All alone with sweaty palms — Physiological arousal and ostracism

Social exclusion, or ostracism, is universally perceived as a negative emotional experience and often leads to poor social outcomes for individuals and society. Although the experience of distress associated with being ostracized is innate, there has been very little investigation of the effects on the autonomic nervous system. This study provides objective evidence for the effects of ostracism on arousal (examined with skin conductance levels) while participants played an internet ball-tossing game (Cyberball). Forty-two healthy undergraduate students participated in both inclusion and ostracism conditions. When participants were included, there was a marked decrement in arousal over the course of the task, whereas there was no evidence of habituation when participants were ostracized. The implications of these results are discussed in terms of the potential of differential autonomic activity to predict the coping strategies that people engage in following ostracism.

► We measure physiological arousal associated with ostracism.
► Ostracized individuals fail to habituate in the same way as included individuals do.
► Implications are discussed in terms of the coping styles employed after ostracism.