .64), and worse mood, F(1, 48) = 15.31, p < .001, η2 = .24,(M = 3.30, SD = .83; M = 4.14, SD = .68) than the control group. However,there was no effect of condition on feelings of control, F(1, 48) = .40, p = .53,η2 = .01, (M = 3.10, SD = .75; M = 2.97, SD = .68) or meaningful existence,F(1, 48) = .74, p = .39, η2 = .02, (M = 3.89, SD = .82; M = 4.08, SD = .77).

Discussion

This exploratory study found that viewing ostracism on television is distress-ing, as shown by self-reports of distress and some forms of physiological changes.However, distress scores were limited to decreases in self-esteem and feelingsof belonging. According to Williams (2007), ostracism that threatens these spe-cific needs is more likely to lead to subsequent prosocial, not aggressive behavior,though we did not measure specific behavior in the current study. Though theresults are somewhat tentative, our results show that vicarious experiences withostracism are distressing and should be examined further.

AUTHOR NOTES

Sarah M. Coyne is an Assistant Professor at Brigham Young University.Her research interests include media and aggression. David A. Nelson is anAssociate Professor at Brigham Young University who studies relational aggres-sion and parenting. Simon L. Robinson is a final year Medical Student at KingsCollege London, with interests in the psychology of aggression and ostracism.Nicola C. Gundersen recently graduated with distinction (MSc, Psychology ofChild Development) from the University of Central Lancashire, and is currentlypursuing a career as an Educational Psychologist.

REFERENCES

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Fredrickson, M., Annas, P., Georgiades, A., Hursti, T., & Tersman, A. (1993). Internal con-sistency and temporal stability of classically conditioned skin conductance responses.Biological Psychology, 35, 153–163.

O’Brien, E., Petrie, J., Littler, W., de Swiet, M., Padfield, P. L., Altman, D. G., . . .Atkins, A. (1993). The British Hypertension Society protocol for the evaluation of bloodpressure measuring devices, Journal of Hypertension, 11, S43–S62.

Stroud, L. R., Tanofsky-Kraff, M., Wilfley, D. E., & Salovey, P. (2000). The YaleInterpersonal Stressor (YIPS): Affective, physiological, and bbehavioral responsesto a novel interpersonal rejection paradigm. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 22,204–213.

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van Beest, I., & Williams, K. D. (2006). When inclusion costs and ostracism pays,ostracism still hurts. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91, 918–928.

Warburton, W. A., Williams, K. D., & Cairns, D. R. (2006). When ostracism leads toaggression: The moderating effects of control deprivation. Journal of ExperimentalSocial Psychology, 42, 213–220.

Williams, K. D. (2007). Ostracism. Annual Review of Psychology, 58, 425–452.Williams, K. D., & Sommer, K. L. (1997). Social ostracism by one’s coworkers: Does

rejection lead to loafing or compensation? Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin,23, 693–706.

Williams, K. D., & Zadro, L. (2005). Ostracism: The indiscriminate early detection system.In K. D. Williams, J. P. Forgas, & W. V. Hippel (Eds.), The social outcast: Ostracism,social exclusion, rejection, and bullying (pp. 19–34). New York, NY: Psychology Press.

Received May 7, 2009Accepted September 10, 2009

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