Ostracism online: A social media ostracism paradigm
Open accessAbstract
We describe Ostracism Online, a novel, social media-based ostracism paradigm designed to (1) keep social interaction experimentally controlled, (2) provide researchers with the flexibility to manipulate the properties of the social situation to fit their research purposes, (3) be suitable for online data collection, (4) be convenient for studying subsequent within-group behavior, and (5) be ecologically valid. After collecting data online, we compared the Ostracism Online paradigm with the Cyberball paradigm (Williams & Jarvis Behavior Research Methods, 38, 174-180, 2006) on need-threat and mood questionnaire scores (van Beest & Williams Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 91, 918-928, 2006). We also examined whether ostracized targets of either paradigm would be more likely to conform to their group members than if they had been included. Using a Bayesian analysis of variance to examine the individual effects of the different paradigms and to compare these effects across paradigms, we found analogous effects on need-threat and mood. Perhaps because we examined conformity to the ostracizers (rather than neutral sources), neither paradigm showed effects of ostracism on conformity. We conclude that Ostracism Online is a cost-effective, easy to use, and ecologically valid research tool for studying the psychological and behavioral effects of ostracism.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The text we found for this paper looks like another document, so the self-check wasn’t run.
Cites
The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation.
Baumeister, R. F., & Leary, M. R. (1995) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037//0033-2909.117.3.497 · Cited by 23,245 · see citing works
Advances In Experimental Social Psychology
(2022) · Advances in experimental social psychology · doi:10.1016/s0065-2601(22)x0002-6 · Cited by 22,559 · see citing works
Amazon's Mechanical Turk: A New Source of Inexpensive, Yet High-Quality, Data?
Buhrmester, M., Kwang, T., & Gosling, S. D. (2011) · Perspectives on Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/1745691610393980 · Cited by 9,996 · see citing works
Gelman, A. (2006) · Bayesian Analysis · doi:10.1214/06-ba117a · Cited by 4,050 · cited 1× · see citing works
“Bayesian analysis of variance In order to compare the effect of the manipulations on our dependent variables without inflating type 1 errors due to the large amount of contrasts such a comparison requires, we used a Bayesian analysis of variance (BANOVA) (Gelman, 2005, 2006; Kruschke, 2010).”
Does Rejection Hurt? An fMRI Study of Social Exclusion
Eisenberger, N. I., Lieberman, M. D., & Williams, K. D. (2003) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1089134 · Cited by 3,849 · see citing works
Self-citationInstructional manipulation checks: Detecting satisficing to increase statistical power
Oppenheimer, D. M., Meyvis, T., & Davidenko, N. (2009) · Journal of Experimental Social Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2009.03.009 · Cited by 3,493 · see citing works
Cyberostracism: effects of being ignored over the Internet
Williams, K. D., Cheung, C. K. T., & Choi, W. (2000) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.79.5.748 · Cited by 2,276 · see citing works
Self-citationWilliams, K. D. (2007) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.58.110405.085641 · Cited by 1,828 · see citing works
Self-citationPrior distributions for variance parameters in hierarchical modelsPreprint
Gelman, A. (2004) · RePEc: Research Papers in Economics · Cited by 1,558 · see citing works
Williams, K. D. (2009) · Advances in experimental social psychology · doi:10.1016/s0065-2601(08)00406-1 · Cited by 1,339 · see citing works
Self-citationRenovating the Pyramid of Needs: Contemporary Extensions Built Upon Ancient Foundations
Kenrick, D. T., Griskevicius, V., Neuberg, S. L., & Schaller, M. (2010) · Perspectives on Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/1745691610369469 · Cited by 1,132 · see citing works
Cyberball: A program for use in research on interpersonal ostracism and acceptance
Williams, K. D., & Jarvis, B. (2006) · Behavior Research Methods · doi:10.3758/bf03192765 · Cited by 1,022 · see citing works
Self-citationIf you can't join them, beat them: Effects of social exclusion on aggressive behavior.
