The concept of social invisibility describes the devaluation of the perceived social and personal worth of an individual. This paper presents the theoretical foundation for this construct, and the development and validation of the "Invisibility Scale" capturing experiences of and needs for social (in)visibility within (i) intimate, (ii) legal, and (iii) communal relations. We developed and validated the Invisibility Scale in two studies. In Study I (n = 944), we formulated 80 items and tested their underlying factor structure using Exploratory Factor Analyses (EFA). In Study II (n = 846), we aimed to replicate the factor structure identified in Study I on a novel sample using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), and establish criterion-related validity and construct validity using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Our results supported the development of two separate scales for measuring experiences of social invisibility ("Invisibility ScaleEXP") and needs for social visibility ("Invisibility ScaleNEED") Each scale consisted of 12 items (four items for each subfactor of intimate, legal, and communal relations). Evidence for construct validity between the Invisibility Scales and relevant constructs like Moral Disengagement, Sense of Coherence, and Violent Extremist Attitudes was mixed. Based on our findings, we present the two Invisibility Scales as preliminary validated measures of social invisibility. We encourage future research to replicate our findings, as well as looking more into other potentially mediating and moderating factors between social invisibility and its emotional, cognitive, and behavioral correlates.

Using the job demands-resources model, this study theorizes the negative longitudinal relationship between empowering leadership and teacher ostracism, both directly and through work engagement.

For this purpose, data collected in three waves at four-month intervals from 473 teachers (51.6% women; mean age = 42.26) working in schools at different levels in the centre of Elazığ province, eastern Turkey, during the 2022-2023 academic year were used. The relationships between the variables were analysed using a cross-lagged panel model with latent variables.

The findings showed that empowering leadership positively related to work engagement and negatively related to teacher ostracism. Work engagement, in turn, is negatively related to teacher ostracism. Additionally, empowering leadership was found to be negatively related to teacher ostracism through work engagement.

These results suggest that empowering leadership may be a crucial factor in preventing teacher ostracism, both directly and by enhancing employee engagement. The article concludes by discussing the theoretical contributions of the findings and presenting practical implications to help mitigate the risk of teacher ostracism.

Ostracism (feeling ignored and excluded) triggers psychophysiological responses associated with distress. We investigated different coping responses after ostracism and explored whether these were preceded by unique facial thermal signatures, reflecting autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity. Using thermal infrared imaging, we recorded facial cutaneous temperature variations in female participants (N = 95) experiencing inclusion and ostracism using hypothetical Cyberball games. Coping after ostracism was assessed during a hypothetical Allocation Game, where participants could do nothing (withdrawal), reduce (antisocial), or increase (prosocial) the hypothetical earnings of their ostracizer. Contrary to expectations, most participants chose to withdraw (52%), with fewer opting for antisocial responses (30%) or prosocial responses (18%) after ostracism. Results from linear mixed-effects modeling revealed that substantial temperature variability occurred only in the nose region of the face. Both ostracism and inclusion showed a decrease in nasal temperature relative to baseline, but the average drop was greater during inclusion, suggesting stronger ANS activation during inclusion rather than ostracism. Crucially, exploratory findings showed that only participants who responded antisocially after ostracism exhibited steeper decreases in nasal temperature during ostracism compared to inclusion. This pattern suggests greater physiological reactivity among antisocial responders, particularly in contrast to those who chose to withdraw. Future research should integrate thermal imaging with other physiological measures and strengthen ostracism manipulations to understand the relationship between thermal responses and different coping behaviors.

The primary aim of this study was to investigate the relationships between attachment, social exclusion, and risky behaviors in adolescents. The sample comprised 463 adolescents, aged 13-18, attending various high schools in Turkey. Data were collected using three instruments: the Parent and Peer Attachment Inventory, the Ostracism (Social Exclusion) Scale for Adolescents, and the Risk Behaviors Scale. The results revealed a moderate negative correlation between attachment to mothers and risky behaviors, while a weaker negative correlation was observed between attachment to fathers and risky behaviors. Additionally, a low but statistically significant negative correlation was found between peer attachment and risky behaviors. Social exclusion was positively correlated with antisocial behaviors, suicidal tendencies, and school dropout, although the correlations were weak. In contrast, a weak but significant negative relationship was observed between social exclusion and eating habits. No significant association was identified between social exclusion and behaviors such as alcohol consumption or smoking.

The number of hikikomori individuals has been increasing not only in Japan but also worldwide while few studies have looked into the societal elements that could lead to further isolation of hikikomori individuals. This study examines the psychological factors in local residents related to social exclusion of hikikomori individuals.

365 participants living in Tottori, Japan were analyzed. The questionnaire includes key questions such as social exclusion of hikikomori individuals, daily lifestyle, personal opinions and attitudes towards hikikomori individuals.

Those who are unwilling to interact with people who have different sense of values were 3.6 times likely to exclude hikikomori individuals than those who did not. Those who believe that hikikomori is a family issue so that others should not intervene were 2.2 times likely to exclude them than those who did not. Conversely, those who think that people can make a fresh start in the society even after making mistakes were 0.5 times likely to exclude hikikomori than those who did not. Those who feel that they have something in common with hikikomori individuals were 0.4 times likely to exclude them than those who did not. Those who think that they can enjoy activities such as hobbies together with hikikomori individuals were 0.3 times likely to exclude them than those who did not.

The analysis indicates that the tendency to reject relationships with people who have different sense of values and the opinion that hikikomori is a family issue are the risk factors for social exclusion of hikikomori individuals. Contrarily, the opinion that even if we make a mistake or fail, we can make a fresh start, awareness of the similarities between oneself and hikikomori individuals, and willingness to share enjoyable activities with them are shown to be the protective factors which could reduce social exclusion of hikikomori.

