Seeking the safety of sociofugal space: Environmental design preferences following social ostracism

Recent research indicates that individuals show diverse behavioral responses to social ostracism. The current studies evaluate how social motives following ostracism are reflected in preferences for physical environments that either facilitate (sociopetal) or inhibit (sociofugal) social interaction. Across three experiments, participants ostracized during a virtual interaction showed greater preference for sociofugal spaces when presented with room layouts. Importantly, participants' ratings of the space's social affordances predicted this effect, rather than participant's mood or impression of the space's novelty. Additionally, the effect was found to be particularly strong for individuals high in fear of negative evaluation. Taken together, these studies demonstrate that evaluations of physical settings are dependent on the fit between the social affordances of an environment and the immediate social motivations of the perceiver.