Dr. Kipling Williams was at the forefront of examining ostracism (being excluded and ignored). To acknowledge his essential contributions, we compiled a special issue consisting of several former students and mentees describing how their work expands on Williams's foundational scholarship. In the current article, we provided a brief overview of ostracism to contextualize the subsequent articles in this special issue. We summarized Williams's journey in studying both the effects of and uses for ostracism. This includes his initial inspiration and first forays into theory-building and multimethod approaches, the development of Cyberball (a virtual ball-toss game used to manipulate ostracism), and his temporal-response model that framed psychological research investigating ostracism's effects on targets for over two decades. Williams also considered the psychological dynamics of being a source of ostracism, postulating that individuals ostracize others defensively, punitively, obliviously, or accidentally. We conclude by introducing the key themes covered by his former students' and mentees' research programs and discussing how they are collectively the next wave of ostracism research, both for targets and sources.

Humans have an inherent need to forge stable and quality social connections. One key benefit of having social connections is obtaining social support for navigating traumatic or otherwise stressful events. Ostracism (i.e. being both ignored and excluded, Williams, 2009) and other forms of social exclusion rob individuals of the opportunity to receive social support and likely contribute to stress-related mental health concerns. My colleagues and I tested this premise in different stress-related contexts, ranging from college students struggling with potentially stigmatizing secrets to community members who have experienced various types of traumatic incidents (e.g., miscarriage, military combat). We examined the connections among perceived ostracism, social support, and traumatic stress. We also examined the complex dynamics of how social support can be both beneficial and harmful depending upon how it is expressed and received. Future research could examine chronic ostracism as a form of psychological trauma.

Pain is an unpleasant and unavoidable part of the human experience, but the prevalence and impact of pain disproportionately impacts marginalized groups, including transgender and gender-diverse people. While there are many bases of pain, psychosocial variables, including cognitions (e.g., outcome and interpersonal expectations, social gender norms), affect (e.g., negative affectivity, emotional distress), and social factors (e.g., social exclusion) may be particularly relevant in the pain experiences of transgender individuals. The coalescence of these factors is discussed in this review, where authors specifically consider how these cognitive, affective, and social factors may contribute to pain disparities seen in transgender individuals. Patient-centered communication is presented as a potential avenue to directly mitigate the effect of these psychosocial variables on pain in transgender individuals by reducing feelings of social exclusion transgender patients may experience in the medical office, and the authors call for additional experimental research and the development of educational interventions for providers.

Horror narratives are common forms of entertainment and are found across history and culture. The appeal of horror entertainment is paradoxical because the success of these products hinges upon provoking negative emotions like anxiety, disgust, fear, and dread in audiences. In everyday life, people normally avoid such emotions, yet they actively seek them out in horror entertainment. These data both replicate and extend previous research on why people watch horror movies. Participants (N = 340) reported diverse motives for watching horror movies, such as being focused on gore, getting an emotional thrill, using them to prove emotional fortitude, and as a distraction from personal problems. Further, individual differences in empathy and morbid curiosity have complex relations with different motives.

Latino fathers make meaningful contributions toward their children's educational expectations. Cultural factors and structural barriers may shape unique parenting roles for Latino fathers and their influence on their children's educational expectations. To explore the culturally nuanced roles of Latino fathers, we conducted a convergent mixed-methods study with 244 emerging adults to gain their perceptions of their fathers' parenting roles and how those roles influenced the relation between the fathers' and emerging adult children's educational expectations. A content analysis of qualitative data identified positive (e.g. motivation and emotional support) and negative roles (e.g. family absence and overworking) that participants perceived their fathers had in their education. Quantitatively, Latino fathers' educational expectations predicted emerging adults' own educational expectations, with the strongest association for fathers coded as having a positive parental role. Findings from this study support the need for more inclusive and culturally relevant research practices with Latino fathers and families. Supporting and incorporating the roles of Latino fathers in the school system may increase students' educational expectations.

In recent years, researchers of various disciplines have developed many theories to understand the radicalization process. One key factor that may promote radicalization is social exclusion, the state of being kept apart from others. Indeed, experimental studies have provided initial evidence for a relation between exclusion and radicalism. The current review outlines and builds upon these research programs, arguing that social exclusion has been shown (a) to increase the willingness to fight-and-die, (b) to promote the approval for extreme, even violent, political parties and actions, and (c) to push the willingness to engage in illegal and violent action for a political cause. We close with an agenda for future research and critically discuss implications of this work for social policy.