Social exclusion is a form of bullying that can lead to various negative consequences, and even extreme forms of violence. Certain groups, such as people with poor mental health and adolescents, are particularly vulnerable. This paper features a systematic review of experiments that investigated the impact of social exclusion on adolescents with psychiatric disorders. Experiments were searched via: PubMed, Web of Science, PsycInfo, ERIC, Cochrane, and a manual search. The search yielded 174 experiments, and 12 remained after screening. These met the inclusion criteria, which included: having an empirical design, participants aged 10-19, and a clinical sample with at least one psychiatric disorder. Among the clinical samples, the most common disorder was depression, featured in seven experiments. The most common paradigm was Cyberball. Results showed that social exclusion impacts adolescents with psychiatric disorders differently than inclusion (e.g., leading to a more negative mood). However, the difference in the impact of social exclusion on adolescents with vs. without psychiatric disorders was only conclusive via fMRI measurements. Compared to healthy controls, adolescents with psychiatric disorders seem to display altered neural reactivity during social exclusion. Based on identified research gaps, future studies are needed to explore the impact of social exclusion on adolescents with a wider range of psychiatric disorders. Other recommendations are included, such as a brain region checklist for future experiments using fMRI.

Recently, Rühs et al. (2022) used an adapted ostracism-paradigm to study goal adjustment processes, and goal disengagement processes (GD) in particular, as regulatory responses to goal-blocking situations such as ostracism. The present study conceptually replicates this study and extends it by inclusion of sub-personal indicators of GD in the paradigm.

The goal to belong to a newly formed group was induced in 188 participants (Induction Phase). Afterwards, blockage of this goal was experimentally manipulated via ostracism: Participants were either included or excluded from their group in a virtual ball game (Cyberball, Blockage Phase). Finally, participants worked alone on a cognitive task to give regulatory responses some time to unfold. After each phase, dependent measures were recorded (e.g., indicators of GD and well-being).

Exclusion (vs. inclusion) in Cyberball lead to a decrease in subjective attainability of the belonging goal (goal blockage) and to affective-cognitive and behavioral GD (e.g., explicit devaluation of the belonging goal and the own group, behavioral deprioritization of ostracizing compared to new group members in a following game). However, ostracism had no effect on implicit group evaluation (repeated IATs showed a constant own group bias) and although excluded participants recovered from ostracism-induced impairments in emotions and needs, associations between recovery and GD indicators were mixed.

Most of the results of Rühs et al. (2022) could be replicated. Beyond that, the present study showed divergence of personal and sub-personal indicators of cognitive-affective GD (i.e., change in explicit and implicit group evaluations). This illustrates the importance of combining personal and sub-personal perspectives in GD research. Taken together, the study contributes to a conceptual and functional clarification of GD processes and, at the same time, offers a fruitful new perspective on coping with ostracism.

Numerous studies have discussed the connection between social exclusion and prosocial behaviour, yet the conclusions have been inconsistent. We conducted a three-level meta-analysis on 83 effect sizes derived from 53 studies (N = 21,405). Overall, a significant yet weak negative correlation was found between social exclusion and prosocial behaviour (r = -.10, 95% CI [-0.17, -0.04]). Moderator analysis revealed that individuals in collectivistic cultures may exhibit higher levels of prosocial behaviour following exclusion compared to those in individualistic cultures. The female proportion positively influenced the overall effect size. The type of prosocial behaviour was marginally significant, in that 'other' prosocial behaviour yielded the largest effect sizes. However, effects did not differ across age groups, between the inclusion condition and the neutral condition, or between experimental research and correlational research. Our results underscore the crucial roles of culture and gender in the relationship between social exclusion and prosocial behaviour.

In this article, we investigate how being socially excluded (vs. included) affects people's distributive fairness judgements and their willingness to cooperate with others in subsequent interactions. For this purpose, we conducted three experiments in which we assessed individual differences in having experienced being socially excluded (Experiment 1, N = 164), and manipulated social exclusion (Experiment 2, N = 120; Experiment 3, N = 492). We studied how this impacted fairness judgements of three different outcome distributions (disadvantageous inequality, advantageous inequality, and equality) both within-participants (Experiments 1 and 2) and between-participants (Experiment 3). To assess behavioural consequences, we then also assessed participants' cooperation in a social dilemma game. Across the three experiments, we consistently found that social exclusion impacted fairness judgements. Compared to inclusion, excluded participants judged disadvantageous inequality as more unfair and advantageous inequality as less unfair. Moreover, compared to socially included participants, socially excluded participants were more willing to cooperate after experiencing advantageous rather than disadvantageous inequality, and feelings of acceptance served as a mediator in these associations.

Social belonging is of vital importance for adolescents. However, ostracism in the digital age may negatively affect adolescents' sense of coherence through social media addiction. The main objective of the current study was to investigate the associations between ostracism and sense of coherence and to conduct mediation analysis including social media addiction. The sample consisted of 425 Turkish adolescents aged between 14 and 18 years (Mage= 15.53, SD = 1.26). Data were collected through the Ostracism Experience Scale for Adolescents, the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale, and the Sense of Coherence Scale-Revised. The results showed that ostracism increased social media addiction, which in turn negatively affected adolescent's sense of coherence. Besides, an indirect role of social media addiction was found between ostracism and sense of coherence. Overall, these results suggest that ostracism is a risk factor for sense of coherence and that social media addiction increases this risk. Elucidating the indirect role of social media addiction between ostracism and sense of coherence is believed to shed light on the requirement for policies and intervention programmes to address ostracism and social media addiction to maintain adolescents'mental health.

Many mechanisms of social bonding are common to all primates, but humans seemingly have developed some that are unique to the species. These involve various kinds of interactive experiences-from taking a walk together to having a conversation-whose common feature is the triadic sharing of experience. Current theories of social bonding have no explanation for why humans should have these unique bonding mechanisms. Here we propose a shared intentionality account of uniquely human social bonding. Humans evolved to participate with others in unique forms of cooperative and communicative activities that both depend on and create shared experience. Sharing experience in these activities causes partners to feel closer because it allows them to assess their partner's cooperative competence and motivation toward them and because the shared representations created during such interactions make subsequent cooperative interactions easier and more effective.