Twenge, J. M., Baumeister, R. F., Tice, D. M., & Stucke, T. S. (2001) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.81.6.1058 · Cited by 995 · see citing works
Kraut, R. E., Olson, J., Banaji, M. R., Bruckman, A. S., Cohen, J., & Couper, M. P. (2004) · American Psychologist · doi:10.1037/0003-066x.59.2.105 · Cited by 922 · see citing works
MANUAL FOR KIT OF REFERENCE TESTS FOR COGNITIVE FACTORS (REVISED 1963)
French, J. W., Ekstrom, R. B., & Price, L. A. (1963) · doi:10.21236/ad0410915 · Cited by 909 · see citing works
Berrios, G. E., & Hodges, J. (2000) · Cited by 864 · see citing works
Getting a cue: the need to belong and enhanced sensitivity to social cues
Pickett, C. L., Gardner, W. L., & Knowles, M. (2004) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/0146167203262085 · Cited by 862 · see citing works
Analysis of variance—why it is more important than ever
Gelman, A. (2005) · The Annals of Statistics · doi:10.1214/009053604000001048 · Cited by 861 · see citing works
Social rejection shares somatosensory representations with physical pain
Kross, E., Berman, M. G., Mischel, W., Smith, E. E., & Wager, T. D. (2011) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1102693108 · Cited by 689 · see citing works
Social Ostracism by Coworkers: Does Rejection Lead to Loafing or Compensation?
Williams, K. D., & Sommer, K. L. (1997) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/0146167297237003 · Cited by 669 · see citing works
Self-citationZhong, C., & Leonardelli, G. J. (2008) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02165.x · Cited by 632 · see citing works
(2009) · Advances in experimental social psychology · Cited by 616 · see citing works
Social Exclusion and Selective Memory: How the Need to belong Influences Memory for Social Events
Gardner, W. L., Pickett, C. L., & Brewer, M. B. (2000) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/0146167200266007 · Cited by 578 · see citing works
When inclusion costs and ostracism pays, ostracism still hurts.
van Beest, I., & Williams, K. D. (2006) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.91.5.918 · Cited by 567 · see citing works
Self-citationDoing Bayesian Data Analysis: A Tutorial with R and BUGS
Barry, J. (2011) · Europe’s Journal of Psychology · doi:10.5964/ejop.v7i4.163 · Cited by 563 · cited 6× · see citing works
“We then used a Bayesian analysis of variance (Kruschke, 2010) to (1) infer the manipulation strength of each paradigm by estimating the contrasts between the conditions on our dependent variables, and (2) compare the manipulation strengths of the two paradigms by estimating the between-paradigm…”
InfluentialFollowing you: Disciplines of listening in social media
Crawford, K. (2009) · Continuum · doi:10.1080/10304310903003270 · Cited by 548 · see citing works
Ostracism: The Kiss of Social Death
Williams, K. D. (2007) · Social and Personality Psychology Compass · doi:10.1111/j.1751-9004.2007.00004.x · Cited by 409 · see citing works
Self-citationDeWall, C. N., Maner, J. K., & Rouby, D. A. (2009) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0014634 · Cited by 389 · see citing works
The Internet as Psychological Laboratory
Skitka, L. J., & Sargis, E. G. (2005) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.57.102904.190048 · Cited by 288 · see citing works
Personality Moderators of Reactions to Interpersonal Rejection: Depression and Trait Self-Esteem
Nezlek, J. B., Kowalski, R. M., Leary, M. R., Blevins, T. L., & Holgate, S. (1997) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/01461672972312001 · Cited by 286 · see citing works
Chapter 6 Ostracism: A Temporal Need‐Threat Model
Williams, K. D. (2009) · Advances in experimental social psychology · Cited by 270 · see citing works
Self-citationInvestigations into differences between social- and cyberostracism.
Williams, K. D., Govan, C. L., Croker, V., Tynan, D., Cruickshank, M. E., & Lam, A. (2002) · Group Dynamics Theory Research and Practice · doi:10.1037/1089-2699.6.1.65 · Cited by 261 · see citing works
Self-citationR U There? Ostracism by Cell Phone Text Messages.