White extremism has been a rising trend in North American and European countries over the past two decades. Despite the systemically engrained privileged status of people who identify as white in US society, one of the causes of white extremism is a perceived threat of being sidelined/disadvantaged by individuals with non-white identities. For example, the mainstreaming of the great replacement theory among right-wing media outlets and politicians demonstrates this perception. We examine this perception, and white extremism rhetoric and radicalization broadly, within the context of social exclusion at both the individual and systemic levels. We further embed this analysis within theories and research focused on concepts of "the self," social identity, and related psychological needs usually impacted by social exclusion. We recommend researchers and practitioners interested in extremism and radicalization to intentionally consider self-related theories and constructs going forward.

Abstract Ostracism, a form of social exclusion primarily characterized by being ignored, is a pancultural phenomenon that has been used historically to punish wayward and burdensome group members. Often, an individual would be ostracized briefly to encourage conformity to the group. If the wayward individual either would not or could not conform, the ostracism could become indefinite. For humans, whose survival and reproductive ability are enhanced by group living, indefinite ostracism would essentially be a death sentence. Thus, researchers have argued that the human species likely evolved to detect any hint of potential ostracism or social exclusion, immediately experiencing these cues as painful. Ostracism also elicits negative emotions such as sadness, anger, and shame. This chapter summarizes ostracism research, focusing on both the social and evolutionary underpinnings. It then highlights the research on emotional outcomes of ostracism and closes by providing suggestions for future research.

Despite concerns proponents of the paranormal misuse scientific concepts to justify their claims, few studies have assessed the influence of these misuses. Here we examined the role of the "seductive allure effect," which often shows neuroscience-related content to exert greater influence than content from other scientific fields, by assessing whether it would impact how people respond to brief summaries of paranormal research. We also examined whether any trappings of science would elicit a similar effect. We found content depicting neuroscientific methods elicited greater perceptions of paranormal research as scientific and greater belief compared to content depicting traditional spiritualist practices. Summaries of psychological or pseudoscientific research procedures with the trappings of science, however, did not demonstrate any significant influence on paranormal belief or perceptions of paranormal research. These results show the seductive allure effect can impact how paranormal research is perceived and can influence belief.

Humans naturally have an orientation toward forging social connections, and they suffer both physically and psychologically when denied those connections. Individuals can be denied a sense of social connection in various ways, sometimes via direct negative attention (e.g., rejection) or other times by complete inattention (e.g., ostracism). These diverse experiences can be considered types of social exclusion , broadly defined as being kept apart from others physically or emotionally. In this article, we provide a brief overview of the empirical literature on social exclusion. Then we highlight new areas of research that provide future opportunities to help the literature continue to mature and interface with other research areas, both within psychology and beyond.

In two experimental studies in a virtual context, we explored the development of an individual's state suspicion across time. Based on a multi-stage theory of state suspicion, we investigated several types of contextual cues that might influence suspicion (discrepancies from expectation; system characteristics of teammates; goal type). We also considered an individual difference moderator/filter on the effect of suspicion-inducing cues (i.e. participant impulsivity). We hypothesised and found support for (i) the positive effect of discrepancies on levels of suspicion, (ii) the moderating influence of goal type (social or performance) on suspicion, (iii) the moderating influence of impulsivity on levels of suspicion, and (iv) the existence of a contrast effect across time (when discrepancy cues related to suspicion were introduced and then removed). Based on the findings across two studies, future research needs (both theoretical and applied) are outlined.