The rising rates of adolescent depression have become a critical concern, with family dynamics and interpersonal communication playing a significant role in this mental health issue. However, research on the combined effects of parental warmth and interpersonal trust on adolescent depressive symptoms remains limited. This study aimed to explore the association between parental warmth, interpersonal trust, and depressive symptoms in Chinese adolescents. The sample included 2745 adolescents aged 9 to 18 from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS). Depressive symptoms were assessed using the CES-D8 scale, which yielded an average score of 4.34. Among participants, 11.3% exhibited symptoms consistent with depression. Multivariate linear regression revealed that both parental warmth (β = -0.296, p < 0.001) and interpersonal trust (β = -0.197, p < 0.001) significantly predicted lower depressive symptoms. Mediation analysis indicated that interpersonal trust partially mediated the relationship between parental warmth and depressive symptoms, explaining 17.68% of the total effect (β = -0.032, 95% CI = -0.060, -0.016). These associations remained significant even after controlling for demographic variables. Our findings suggest that parental warmth protects against depressive symptoms, with interpersonal trust enhancing this protective effect. Interventions focused on fostering parental warmth and enhancing interpersonal trust could improve adolescent mental health.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a psychiatric disease that may develop after experiencing a traumatic event and it is characterized by resistance to extinction of the traumatic memory. Psychotherapy, which mainly focuses on favoring fear memory extinction, represents the first-line treatment for PTSD. However, this approach is not always successful. Emerging evidence suggests the importance of a social support in alleviating PTSD symptomatology; however, the efficacy of group therapy for PTSD remains controversial. Here, we evaluated the impact of social support on the efficacy of fear extinction sessions in a chronic PTSD-like rat model. We tested the hypothesis that the presence of a social partner during temporally spaced extinction sessions (to mimic the presence of a social support during therapy) or after the extinction sessions in a neutral environment (to mimic the presence of a social support outside of the therapy setting) would ameliorate long-term PTSD-like symptomatology. Extinction sessions were carried out under different conditions: (i) alone; (ii) with a social partner never exposed to the trauma; (iii) with a trauma-exposed partner. In a separate set of experiments, rats were exposed to the extinction sessions alone and, immediately thereafter, paired with a social partner, as indicated above, in a different context. Extinction sessions carried out in the presence of a social partner never exposed to the traumatic experience rescued long-term trauma-induced PTSD-like symptomatology. We provide evidence of beneficial effects of a "healthy" social support during extinction sessions in ameliorating both immediate and persistent over time cognitive and emotional PTSD-like symptoms.

Ostracism increases the risk of depression and suicidal behaviors. Mindfulness training, which is at the core of third-wave behavioral therapies such as acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), might reduce social distress and inhibit negative affect.

This randomized controlled trial included 32 patients with a history of suicide attempt in the past year who followed seven weekly sessions of ACT or progressive relaxation therapy (PRT). To assess and compare the effects of ACT and PRT on social distress, patients performed a validated paradigm of social exclusion (the Cyberball Game) followed by completion of the Need Threat Scale (NTS) at inclusion (baseline) and within two weeks after the intervention ended (posttherapy).

The included patients were mainly women (N = 28; 87.5%), and their mean age was 40 years (SD: 12 years). Twenty-six patients (81%) experienced current depression. The postintervention NTS score was greater (lower social distress) in the ACT group than in the PRT group (group × time interaction; β = 0.47, p < 0.05), even after controlling for depressive symptoms (β = 0.27, p < 0.05). The NTS score change (between baseline and posttherapy) was correlated with changes in dispositional mindfulness (r = 0.46, p = 0.03), cognitive fusion (r = - 0.61, p < 10-3) and acceptance (r = 0.57, p < 10-2).

ACT decreased social pain independently of its effect on depression. Reduced social pain was correlated with improved therapeutic processes and decreased suicidal ideation, highlighting the therapeutic potential of ACT for managing ostracism and suicide risk.

In order to examine the relationship between cyber-ostracism and social anxiety among undergraduates, as well as to investigate the mechanisms underlying the effects of cyber-ostracism, rejection sensitivity, and rumination on social anxiety, this study recruited 864 undergraduate students from Jiangsu and Guangdong Provinces in China using a cluster sampling method. The participants completed the Cyber-Ostracism Questionnaire, the Chinese version of the Interaction Anxiousness Scale, the Chinese version of the Rejection Sensitivity Questionnaire, and the Chinese version of the Ruminative Responses Scale. Furthermore, the mediating effects were examined using the structural equation modeling (SEM) method. The results showed that (1) cyber-ostracism was positively related to social anxiety among undergraduates, and (2) rejection sensitivity and rumination played a chain mediating role in the relationship between cyber-ostracism and social anxiety.

Over-imitation represents an early developing behavior implicated in the emergence of learning, affective, and social competences. Adult over-imitation is heavily affected by contextual variables such as social ostracism, the experience of being ignored by others in a social context, an experience that threatens several psychological needs, inducing the urge to reaffiliate with a social group to restore the original state of well-being. Yet, the impact of social ostracism on over-imitation in children remains unclear. This study explored how a face-to-face triadic inclusive/ostracizing ball-tossing game affects over-imitation in predominantly White 3-year-old children (n = 43, 53.4% boys) and 5-year-old children (n = 43, 41.8% boys). Results showed that preschoolers are highly affected by social ostracism experiences, with both age groups displaying decreased positive emotionality and heightened negative emotionality when ostracized. Despite this continuity in the affective and behavioral reactions toward social exclusion, imitation fidelity is differently affected by first-person ostracism; the 3-year-olds imitated more when ostracized, whereas the 5-year-olds did so when included, signaling a developmental difference between the strategy repertoire at different ages. Overall, the current findings shed light on the social influences driving preschoolers' over-imitation behaviors, emphasizing the importance of investigating social mechanisms underlying imitation and young children's social cognition development.

Intimate relationships frequently come to an end, and in the current research, we have endeavored to examine how individuals would potentially react in the scenario where their intimate partner decides to terminate a relationship they wish to continue. More specifically, employing open-ended questionnaires on a sample of 219 Greek-speaking participants, we identified 79 possible reactions. Subsequently, using close-ended questionnaires on a sample of 442 Greek-speaking participants, we categorized these reactions into 13 broad factors. Participants indicated that they were more likely to feel sadness, inquire of their departing partners why they wish to end the relationship, and attempt to divert their thoughts elsewhere to avoid dwelling on the end of the relationship. Men indicated a higher likelihood than women to seek revenge sex, although significant sex differences were not observed in other reactions. Furthermore, we classified these 13 factors into three broader domains. The highest-rated domain was "Accept and forget," followed by "Sadness and depression," and "Physical and psychological aggression." These findings could enable us to gain a better understanding of the process of relationship dissolution, and could potentially be employed to identify and prevent reactions that may have harmful repercussions for the individuals involved in the relationship.

