It is More than Thought that Counts: the Role of Readiness for Aggression in the Relationship Between Ostracism and Displaced Aggression

Abstract

Research has shown that ostracism results in aggressive behavior towards the ostracising other, but also causes displaced aggression—aggression directed towards an innocent person. Our study investigated whether displaced aggressive responses to ostracism were increased by three types of aggression proneness (readiness for aggression) based on different mechanisms: emotional-impulsive, habitual-cognitive or personality-immanent. Participants (n = 118) played a Cyberball game in which they were either excluded or included, next prepared a hot sauce sample for another person as an indicator of aggression and completed the Readiness for Interpersonal Aggression Inventory. Results showed that ostracism evoked more aggression in participants with high rather than with low emotional-impulsive readiness for aggression. Only this type of readiness moderated the ostracism-aggression relationship indicating that mostly affective mechanisms induce displaced aggressive responses to exclusion.

Raising awareness about social exclusion in schools through experiential learning

“…We could not compare anger scores with these two studies because they do not report the results pertaining to anger separately as we do in this project. Yet work we used when making our analysis plan pertaining to anger shows similar values for levels of anger as we observe here (Rajchert et al, 2017;Svetieva et al, 2016;Zadro et al, 2004). Although we cannot compare the experience of being excluded to that of being included, we reasoned that discussing the descriptive statistics from other studies may help contextualize the absolute values we have and highlight that these scores are mostly in line with what one would observe studies with similar designs (and studies in a similar context, i.e., the Netherlands, in the case of need threat).…”

Raising awareness about social exclusion in schools through experiential learning

“…We could not compare anger scores with these two studies because they do not report the results pertaining to anger separately as we do in this project. Yet work we used when making our analysis plan pertaining to anger shows similar values for levels of anger as we observe here (Rajchert et al, 2017;Svetieva et al, 2016;Zadro et al, 2004). Although we cannot compare the experience of being excluded to that of being included, we reasoned that discussing the descriptive statistics from other studies may help contextualize the absolute values we have and highlight that these scores are mostly in line with what one would observe studies with similar designs (and studies in a similar context, i.e., the Netherlands, in the case of need threat).…”

Seeking approval: adopting impression management tactics upon experiencing workplace ostracism

“…We contribute to the literature on workplace ostracism by associating it with victims’ impression management behaviors. As workplace ostracism is an unfavorable work stimulus, much attention has been paid to their negative reactions, such as counterproductive work behavior (Yang and Treadway, 2018), interpersonal deviance (Jahanzeb and Fatima, 2018), and aggressive behavior (Rajchert et al , 2017). However, our findings of impression management behaviors as reactions to workplace ostracism suggest that victims desire for affiliative interpersonal connections, which enhances knowledge about victims’ interpersonal outcomes.…”

Strength of Excitation Is Negatively Associated with Aggressive Behavior after Interpersonal Rejection

“…There are also studies showing that individual differences influence the magnitude of the aggressive response to rejection ( Twenge and Campbell, 2003 ; Buckley et al, 2004 ; Ayduk et al, 2008 ; Rajchert, 2015 ; Rajchert et al, 2016 ). However, although the role of temperament in response to stress and coping behaviors is well-recognized, we are not aware of any research that has looked at the temperamental features that moderate the rejection–aggression association other than recently published results from the same study which we discuss here ( Rajchert and Winiewski, 2016 ) dealing with how BIS/BAS strength influences the rejection–aggression relationship.…”

Raising awareness about social exclusion in schools through experiential learning

“…We could not compare anger scores with these two studies because they do not report the results pertaining to anger separately as we do in this project. Yet work we used when making our analysis plan pertaining to anger shows similar values for levels of anger as we observe here (Rajchert et al, 2017;Svetieva et al, 2016;Zadro et al, 2004). Although we cannot compare the experience of being excluded to that of being included, we reasoned that discussing the descriptive statistics from other studies may help contextualize the absolute values we have and highlight that these scores are mostly in line with what one would observe studies with similar designs (and studies in a similar context, i.e., the Netherlands, in the case of need threat).…”

Seeking approval: adopting impression management tactics upon experiencing workplace ostracism

“…We contribute to the literature on workplace ostracism by associating it with victims’ impression management behaviors. As workplace ostracism is an unfavorable work stimulus, much attention has been paid to their negative reactions, such as counterproductive work behavior (Yang and Treadway, 2018), interpersonal deviance (Jahanzeb and Fatima, 2018), and aggressive behavior (Rajchert et al , 2017). However, our findings of impression management behaviors as reactions to workplace ostracism suggest that victims desire for affiliative interpersonal connections, which enhances knowledge about victims’ interpersonal outcomes.…”

Strength of Excitation Is Negatively Associated with Aggressive Behavior after Interpersonal Rejection

“…There are also studies showing that individual differences influence the magnitude of the aggressive response to rejection ( Twenge and Campbell, 2003 ; Buckley et al, 2004 ; Ayduk et al, 2008 ; Rajchert, 2015 ; Rajchert et al, 2016 ). However, although the role of temperament in response to stress and coping behaviors is well-recognized, we are not aware of any research that has looked at the temperamental features that moderate the rejection–aggression association other than recently published results from the same study which we discuss here ( Rajchert and Winiewski, 2016 ) dealing with how BIS/BAS strength influences the rejection–aggression relationship.…”

Raising awareness about social exclusion in schools through experiential learning

“…We could not compare anger scores with these two studies because they do not report the results pertaining to anger separately as we do in this project. Yet work we used when making our analysis plan pertaining to anger shows similar values for levels of anger as we observe here (Rajchert et al, 2017;Svetieva et al, 2016;Zadro et al, 2004). Although we cannot compare the experience of being excluded to that of being included, we reasoned that discussing the descriptive statistics from other studies may help contextualize the absolute values we have and highlight that these scores are mostly in line with what one would observe studies with similar designs (and studies in a similar context, i.e., the Netherlands, in the case of need threat).…”

Seeking approval: adopting impression management tactics upon experiencing workplace ostracism

“…We contribute to the literature on workplace ostracism by associating it with victims’ impression management behaviors. As workplace ostracism is an unfavorable work stimulus, much attention has been paid to their negative reactions, such as counterproductive work behavior (Yang and Treadway, 2018), interpersonal deviance (Jahanzeb and Fatima, 2018), and aggressive behavior (Rajchert et al , 2017). However, our findings of impression management behaviors as reactions to workplace ostracism suggest that victims desire for affiliative interpersonal connections, which enhances knowledge about victims’ interpersonal outcomes.…”

Strength of Excitation Is Negatively Associated with Aggressive Behavior after Interpersonal Rejection

“…There are also studies showing that individual differences influence the magnitude of the aggressive response to rejection ( Twenge and Campbell, 2003 ; Buckley et al, 2004 ; Ayduk et al, 2008 ; Rajchert, 2015 ; Rajchert et al, 2016 ). However, although the role of temperament in response to stress and coping behaviors is well-recognized, we are not aware of any research that has looked at the temperamental features that moderate the rejection–aggression association other than recently published results from the same study which we discuss here ( Rajchert and Winiewski, 2016 ) dealing with how BIS/BAS strength influences the rejection–aggression relationship.…”