Paper Title
Social exclusion decreases prosocial behavior
Keywords
- Helping
- Prosocial Behavior
- Social Exclusion
- Social Rejection
- Empathy
- Cooperation
- Emotional Responses
- Psychological Performance
- Altruism
- Social Interaction
- Empathic Understanding
- Rejection Effects
- Social Behavior
- Interpersonal Trust
- Belongingness
Research Impact Tools
Publication Info
Volume: 92 | Issue: 1 | Pages: 56–66
Published On
January, 2007
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Abstract
In 7 experiments, the authors manipulated social exclusion by telling people that they would end up alone later in life or that other participants had rejected them. Social exclusion caused a substantial reduction in prosocial behavior. Socially excluded people donated less money to a student fund, were unwilling to volunteer for further lab experiments, were less helpful after a mishap, and cooperated less in a mixed-motive game with another student. The results did not vary by cost to the self or by recipient of the help, and results remained significant when the experimenter was unaware of condition. The effect was mediated by feelings of empathy for another person but was not mediated by mood, state self-esteem, belongingness, trust, control, or self-awareness. The implication is that rejection temporarily interferes with emotional responses, thereby impairing the capacity for empathic understanding of others, and as a result, any inclination to help or cooperate with them is undermined. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved)
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