Primates are known to engage in exclusionary behavior, forming alliances to block a minority from accessing scarce resources. Humans are no exception, and examples of exclusionary behavior abound in political, business, and social settings. However, despite its socio-economic relevance, little is known about the prevalence and determinants of such behavior worldwide. Conducting an experimental game in which a group divides resources by majority rule, we document considerable global heterogeneity in exclusionary behavior. Whereas exclusion is modal in some countries, inclusive behavior is the norm in others. Despite significant cross-country variability, we nevertheless find that individual-level characteristics matter similarly across contexts. Men, individuals with a deliberative reasoning style, and ideologically right-leaning individuals, are consistently and substantially more exclusionary. Cross-country differences in the formation of exclusionary alliances correlate with an original Hierarchy Tolerance Index, derived from variables measuring cultural acceptance of power inequalities. Our findings carry important implications for decision-making bodies, as they indicate that the identity of decision-makers and the culture in which they are embedded can affect how equitably resources are divided.

Social exclusion has wide-ranging and detrimental effects. This study recruited 771 Chinese college students (Mage = 19.65 years, SDage = 1.04, 74.19% females). The findings of two cross-lagged panel models, administered at three different points in time, indicated a negative association between social exclusion (including being ignored and rejected) and basic psychological needs (autonomy, competence, and relatedness). Specifically, both being ignored and rejected significantly predicted decreases in autonomy, competence, and relatedness needs. Moreover, relatedness needs significantly predicted decreases in being ignored, while autonomy needs predicted decreases in being ignored. Additionally, competence needs at T1 positively predicted being ignored but negatively predicted being rejected at T2. This study was based on Self-Determination Theory (SDT) and expanded its application within the realm of social exclusion. The findings offer novel intervention strategies for reducing social exclusion and promoting well-being.

Bullying victimization remains a grave issue in early adolescence. However, existing research often lacks a longitudinal perspective and sufficient attention to protective factors, particularly the dynamic role of teacher-student relationships.

This study explores the longitudinal protective mechanisms against bullying victimization, focusing on the roles of perceived control and teacher-student relationships.

A sample of 1454 adolescents (mean age = 13.63 years, SD = 0.76, 51% female) was followed over the course of one year. Latent growth models were employed to examine the developmental trajectories of bullying victimization, perceived control, and teacher-student relationships, and to investigate the longitudinal mediating role of teacher-student relationships in the relationship between perceived control and bullying victimization.

Both perceived control and teacher-student relationships showed a consistent increase over time, while bullying victimization declined over time. The intercept of perceived control negatively predicted the intercept of bullying victimization, with this relationship mediated by the intercept of teacher-student relationships. Furthermore, the slope of perceived control affected the slope of bullying victimization solely through the slope of teacher-student relationships.

These findings highlight that perceived control serves as a stable protective factor against bullying, while strong teacher-student relationships can further reduce bullying victimization. Enhancing students' perceived control and fostering supportive teacher-student relationships should be key components of anti-bullying interventions.

This study explores the relationship between perceived discrimination and social adaptation of migrant workers' children, as well as the mediating role of sense of alienation and the moderating role of psychological capital. A multi-stage-multi-source longitudinal study design was adopted. A total of 423 Chinese migrant workers' children (Mage = 13.36, Female ratio = 39.48%) were recruited, and sample data were collected at three time points for 6 months. The results indicated that the interpersonal alienation played a mediating role between discriminatory perception and social adaptation. Psychological capital moderated the relationship between perceived discrimination and interpersonal alienation. Compared to participants with high psychological capital, interpersonal alienation played a stronger mediating role between perceived discrimination and social adaptation among those with low psychological capital. Perceived discrimination could reduce the level of social adaptation of migrant workers' children through interpersonal alienation. The social adaptation of migrant workers' children could be improved by improving the level of psychological capital.

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a serious public health concern. Emotional insecurity is a crucial predictor of NSSI among adolescents. However, few studies have elucidated the specific mechanisms between emotional insecurity and NSSI.

This study employed a longitudinal research design, using a sample of 886 Chinese early adolescents (Mage at T1 = 10.62 years, SD = 0.77 years; 47.40% females), and conducted two surveys six months apart to examine the mediating role of peer exclusion between emotional insecurity and NSSI, as well as the moderating effect of school climate.

The results indicated that peer exclusion significantly mediated the connection between emotional insecurity and adolescent NSSI. Moreover, school climate significantly moderated the connection between emotional insecurity and peer exclusion. Specifically, the impact of emotional insecurity on peer exclusion was significant only in adolescents who reported a negative school climate, but non-significant in those who reported a positive school climate.

These findings provide a robust theoretical foundation and practical insights to help inform the prevention of and interventions for NSSI in adolescents.

Higher rates of depression are associated with autistic traits; however, the precise association between autistic traits and depression has yet to be fully elucidated. Good interpersonal emotional regulation and social self-efficacy are crucial for mental health; therefore, in this study, we investigated the relationships between autistic traits, interpersonal emotional regulation, social self-efficacy, and depression.

In total, 1024 participants (613 females and 411 males) aged 16 to 23 years old (M = 19.03, SD = 0.95) completed questionnaires that were designed to evaluate their autistic traits, interpersonal emotion regulation, social self-efficacy and depression. Data were analyzed by Spearman correlation and mediation effects analyses.

Autistic traits were significantly and positively correlated with depression (r = 0.39, p < 0.001), and autistic traits were shown to positively predict depression (B = 0.28, p < 0.001). Interpersonal emotion regulation and social self-efficacy were found to play a serial mediating role between autistic traits and depression (indirect effect = 0.020, p = 0.006).

This study is a supplement to the mechanism of the relationship between autistic traits and depression. Interpersonal emotion regulation and social self-efficacy are important predictors of possible depression in individuals with high autistic traits. These findings suggest combining interpersonal emotional regulation training and exploring the clinical value of interpersonal emotional regulation interventions in individuals with high autistic traits and autism spectrum disorder, aiming to build social confidence, reduce negative moods, restore social functioning, and other aspects.

