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Cited by 149Bullying, Victimization, and AggressionDeath Anxiety and Social ExclusionSocial and Intergroup Psychology

When rejection by one fosters aggression against many: Multiple-victim aggression as a consequence of social rejection and perceived groupness

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Gaertner, Lowell, Iuzzini, Jonathan, O’Mara, Erin M.·2008·Journal of Experimental Social Psychology
DOI 10.1016/j.jesp.2008.02.004PMC PMC2597822
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Abstract

Two experiments examined the hypothesis that social rejection and perceived groupness function together to produce multiple-victim incidents of aggression. When a rejecter's group membership is salient during an act of rejection, the rejectee ostensibly associates the rejecter's group with rejection and retaliates against the group. Both experiments manipulated whether an aggregate of three persons appeared as separate individuals or members of an entity-like group and whether one of those persons rejected the participant. Consistent with the hypothesis, participants who experienced both rejection and perceived groupness behaved more aggressively against the aggregate (Experiment 1) and evidenced less favorable affective associations toward the aggregate (Experiment 2) than did participants who did not experience both rejection and perceived groupness.

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  • The effects of exclusion are more severe when exclusion is seen as perpetrated by a group rather than an individual, and especially when being excluded is attributed to one's group membership.

    “The effects of exclusion are more severe when exclusion is seen as perpetrated by a group rather than an individual, and especially when being excluded is attributed to one's group membership (van Beest, Carter-Sowell, van Dijk, & Williams, 2012;Gaertner, Iuzzini, & O'Mara, 2008;Goodwin, Williams, & Carter-Sowell, 2010;Wirth & Williams, 2009).”

    From Collective Narcissism: Political Consequences of Investing Self‐Worth in the Ingroup’s Image (2019) · cites this paper as Gaertner, Iuzzini, & O'Mara, 2008

    Experiment 1 (Discussion; page unavailable) reports greater aggression when one rejecter appeared to belong to an entity-like group, compared with rejection by one of three unaffiliated individuals; Experiment 2 reports less favorable associations with that group. The study does not establish that the rejection was perpetrated by a group, or that its effects were especially severe when participants attributed rejection to their own group membership. (LLM, conf=0.86)

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Cited by

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Authors
Gaertner, L., Iuzzini, J., & O’Mara, E. M.
Affiliations
  • University of Tennessee at Knoxville (US)
  • Hobart and William Smith Colleges (US)
Corresponding author
Gaertner, Lowell
ORCID
Venue
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2008-07
Volume
44
Issue
4
Pages
958-970
ISSN
0022-1031 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.jesp.2008.02.004
PMC
PMC2597822
OpenAlex
W2094168143
Cited by
149
References
10
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 26 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 12 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 11 · 2013: 7 · 2012: 10
FWCI
7.14
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
Locations
  • Journal of Experimental Social Psychology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
National Institute of Mental Health (R03MH068249)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Bullying, Victimization, and Aggression
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
Keywords
social rejection, group identity, retaliation, affective associations

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