Social exclusion triggers aversive reactions (e.g., increased negative affect), but being excluded may bring substantial benefits by reducing pathogen exposure associated with social interactions. Is exclusion less aversive when cues of infectious diseases are salient in the environment? We conducted two preregistered experiments with a two (belonging status: included vs. excluded) by two (disease salience: low vs. high) design, using scenarios (Study 1, N = 347) and a well-validated exclusion paradigm, Cyberball (Study 2, N = 519). Positive affect and negative affect were measured as the key outcomes. Across the two studies, we found little evidence that disease salience moderated the effect of exclusion (vs. inclusion) on positive affect. At the same time, we observed consistent evidence that disease salience moderated the effect of exclusion (vs. inclusion) on the other affective component: negative affect. Concretely, disease salience increased participants’ negative affect in inclusion conditions; in exclusion conditions, the effect of disease salience on negative affect was negligible or nearly zero. Using a novel and robust approach of mediation analysis (interventional indirect effects), we further showed that the motive of disease avoidance rivals the motive of affiliation in shaping people’s experiences of social interactions. These findings suggest that cues of disease salience alter people’s affective experience with inclusion but not exclusion. The current research represents an important step toward understanding people’s affective responses to social exclusion and inclusion in complex social situations involving multiple, and potentially conflicting motives.

This study assessed, through an exploratory approach, how religion-based negative causal attributions of mental illness may be associated to stigmatising attitudes and behaviours that contribute to public stigma in an Italian convenience sample. All participants (N =311; average age = 33 years, 38.6% male) completed a set of three questionnaires: Religious Beliefs and Mental Illness Stigma Scale, the Attribution Questionnaire 27 and the Mental Health Knowledge Schedule. The study found support for two specific models. The Responsibility model involved four key predictors: participant age, the influence of religious beliefs in everyday chokes, religious beliefs about the connection between morality/sin and mental illness and having participated in seminars about mental illness stigma. The Dangerousness model involved three exogenous variables: participating in mental illness stigma seminars, religious beliefs about morality/sin and mental illness, and participant age. This study allows the identification of variables that seem to activate or attenuate the models of "Personal Responsibility" and "Dangerousness".

Many individuals consider themselves a fan of something (e.g. music, sports) and discuss these interests with others. However, these interactions may be risky: a positive interaction could make someone feel socially connected and valued by others, whereas a negative interaction may prompt feelings of exclusion. Thus, these interactions could impact one’s basic psychological needs (e.g. belonging, self-esteem) depending upon the specific conversation dynamics. Three experiments provide data supporting these hypotheses. Specifically, individuals who recalled discussing their fan interest with either a fellow fan or a non-fan who positively reacted to their passions reported increased basic need satisfaction, whereas individuals who recalled a negative interaction with a non-fan reported lower basic need satisfaction. Participants recalled these interactions as having similar effects on their perceived relational value (i.e. how valuable, close or important others perceive them). Collectively, these studies connect fan studies research to the psychology of social inclusion and exclusion, providing directions for future research.

Researchers have studied the effects of common, subtle forms of discrimination called microaggressions among various marginalized groups. We conducted three experimental studies (Ns = 45, 61, and 90) on microaggressions toward transgender individuals, connecting the microaggression and social exclusion literatures. Specifically, we hypothesized that microaggressions would have similar negative psychological effects as other forms of social exclusion (e.g., interpersonal rejection and ostracism). In Studies 1 and 2, we used an adapted recall paradigm in which participants recalled and wrote about either a control or a microaggression autobiographical event. In Study 3, we added an explicit social exclusion condition. Participants then reported how they felt during the event on measures of perceived pain, feelings of being excluded/ignored, perceived relational value, and basic need satisfaction. All three studies provide converging evidence that participants recall experiencing microaggressions similarly to how individuals typically experience social exclusion, suggesting theoretical and empirical benefits to connecting these two areas and offering avenues for future research. Public Significance Statement Transgender individuals recalled experiencing microaggressions similar to being socially excluded (e.g., rejected or ostracized). Researchers should continue connecting studies on microaggressions with social exclusion to broaden the theoretical and practical implications of both areas.

Miscarriage often is a traumatic experience with serious mental health implications. Friends and family members are often uncomfortable with and avoid discussing the topic with bereaved individuals, potentially making them feel ostracized (i.e., being ignored and excluded), contributing to their mental health concerns. We investigated the correlation between posttraumatic stress symptoms, perceived ostracism, and recalled grief intensity measures in a sample of cisgender women (N = 97) who have had a miscarriage. These participants were recruited using Qualtrics’s Panel Recruitment Services. Women’s perceived ostracism correlated positively with posttraumatic stress symptoms and negatively with grief congruence (i.e., the degree to which they felt that their miscarriage process was as satisfactory as possible, given they had to experience it). Perceived ostracism also explained additional variance in posttraumatic stress symptoms when considered alongside grief intensity measures (e.g., congruence).