This study aims to explore the complex and multifaceted relationship between Behavioral Activation and Behavioral Maintenance in sports participation, delving into the underlying mechanisms to provide practical insights into how individuals initiate and sustain engagement in sports activities. Utilizing a combination of convenience sampling and snowball sampling methods, 378 sports participants from over ten provinces and cities in China were selected as survey subjects, and an intermediary model concerning the activation and maintenance of sports participation behavior was constructed. Discriminant validity and mediation effect analyses were conducted using SPSS and AMOS 23.0. The results indicate that Behavioral Activation indirectly influences Behavioral Maintenance through Competence (ad = 0.39), with a 95% confidence interval [0.201, 0.642], excluding 0. Behavioral Activation also indirectly influences Behavioral Maintenance through Autonomy (be = 0.23), with a 95% confidence interval [0.109, 0.421], excluding 0. However, Behavioral Activation indirectly influences Behavioral Maintenance through Relatedness (cf. = 0.09), with a 95% confidence interval [-0.068, 0.336], which includes 0. The study reveals that both Competence and Autonomy significantly mediate the activation and maintenance of sports participation behavior among athletes. However, Relatedness does not play a significant mediating role in the activation and maintenance of sports participation behavior among the participants.

Social rejection is a common and unavoidable experience for users of dating apps. Research suggests that socially anxious individuals may be particularly likely to use dating apps to establish intimate relationships, given their preference for online (vs. face-to-face) communication. However, social anxiety (SA) symptoms are associated with heightened negative affect and decreased prosocial behavior following social rejection, suggesting that exposure to dating app rejection has deleterious consequences in this population. This study examined whether SA symptoms and social rejection (vs. acceptance) feedback interact to predict participants' negative and positive affect and social engagement with dating app matches. Participants (N = 128) evaluated for SA symptoms were randomly assigned to receive high or low match rate feedback on a simulated dating application task. SA symptoms were negatively associated with positive affect following high match rate feedback and positively associated with negative affect following low match rate feedback. SA symptoms were negatively associated with self-reported likelihood of contact initiation with matches. Results suggest that high socially anxious individuals are more susceptible to negative repercussions of social rejection on dating applications.

Stronger theory on the nature of human well-being is needed, especially as well-being indicators are increasingly utilized in policy contexts. Building on Erik Allardt, who argued that a theory of well-being is, in essence, a theory of human nature, I propose four modes of existence each capturing one dimension central to human well-being: Having recognizes humans as biological creatures requiring certain material resources for survival. Loving captures human social nature and our dependence on others for well-being. Doing highlights the active and agentic nature of human existence. Being acknowledges humans as experiencing their existence. Each mode of existence gives rise to a few more specific needs, and a full assessment of human well-being requires both subjective and objective indicators tapping into these needs. The proposed theory integrates psychological well-being research with sociological and philosophical traditions and contributes to debates about how the progress of nations and sustainability should be measured.

Well-being is something we all value individually, and it is also a key political goal. Accordingly, how we define and measure well-being influences what physicians, managers, policy-makers, politicians, and international organizations aim to improve through their work. Better theories of well-being make better measurement of well-being possible, which makes possible more effective and evidence-based advancement of human well-being. In this spirit, the present article argues that there are four fundamental dimensions to human well-being: Having highlights that as biological creatures, we have physical needs, loving highlights human social needs, doing highlights that we are active and agentic beings with goals and strivings, and being highlights that we feel and evaluate our lives. To assess well-being, we need measures tapping into all four of these dimensions. And to assess the sustainability of well-being, we need to examine how to provide well-being for all humanity while remaining within planetary boundaries.

Interpersonal relevancy appraisals are a dynamic and understudied aspect of human social cognition. Despite their importance, there are no existing measures. This study developed and validated a new measure of self-perceived interpersonal threat, opportunity, and invisibility appraisals among a life-course sample of adults. We also explored the relationships between relevance appraisals, social connectedness, loneliness, age, and sex assigned at birth.

Items were developed based on a theoretical model of multidomain interpersonal relevance appraisals and refined following feedback from 5 experts in social psychology. Cross-sectional data were obtained online from a sample of 1,079 adults (age 18-90 years), recruited from the general population of Australia. Data were split into two pseudo-random samples used for (a) scale development and evaluation, and (b) assessment of internal consistency, construct validity, convergent validity with social connectedness and loneliness, and exploratory analysis with age and sex.

Results support the factor structure and internal consistency of 17- and 9-item versions of the Perceived Interpersonal Relevancy Scales (PIRS) and measurement invariance across younger and older age groups. Higher self-perceived threat and invisibility appraisals were associated with decreased social network size, increased loneliness, younger age, and male sex. Higher self-perceived opportunity appraisals were associated with increased social network size and decreased loneliness.

Results support this new measure of perceived interpersonal relevance appraisals, which shows relationships between the way we believe others perceive us, loneliness, and social isolation. The PIRS likely has wide utility for studies that seek to understand the intersections between human social cognition, well-being, and health across the lifespan.

Research has shown that ostracism negatively affects the social willingness of those who are ostracized, but the impact of observers, who play an important role in ostracism situations, has been less studied. Three studies examined whether observed ostracism affects observers' willingness to socialize and the underlying mechanism. The results showed that (1) observed ostracism decreased observers' willingness to socialize; (2) perceived future rejection mediated the relationship between observed ostracism and observers' willingness to socialize; and (3) perceived similarity had a moderating effect on the mediation model. Specifically, the higher the perceived similarity between observers and ostracized individuals, the stronger the effect of observed ostracism on observers' perceived future rejection and willingness to socialize. These findings contribute to a more comprehensive, systematic understanding of how ostracism affects observers, including its underlying mechanisms and boundary conditions.

Social ostracism refers to the phenomenon of being excluded from social interactions and not being accepted by society. While previous research has examined its impact on prosocial and antisocial behaviour, few studies have investigated how individuals respond to ostracism by seeking solitude. Therefore, our study aims to explore the association between social ostracism and solitude seeking as well as the potential psychological mechanisms involved. We conducted three studies involving 488 Chinese students (59% female) and found that (a) long-term ostracism experiences positively correlated with preference for solitude, (b) short-term ostracism did not immediately lead to solitude seeking but increased the desire to establish new connections with others and (c) hostile assessment and negative emotions played a chain mediation role in the relationship between social ostracism and solitude seeking. These findings provide new insights and empirical evidence for understanding the relationship between social ostracism and solitude-seeking.

