Social ostracism as a factor motivating interest in extreme groups

Williams, Kipling D.; Hales, Andrew H.; Michels, Corinna

doi:10.4324/9781351255912-2

Cited by 26 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 1 publication

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“…Notably, this conclusion aligns with past work linking social exclusion to constructs related to fanaticism (e.g., increased likelihood of joining radical groups; Hales & Williams, 2018;Renström et al, 2020;Williams et al, 2019). And further, the present studies may inform this work in terms of the moderating effects of certainty.…”

Section: Social Versus Nonsocialsupporting

confidence: 89%

Discordant knowing: A social cognitive structure underlying fanaticism.

Gollwitzer¹,

Ökten²,

Pizarro³

et al. 2022

Journal of Experimental Psychology: General

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Examining the epistemic and social–cognitive structures underlying fanaticism, radicalization, and extremism should shed light on how these harmful phenomena develop and can be prevented. In nine studies (N = 3,277), we examined whether discordant knowing—felt knowledge about something that one perceives as opposed by most others—underlies fanaticism. Across multifaceted approaches, experimentally manipulating participants’ views to fall under this framework (e.g., “I am certain about X, but most other people think X is unknowable or wrong”) heightened indicators of fanaticism, including aggression, determined ignorance, and wanting to join extreme groups in the service of these views. Additional analyses found that this effect occurs via threat-based mechanisms (Studies 1–7), can be intervened on to prevent fanaticism (Study 2), is conditional on the potency of opposition (Study 3), differs from effects on extremism (Study 4), and extends to mental representations of the self (Study 5). Generalizing these findings to real-world contexts, inducing participants with discordant knowledge about the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election and the morality of abortion heightened fanaticism regarding these topics (Studies 6 and 7). Additionally, antivaccine fanatics and followers of a real-world fanatical religious group exhibited greater discordant knowing than nonfanatical individuals (Studies 8 and 9). Collectively, the present studies suggest that a specific epistemic structure—discordant knowing—underlies fanaticism, and further, highlight the potential of investigating constructs like fanaticism from an epistemic social cognitive perspective.

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Section: Social Versus Nonsocialsupporting

confidence: 89%

Discordant knowing: A social cognitive structure underlying fanaticism.

Gollwitzer¹,

Ökten²,

Pizarro³

et al. 2022

Journal of Experimental Psychology: General

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Our research suggests that the main effect of ostracism might not be attributed to how it is a negative experience or how it violates expectations. Previous research has shown that ostracism influences various aspects of the self, including self-esteem (Williams & Zadro, 2005), self-concept clarity (Ayduk et al, 2009), self-concept malleability (Richman et al, 2015), and self-uncertainty (e.g., Hales & Williams, 2018;Williams et al, 2019), which may explain the unique influence of ostracism on self-continuity.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Ostracism, a negative daily interpersonal experience, can influence several aspects of the self. For instance, ostracism threatens self-esteem (Williams, 2009;Williams & Zadro, 2005), triggers self-uncertainty (Hales & Williams, 2018;Williams et al, 2019), disrupts self-concept clarity (Ayduk et al, 2009), and amplifies self-concept malleability (Richman et al, 2015). Previous studies have focused on the evaluative (e.g., self-esteem) and structural aspects of the self (e.g., self-concept clarity and malleability).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Ostracism Disrupts Self-Continuity

Jiang

Chen

Wang

et al. 2020

Pers Soc Psychol Bull

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We conducted six studies to test our hypotheses that ostracism disrupts self-continuity and that self-affirmation counters ostracism’s negative influence on self-continuity. Participants who experienced more ostracism in their daily lives (Study 1), imagined being ostracized (Studies 2 and 5), recalled a past ostracism experience (Studies 3 and 6), and were ostracized in a ball-tossing game (Study 4) reported lower levels of self-continuity than their counterparts. Moreover, neither violations of expectation nor negativity of the experience was sufficient in decreasing self-continuity (Study 5). Finally, self-affirmation weakened the negative effect of ostracism on self-continuity (Study 6). Taken together, our findings provide converging causal evidence for our hypotheses and provide novel insights for the literature on how daily interpersonal interactions influence individuals’ sense of an enduring self. In addition, the moderation of self-affirmation reported in our research indicates an effective approach to diminishing the negative influence of ostracism.

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“…Of the needs threatened by ostracism, the need for certainty (Hogg, 2007) is of particular concern during the pandemic and experiences of social distancing. Even under ordinary circumstances, ostracism triggers enormous uncertainty, as people wonder if they are being intentionally excluded, and if so, for what reason, and for how long it will last (Williams et al, 2019). The current pandemic likely exacerbates this uncertainty in two ways.…”

Section: Reasons For Concernmentioning

confidence: 99%

Navigating COVID-19: Insights from research on social ostracism

Hales

Wood

Williams

2021

Group Processes & Intergroup Relations

Self Cite

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The COVID-19 pandemic and associated social distancing and lockdowns has caused unprecedented changes to social life. We consider the possible implications of these changes for mental health. Drawing from research on social ostracism emphasizing the importance of social connection for mental well-being, there is reason for concern regarding the mental health effects of the crisis. However, there are also reasons for optimism; people can be surprisingly resilient to stressful situations, the impact of ostracism tends to depend on social norms (which are rapidly changing), and mental health depends primarily on having at least one or two close social connections. Given the scale and unprecedented nature of the social disruption that occurred, we see strong reason for concern, but not despair.

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Social ostracism as a factor motivating interest in extreme groups

Cited by 26 publications

References 1 publication

Discordant knowing: A social cognitive structure underlying fanaticism.

Discordant knowing: A social cognitive structure underlying fanaticism.

Ostracism Disrupts Self-Continuity

Navigating COVID-19: Insights from research on social ostracism

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