NCT04350515

Effects of Social Exclusion in The Context of Chronic Embitterment

Effects of Social Exclusion in The Context of Chronic Embitterment: How Social Exclusion Experiences Affect Chronic Embittered People in Their Behaviour and Physiology

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 69 (actual)
• Sponsor: University of Bern · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

This experimental, anonymous labor study aims to examine how experiences of social exclusion influence individuals in their fairness-behaviour, psychophysical reactions, and emotion regulation depending on their extent of bitterness. Points given for fairness reasons, just world belief, rejection sensitivity, well-being, cognitive emotion regulation strategies, and heart rate variability (HRV) are measured and analyzed using structural equation modeling and multiple regression.

Detailed description

Embitterment is defined as an emotional response due to an event which is subjectively perceived as unjust. Nonetheless, there is little empiric evidence of unjust behaviour by others in the interpersonal context that triggers embitterment reactions. Ostracism, is an act where a person is excluded from a social environment without any reasons. This experimental labor study examines how the experiences of this form of social exclusion influences individuals depending on their self-evaluated embitterment. That is, fairness-behaviour is assessed as well as changes in hearth rate variability.

Conditions

• Emotional Stress
• Embitterment

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Cyberball: Other Exclusion	A cyberball paradigm, whereas 2 avatars and the subject are playing a virtual ball tossing game. In this condition, one of the avatars is excluded.
OTHER	Cyberball: Player Exclusion	A cyberball paradigm, whereas 2 avatars and the subject are playing a virtual ball tossing game. In this condition, the subject is excluded by the avatars.
OTHER	Mindfulness: Emotion Regulation Task	In this task, subjects listen to an audio file containing a scripted emotion regulation exercise. This exercise is based by the authors Nissen \& Sturm (2018). It takes around 14 minutes to complete the whole task.
OTHER	Mindfulness: Word Recognition Task	In this task, subjects listen to an audio file containing a scripted word recognition exercise. It contains both contrary words recognition (e.g. "The opposite of loud is ...") and completion of german sayings (e.g. "That's where the dog is..."). It takes around 14 minutes to complete the whole task.

Timeline

• Start date: 2019-12-20
• Primary completion: 2020-06-30
• Completion: 2021-12-31
• First posted: 2020-04-17
• Last updated: 2023-03-30

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Switzerland