Prior studies have demonstrated the detrimental effects of social exclusion on an individual's self-perception. Nonetheless, existing literature has predominantly focused on its impact on global self-esteem, often neglecting the nuanced effects of various reasons for social exclusion on distinct dimensions of self-evaluation, such as agency and communion. Based on the Big Two model perspective, the present research aims to examine the differential impacts of social exclusion on the distinct dimensions of self-evaluation, namely agency and communion, considering the reasons for social exclusion. It is hypothesized that social exclusion affects different facets of self-evaluation-agency and communion-depending on the context of exclusion. Study 1 identified negative correlations between perceived social exclusion and self-evaluation measures through questionnaires, including global self-esteem and the self-concepts of agency and communion, within a sample of 483 participants (283 females). Studies 2a (n = 93; 75 females) and 2b (n = 91; 66 females), which employed a recall paradigm to manipulate social exclusion in the domains of communion and agency, respectively, revealed that communion exclusion diminished communal self-evaluation, and agency exclusion significantly reduced both agentic and communal self-evaluation. These findings highlight the necessity of distinguishing various types of social exclusion and their distinct effects on the dimensions of self-concept. The research has important implications for the development of interventions aimed at enhancing individual psychological well-being and promoting inclusive social environments.

The goal of this study is to learn more about social media ostracism, a stressor associated with online social networks, defined by feelings of rejection, exclusion, or ignoring. We investigate the connection between social media ostracism and worker creativity. We suggest that psychological safety and psychological rumination serve as intermediaries in this relationship. Furthermore, we investigate emotional intelligence as a relationship regulator. To verify our hypothesis, we gathered data with the help of the HR department from 244 workers of nine Chinese organizations. Our research shows that psychological rumination and social media exclusion are significantly correlated, but only in workers with low emotional intelligence. Furthermore, for individuals with strong emotional intelligence, we did not discover a statistically negative association between psychological safety and social media exclusion. Findings suggest that psychological safety and psychological rumination serve as mediating factors in the relationship between employee creativity and social media exclusion. This study illuminates the negative aspects of social media ostracism and reveals how it might hinder creativity. It also emphasizes how emotional intelligence functions as a moderator. Organizations may learn a lot from this study on how to lessen the negative impacts of social media exclusion on employee creativity.

Although existing studies suggest the relationship between ostracism and ingratiation, the knowledge about why and when ostracism promotes ingratiatory behaviors remains limited. Drawing from identity process theory, the current study examines the influence of ostracism on ingratiatory behaviors through the mediating role of self-identity threat on a daily timescale and the cross-level moderation of core self-evaluation. Through a diary study of 117 Chinese college students across 14 consecutive days, we found that daily ostracism had a positive indirect effect on daily ingratiatory behaviors through daily self-identity threat. Core self-evaluation of students weakened the indirect effect, such that only students with low core self-evaluation engaged in daily ingratiatory behaviors to cope with self-identity threat from ostracism. More importantly, supplemental analyses suggested that averaged daily ingratiatory behaviors were negatively related to perceived ostracism one week later. We discussed several theoretical and practical implications of these findings and proposed future research directions.

Social exclusion stands as a source of social discord and holds substantial research value. Prior investigations on social exclusion have overlooked the interactive relationship between the excluded individuals and the observers. Hence, this study comparatively explores the neural mechanisms underlying the psychological responses of two distinct roles within the same social exclusion context. A total of 35 pairs (19 pairs of females) participated in the experiment. Within each pair, one individual assumed the role of a socially excluded participant (target), while the other acted as a social exclusion observer. Targets engaged in an online ball-passing game where controlled ball allocations to the participants created an exclusion scenario. Meanwhile, observers spectated the targets playing the game. Throughout the ball-passing activity, functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) recorded the blood oxygen data in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and temporoparietal junction (TPJ) of both participants. Our findings revealed varied levels of rejection sensitivity elicited by direct or observed social exclusion experiences. Additionally, distinct patterns of neural activation were observed: targets displayed conditional differences in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), while male observers exhibited conditional activation differences in the mPFC, and female observers showed conditional activation differences in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC). This study juxtaposes the behavioral and neural activation variances between targets and observers within the same social context, offering a novel perspective on investigating the neural mechanisms of social exclusion.

Extant studies have empirically tested the main two behavior responses following ostracism: prosocial or antisocial. Few studies have investigated the relationship between ostracism and social withdrawal. According to the temporal need-threat model and the self-verification theory, the present study aimed to examine the influence mechanism of ostracism on social withdrawal, especially the mediating role of self-esteem and the moderating role of rejection sensitivity. A total of 1,315 Chinese high school students (52.6% female) completed a written questionnaire. Results showed that ostracism was positively correlated with social withdrawal. Ostracism not only directly predicted social withdrawal, but also indirectly affected social withdrawal by threatening adolescents' self-esteem. High rejection sensitivity may help aggravate adolescents' self-esteem threaten perceive from ostracism. Adolescents with high rejection sensitivity felt a greater threat to self-esteem when ostracized. Findings suggest a new direction for understanding individuals' responses to ostracism.

Smartphone distraction (SD) is closely related to depression, and the prevalence of SD among nursing students is gradually increasing. However, the potential mechanism of the effect of SD on nursing students' depression is unclear. A total of 574 nursing students were assessed using Smartphone Distraction Scale, Ruminative Response Scale, Hikikomori Questionnaire, and Patient Health Questionnaire-9. The results indicated that SD among nursing students had an impact on depression through four pathways: (1) SD was positively associated with depression (β = 0.353, P < 0.001); (2) Rumination (β = 0.199, 95% CI: 0.081 to 0.162) and social withdrawal (β = 0.061, 95% CI: 0.034 to 0.091) mediated the effects of SD on depression, respectively; and (3) Rumination and social withdrawal played a chain mediating role in the effect of SD on nursing students' depression (β = 0.027, 95% CI: 0.015 to 0.042). The negative impact of SD on nursing students' mental health should not be taken lightly. Schools and hospitals should guide nursing students to use smartphones correctly, including providing mental health education and professional psychological counselling; families could play a supervisory role and communicate regularly to understand the psychological state and learning of nursing students. These measures can help nursing students cope with stress and reduce the risk of depression.