Smith, A., & Williams, K. (2004) · Group Dynamics Theory Research and Practice · doi:10.1037/1089-2699.8.4.291 · Cited by 259 · see citing works
Self-citationOstracism increases social susceptibility
Carter‐Sowell, A. R., Chen, Z., & Williams, K. D. (2008) · Social Influence · doi:10.1080/15534510802204868 · Cited by 233 · see citing works
Self-citationSocial Networking Sites and Our Lives
Hampton, K. N., Purcell, K., Goulet, L. S., & Rainie, L. (2011) · Issue Lab (Candid) · Cited by 207 · see citing works
Need threat can motivate performance after ostracism
Jamieson, J. P., Harkins, S. G., & Williams, K. D. (2010) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/0146167209358882 · Cited by 192 · see citing works
Self-citationRiva, G. (2002) · CyberPsychology & Behavior · doi:10.1089/109493102321018222 · Cited by 172 · see citing works
A preference for genuine smiles following social exclusion
Bernstein, M. J., Sacco, D. F., Brown, C. M., Young, S. G., & Claypool, H. M. (2009) · Journal of Experimental Social Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2009.08.010 · Cited by 166 · see citing works
Cold-blooded loneliness: Social exclusion leads to lower skin temperatures
IJzerman, H., Gallucci, M., Pouw, W. T. J. L., Weißgerber, S. C., Doesum, N. J. V., & Williams, K. D. (2012) · Acta Psychologica · doi:10.1016/j.actpsy.2012.05.002 · Cited by 162 · see citing works
Self-citationThe psychological sting of stigma: The costs of attributing ostracism to racism
Goodwin, S. A., Williams, K. D., & Carter-Sowell, A. R. (2010) · Journal of Experimental Social Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2010.02.002 · Cited by 139 · see citing works
Self-citationOrders to Shoot (a Camera): Effects of Ostracism on Obedience
Riva, P., Williams, K. D., Torstrick, A. M., & Montali, L. (2014) · The Journal of Social Psychology · doi:10.1080/00224545.2014.883354 · Cited by 137 · see citing works
Self-citationMorone, J. G. (1989) · California Management Review · doi:10.2307/41166584 · Cited by 103 · see citing works
The world in black and white: Ostracism enhances the categorical perception of social information
Sacco, D. F., Wirth, J. H., Hugenberg, K., Chen, Z., & Williams, K. D. (2011) · Journal of Experimental Social Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2011.03.001 · Cited by 74 · see citing works
Self-citationDoing bayesian data analysis: a tutorial with R and BUGS
Kruschke, J. K. (2011) · doi:10.5281/zenodo.13512959 · Cited by 74 · see citing works
The Demographics of Social Media Users - 2012
Brenner, J., & Duggan, M. (2013) · Issue Lab (Candid) · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Media use and brain development during adolescence
Crone, E. A., & Konijn, E. A. (2018) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/s41467-018-03126-x · Cited by 464 · see citing works
Effectiveness of an Empathic Chatbot in Combating Adverse Effects of Social Exclusion on Mood
de Gennaro, M., Krumhuber, E. G., & Lucas, G. (2020) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.03061 · Cited by 265 · see citing works
Social media ostracism: The effects of being excluded online
Schneider, F. M., Zwillich, B., Bindl, M. J., Hopp, F. R., Reich, S., & Vorderer, P. (2017) · Computers in Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.chb.2017.03.052 · Cited by 173 · see citing works
Lee, H. Y., Jamieson, J. P., Reis, H. T., Beevers, C. G., Josephs, R. A., Mullarkey, M. C., O’Brien, J. M., & Yeager, D. S. (2020) · Child Development · doi:10.1111/cdev.13422 · Cited by 122 · see citing works
Beliefs in conspiracy theories following ostracism
Poon, K.-T., Chen, Z., & Wong, W.-Y. (2020) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/0146167219898944 · Cited by 115 · see citing works
Zero Likes—Symbolic interactions and need satisfaction online
Reich, S., Schneider, F. M., & Heling, L. (2018) · Computers in Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.chb.2017.10.043 · Cited by 103 · see citing works
Toeing the Party Lie: Ostracism Promotes Endorsement of Partisan Election Falsehoods
Garrett, R. K., Sude, D., & Riva, P. (2020) · Political Communication · doi:10.1080/10584609.2019.1666943 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
- Authors
- Wolf, W., Levordashka, A., Ruff, J. R., Kraaijeveld, S., Lueckmann, J.-M., & Williams, K. D.
- Affiliations
- University of Oxford (GB)
- University of Tübingen (DE)
- Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (NL)
- Purdue University West Lafayette (US)
- Corresponding author
- Wolf, Wouter
- Levordashka, Ana
- Venue
- Behavior Research Methods
- Published
- 2014-05-31
- Volume
- 47
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 361-373
- ISSN
- 1554-351X (ISSN-L)
- 1554-3528
- OpenAlex
- W1988525883
- Cited by
- 212
- References
- 45
- Citations by year
- 2026: 12 · 2025: 29 · 2024: 38 · 2023: 20 · 2022: 20 · 2021: 21 · 2020: 28 · 2019: 11 · 2018: 16 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 2
- FWCI
- 8.38
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- pure.amsterdamumc.nl
- Licence
- other-oa
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Behavior Research Methods (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Pure Amsterdam UMC (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Bullying, Victimization, and Aggression
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
- Keywords
- ostracism, social media, Cyberball paradigm, need threat, mood, conformity, online data collection, ecological validity, social exclusion
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Bayes Theorem, Humans, Interpersonal Relations, Psychology, Social, Surveys and Questionnaires, Psychological Distance, Behavioral Research, Social Media, Crowdsourcing
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Classified by jev-1.13-20260917 (gold-guideline-v0.2) on 2026-10-10.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
