Feeling unrestricted by rules: Ostracism promotes aggressive responses

Abstract

The current research consisted of three studies (overall N = 338; 59 men; mean age = 19.98; SD = 1.75), which aimed to examine whether ostracism promotes aggression through enhanced feelings of rule negligence by adopting a multi-method approach. Participants were undergraduate students in a public university in Hong Kong and they only participated in one of the three studies. The results showed that ostracized participants reported higher levels of rule negligence and aggression than non-ostracized participants (Studies 1 and 2). Moreover, enhanced feelings of rule negligence significantly mediated the relation between ostracism and aggression (Studies 1 and 2). In addition, priming ostracized people with the importance of following social rules weakened the effect of ostracism on aggression (Study 3). In sum, these findings highlight the critical influence of rule negligence in understanding when and why ostracism promotes aggression and how to diminish such an effect. Implications were discussed.

Are rules made to be broken? Conspiracy exposure promotes aggressive behavior

“…Additionally, the finding that rule‐breaking tendencies carry direct implications for aggression dovetails nicely with studies showing the links between rule breaking and sensation seeking (e.g., Jensen et al., 2011) and antisocial behavior (e.g., Poon & Teng, 2017). We added to this by presenting the novel relationships of rule breaking with conspiracy exposure and aggression.…”

“…Next, participants completed a measure adapted from prior research to assess their rule‐breaking tendencies (e.g., Poon & Teng, 2017). Participants imagined themselves as the protagonist in various hypothetical situations in which they were asked to follow a given rule (e.g., “do not take pictures in an art exhibition” and “do not use a cell phone at the cinema”) and reported how likely they were to break the rule (1 = not at all ; 7 = very much so ).…”

The effects of cyber-ostracism on college students' aggressive behavior: a moderated mediation model

“…Due to the convenience and breadth of online social interaction, as well as its characteristics such as anonymity, lack of social cues, and fast spread of media, online ostracism may cause more severe harm to individuals compared to face-to-face ostracism ( 52 ). Ostracism experiences are often closely related to individuals’ aggression tendencies ( 43 ). One of the critical stages for inhibiting aggression is adolescence to early adulthood ( 53 ), which is the developmental stage of college students.…”

Beliefs in Conspiracy Theories Following Ostracism

“…The increased tendency to endorse conspiracy theories following ostracism might also contribute to the rise in societal aggression and crime rates. Previous research has documented that ostracism increases aggression (e.g., DeWall et al, 2009; Poon & Chen, 2014; Poon & Teng, 2017) and discourages prosocial behaviors (Twenge et al, 2007). The increased endorsement of conspiracy theories after feeling ostracized may exacerbate such notorious effects because past research has shown that beliefs in conspiracy theories hold the potential to breed aggression and inhibit prosocial behaviors (van der Linden, 2015).…”