How do self-schemas and their consequences guide would-be-rejectors? When making decisions about whether to reject, individuals consider the difficulty and emotional consequences of rejecting, and both considerations are likely to involve self-schemas. In three preregistered studies, we examine the roles of self-esteem, rejection sensitivity, and symptoms of depression and anxiety in rejection decisions. In an initial set of studies (N1a = 214, N1b = 264), participants forecast their willingness to reject and their emotional responses in friendship (Study 1a) and romantic (Study 1a-1b) vignettes. In Study 2 (N2 = 259), participants who recently rejected rated that experience on the same measures. Correlates of negative self-schema were associated with negative emotions. Self-esteem, rejection sensitivity, and general distress were associated with forecasted difficulty rejecting, but only anxiety and general distress were associated with retrospectively reported increased difficulty. Taken together, psychological distress may decrease willingness to reject in a way that participants cannot predict.

Cyberbullying is considered a major threat to adolescent anxiety. In this study, we aim to explore the simultaneous effects of cyberbullying victimization and perpetration on youth anxiety. Building on the childhood adversity model and the vulnerability-stress model, we test the model wherein cyberbullying exposure is linked with cyberostracism, which in turn is expected to be associated with an increase in anxiety. We collected data from 1115 Chinese youth aged 11-19 years based on the stratified random sampling method. Structure equation modelling was conducted in Amos 26.0 to examine the proposed theoretical model. The findings suggested that compared with cyberbullying perpetration, the experience of cyberbullying victimization led to a significantly higher risk of youth anxiety. Multiple mediation analyses revealed that the three dimensions of cyberostracism, namely cyber direct excluded, cyber indirect excluded and cyber ignored, mediated the association of cyberbullying victimization and perpetration with youth anxiety. These results indicate that cyberostracism could be a risk factor for youth anxiety, thus providing new direction regarding intervention programs to reduce anxiety symptoms in adolescents.

Aggression is one of the public social issues affecting campus harmony and stability, and social exclusion is an important interpersonal contextual factor among many factors affecting aggression. However, studies examining the influence of social exclusion on aggression and its mediating mechanism are not systematic enough. Based on the general aggression model (GAM), we intend to explore the role of hostile attribution bias (HAB) in both trait and state levels of social exclusion, which leads to aggression through a combination of questionnaire and experimental methods. Study 1 surveyed 388 current high school students (Mage = 16.09, SD = 1.01) and found that HAB mediates the relationship between long-term social exclusion (trait level) and aggression tendency. Study 2 experimented with 181 high school students (Mage = 16.95, SD = 1.13) to examine whether short-term social exclusion (state level) after initiating the Cyberball paradigm could still influence aggressive behavior through the mediating role of HAB. Results found that the mediating role of HAB still holds. The findings of the study further enrich the GAM and have important implications for a more targeted approach to aggression prevention and intervention.

Bullying victimization is related to increased aggressive behaviour, but little research considers both self- (e.g., nonsuicidal self-injury; NSSI) and other-directed (e.g., cyberaggression) outcomes. Moreover, little is known about the mediating mechanisms that underlie this relationship. Based on the General Aggression Model, the current study investigates the mediating roles of Perceived ostracism (PO) and depression in the relationship between bullying victimization and cyberaggression/NSSI among emerging adult. A total of 795 emerging adults (Mage = 19.66 years, SD = 1.46; 59.9% female) completed a multimeasure questionnaire measuring the targeted variables at three time points over one year. Structural equation modelling was used to test temporal mediation. After controlling for gender, age, and family monthly income, bullying victimization was found to positively predict later cyberaggression and NSSI. Mediation analysis revealed that the longitudinal association between bullying victimization and cyberaggression was mediated by PO; the longitudinal association between bullying victimization and NSSI was mediated by depression and was sequentially mediated by PO and depression. These findings extend the theory, prevention and interventions to include both self- and other-directed aggressive behaviour in the bullying context. Future research and practice may benefit from an emphasis on PO and depression-focused psychological interventions.

Ostracism may lead to increased food intake, yet it is unclear whether greater reactivity to ostracism contributes to higher body mass index (BMI). We investigated whether children who exhibited greater stress to social exclusion subsequently consume more energy and whether this predicts BMI 6- and 18-months later.

Children (8.5 years-old) (N = 262, males = 50.4%; Chinese = 58.4%) completed a laboratory-based manipulation of social exclusion (the Cyberball task) prior to an ad-libitum snack. Heart rate variability (HRV) was measured during the inclusion and exclusion conditions and proportionate changes were calculated as a physiological measure of exclusion-related stress. Social anxiety and social-emotional assets were also measured as moderators.

Greater stress (as measured physiologically or by self-report) did not directly, or indirectly via energy intake, predict later BMI (at 9- and 10-years). However, among children reporting higher social anxiety, greater stress as measured by proportionate changes in HRV was associated with increased energy intake (B = 532.88, SE = 226.49, t(255) = 2.35, [CI95 = 86.85,978.92]). A significant moderated mediation was also observed (index: (b = 0.01, bootSE = 0.01, [CI95 = 0.001, 0.036]), such that among children reporting higher social anxiety, greater stress from social exclusion predicted increased energy intake from a subsequent snack, which in turn predicted higher BMI 1.5 years later.

This prospective study suggests that a pattern of greater snack intake in response to heightened vulnerability to the effects of ostracism may contribute to increases in child BMI scores.

Short video apps are very popular among Chinese college students, and some students even rely on them. Most of the current research has focused only on Internet addiction and has seldom focused on the phenomenon of short video addiction. Its influencing factors and formation mechanism are worth exploring.

This study aimed to explore the relationship between social exclusion and short video addiction among college students and the mediating roles of boredom and self-control.

This study adopted a multistage investigation and investigated 532 college students (39% male; mean age 19.32 ± 1.23 years) with a social exclusion scale, boredom proneness scale, self-control scale, and short video addiction scale. The mediating effect was tested with Process 3.1.

The results showed that social exclusion has a positive predictive effect on college student's short video addiction. The impact of social exclusion on college student's short video addiction was mediated by boredom and self-control, and the chained mediation of boredom and self-control.

