On-line ostracism affects children differently from adolescents and adults

Abstract

words (excluding references)How cyberostracism affects children and adults 2 Abstract This research examines adults', and for the first time, children's and adolescents' reaction to being ostracised and included, using an on-line game, 'Cyberball' with same and opposite sex players. Ostracism strongly threatened four primary needs (esteem, belonging, meaning and control) and lowered mood among 8-9-year olds, 13-14-year-olds, and adults. However, it did so in different ways. Ostracism threatened self-esteem needs more among 8-9-year-olds than older participants. Among 13-14-year-olds, ostracism threatened belonging more than other needs. Belonging was threatened most when ostracism was participants' first experience in the game. Moreover, when participants had been included beforehand, ostracism threatened meaning needs most strongly. Gender of other players had no effect. Practical and developmental implications for social inclusion and on-line experiences among children and young people are discussed.

The effects of peer ostracism on children's cognitive processes

“…The effects of ostracism on children have rarely been examined in experimental research, and the current study used one of the few paradigms that has been shown to induce ostracism reliably and safely in both adults and children (e.g., Abrams et al, 2011;Williams et al, 2000). Consistent with the one previous study that has used the Cyberball paradigm to examine the effects of ostracism on primary needs in children (Abrams et al, 2011), we found that ostracized children reported a greater threat to primary needs than their included peers.…”

“…Like Abrams et al (2011), we modified the adult version of the paradigm for use with children by identifying the previously anonymous ''players'' with names and headshots of real children. The pairs of bogus players were OSTRACISM AND COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE 603 sex-matched to the participant (Ricky and Trevor for boys, and Sally and Cassie for girls).…”

“…This paradigm has been used extensively to manipulate parameters of ostracism in experimental research with adult samples (see Williams, 2007), and more recently with children and adolescents. Abrams et al (2011) showed that in children aged 8-14 years, ostracism induced by Cyberball threatened the same primary needs as in adults, while Masten et al (2009) found that patterns of neural activation shown by adolescents in response to Cyberball are consistent with those associated with ostracism in adults.…”

“…While social exclusion has been shown to elicit emotional arousal in both adults and children (e.g., Abrams, Weick, Thomas, Colbe, & Franklin, 2011;Williams, Cheung, & Choi, 2000), such arousal was not found to account for the effects of exclusion on cognitive processes reported by Baumeister et al (2002). It was speculated, rather, that individuals may respond to the aversive impact of social exclusion by allocating self-regulatory resources to the management of this impact.…”

“…It was speculated, rather, that individuals may respond to the aversive impact of social exclusion by allocating self-regulatory resources to the management of this impact. Experimental research has also shown that in both adults and children, the aversive experience of ostracism threatens four key domains-conceptualized by Williams (2007) as ''primary human needs''-belongingness, control, self-esteem, and meaningful existence (Abrams et al, 2011;Williams et al, 2000). Belongingness refers to the need to feel wanted and included by others.…”