Theoretically, this study modified the I-PACE model, indicating that personal and distant social factors should be considered in individuals with behavioral addictions, such as short video addiction. Practically, the results suggested that schools should reduce peer rejection and improve students' mental health literacy to reduce boredom and enhance self-control, thus effectively preventing short video addiction.

Although ghosting (i.e., unilaterally ending a relationship by ceasing communication) has only recently entered the lexicon, it is a regularly used form of relationship dissolution. However, little research has examined the emotional experiences of ghosting, particularly the experiences of those on both sides of the ghosting process. In a multi-method study, participants who had both ghosted and been ghosted in previous romantic relationships (N = 80) provided narratives of their experiences and completed questionnaires. The narrative responses were analyzed by coders and by using LIWC. Ghosters and ghostees used similar overall levels of positively and negatively valenced words to describe their experiences, but ghosters were more likely to express guilt and relief, whereas ghostees were more likely to express sadness and hurt feelings. Ghostees also experienced more of a threat to their fundamental needs - control, self-esteem, belongingness, meaningful existence - than ghosters.

To examine (1) the association between healthcare workers' workplace ostracism and job satisfaction, stress and perceived health, and (2) whether this relationship is mediated by loneliness and self-esteem.

A cross-sectional study.

Healthcare (N = 569) managers and employees (nurses, practical nurses, doctors and social workers) in Finland responded to a semi-structured survey in January 2021 and evaluated their experiences of workplace ostracism, job satisfaction, stress, perceived health, loneliness and self-esteem during the last year. To examine the association of these variables, linear regression and mediator model tests were performed.

Workplace ostracism had a clear direct association with job satisfaction, stress and perceived health. Loneliness fully mediated the relationship between workplace ostracism, stress and perceived health, and partly mediated the association between workplace ostracism and job satisfaction. Self-esteem partly mediated the association between workplace ostracism, stress, job satisfaction and perceived health.

The experience of workplace ostracism in organizations is a significant factor in job satisfaction, stress and perceived health. Healthcare organizations could strengthen job satisfaction and increase workers' well-being by strengthening social relationships in the organization and, via that, reducing turnover intention.

This study gives understanding and information to the healthcare profession on how workplace ostracism affects work well-being and workplace relationships. Workplace ostracism decreases interaction, which can also endanger patient care if information is not openly exchanged.

This study indicated that workplace ostracism weakened job satisfaction more than loneliness. More commonality and consideration for others at work are needed because these factors may help increase work well-being and decrease exits from working life. Further research is needed on why workplace ostracism occurs in healthcare workplaces.

STROBE.

No patient or public contribution.

Social exclusion is an emotionally painful experience that leads to various alterations in socio-emotional processing. The perceptual and emotional consequences that may arise from experiencing social exclusion can vary depending on the paradigm used to manipulate it. Exclusion paradigms can vary in terms of the severity and duration of the leading exclusion experience, thereby classifying it as either a short-term or long-term experience. The present study aimed to study the impact of exclusion on socio-emotional processing using different paradigms that caused experiencing short-term and imagining long-term exclusion. Ambiguous facial emotions were used as socio-emotional cues. In study 1, the Ostracism Online paradigm was used to manipulate short-term exclusion. In study 2, a new sample of participants imagined long-term exclusion through the future life alone paradigm. Participants of both studies then completed a facial emotion recognition task consisting of morphed ambiguous facial emotions. By means of Point of Subjective Equivalence analyses, our results indicate that the experience of short-term exclusion hinders recognising happy facial expressions. In contrast, imagining long-term exclusion causes difficulties in recognising sad facial expressions. These findings extend the current literature, suggesting that not all social exclusion paradigms affect socio-emotional processing similarly.

This study used questionnaire survey to explore the influence of cyber-ostracism on the aggressive behavior of college students. Specifically, this study explored the mediation role of the basic psychological needs satisfaction, and explored the moderating role of self-integrity.

An online questionnaire was designed through a questionnaire website, which was linked and transferred to college students nationwide. 377 valid questionnaires were obtained after excluding invalid questionnaires.

Cyber-ostracism had a significant positive predictive effect on the basic psychological needs satisfaction; Basic psychological needs satisfaction play a mediation role between cyber-ostracism and aggression. Self-integrity moderates the association between basic psychological needs and aggression.

Self-identification as a victim of violence may lead to increased negative emotions and stress and thus, may change both structure and function of the underlying neural network(s). In a trans-diagnostic sample of individuals who identified themselves as victims of violence and a matched control group with no prior exposure to violence, we employed a social exclusion paradigm, the Cyberball task, to stimulate the re-experience of stress. Participants were partially excluded in the ball-tossing game without prior knowledge. We analyzed group differences in brain activity and functional connectivity during exclusion versus inclusion in exclusion-related regions. The victim group showed increased anger and stress levels during all conditions. Activation patterns during the task did not differ between groups but an enhanced functional connectivity between the IFG and the right vmPFC distinguished victims from controls during exclusion. This effect was driven by aberrant connectivity in victims during inclusion rather than exclusion, indicating that victimization affects emotional responses and inclusion-related brain connectivity rather than exclusion-related brain activity or connectivity. Victims may respond differently to the social context itself. Enhanced negative emotions and connectivity deviations during social inclusion may depict altered social processing and may thus affect social interactions.

Observational ostracism, as a form of social exclusion, can significantly affect human behavior. However, the effects of observed ostracism on risky and ambiguous decision-making and the underlying neural mechanisms remain unclear. This event-related potential study investigated these issues by involving participants in a wheel-of- fortune task, considering observed ostracism and inclusion contexts. The results showed that the cue-P3 component was more enhanced during the choice phase for risky decisions than for ambiguous decisions in the observed inclusion contexts but not in the observed ostracism contexts. During the outcome evaluation phase, feedback-related negativity amplitudes following both risky and ambiguous decisions were higher in the no-gain condition than in the gain condition in the observed inclusion context. In contrast, this effect was only observed following risky decisions in the observed ostracism context. The feedback-P3 component did not exhibit an observed ostracism effect in risky and ambiguous decision-making tasks. Risk levels further modulated the cue-P3 and feedback-related negativity components, while ambiguity levels further modulated the feedback-P3 components. These findings demonstrate a neural dissociation between risk and ambiguity decision-making during observed ostracism that unfolds from the choice phase to the outcome evaluation phase.