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The 'social death' metaphor is used to reflect ostracism's severity and death-related themes often influence ostracism research. To determine its accuracy, we examined the similarity of ostracism and mortality salience (MS) outcomes. To manipulate these constructs, we used writing prompts in Study 1, and Cyberball and a novel MS manipulation, 'Cybergrave,' in studies 2, 3a, and 3b. In Study 4, we correlated chronic ostracism and death-thought accessibility. Ostracism uniquely threatened psychological needs, whereas MS uniquely activated death thoughts. Moreover, the correlation between chronic ostracism and death-thought accessibility was small and non-significant when controlling for related variables. Results suggest the death metaphor may not always be accurate. Death-related language may bias how ostracism is conceptualized and studied, emphasizing pain over recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gaslighting, a form of psychological abuse, has received increasing attention in recent years. The current research provides reliability and validity evidence for a new 11-item measure of exposure to gaslighting by a romantic partner: The Gaslighting Relationship Exposure Inventory (GREI). Two studies were conducted with Israeli (N = 509) and American (N = 395) community samples. Participants were involved in a romantic relationship and completed an online questionnaire that included measures of intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization, depression, and relationship satisfaction. In both studies, the GREI items loaded onto a single factor of relationship gaslighting exposure. The scale demonstrated metric gender invariance and was reliable in both men and women. Relationship gaslighting exposure was strongly linked with psychological abuse victimization and weakly linked with other forms of IPV victimization, thus showing strong convergent and discriminant validity. Moreover, relationship gaslighting exposure was associated with greater depression and lower relationship quality, above and beyond other forms of IPV victimization. The results support the reliability and validity of the GREI in both men and women, as well as its utility for the study of gaslighting exposure within relationships. The current research highlights that gaslighting is a distinct form of psychological abuse with unique implications for personal and relational well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study explored people’s reactions to observing the ostracism of stigmatized targets. Participants (n = 198) who observed ostracism experienced need threat regardless of the target’s identity. Participants regarded included addicts more positively than ostracized addicts, especially on traits that are considered unique to humans. As for dehumanization, subtle measures demonstrate that ostracized targets are perceived as less human. In contrast, our original measure of blatant dehumanization suggests that targets of ostracism are perceived as more human. The study stresses the inconsistency between dehumanization measurements and the need to specify what each measure taps into and how each contributes to the theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ostracism puts individuals in a vulnerable position as they are desperate to regain attention. As a result, ostracized individuals often value attention and acknowledgment. We examined whether ostracism would alter the perception and interpretation of catcalls – lewd statements or whistling by strangers – and whether catcalls would assist in restoring the needs threatened by ostracism. Participants were either included or ostracized, reported need satisfaction, watched a video of a woman being the target of catcalls, and then, evaluated the catcalls and reported need satisfaction again. Men perceived catcalls as more complementary. Ostracism altered women's perceptions of catcalls, but not men's. Ostracized women, compared to included women, perceived the catcalls to be less threatening. Additionally, watching the video-assisted ostracized women need fortification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sexual objectification is an umbrella term for a diverse range of experiences that make someone feel as if they are merely a body that exists for the use and pleasure of others. This special issue presents nine empirical papers examining the connections between sexual objectification and self-relevant variables (e.g., self-concept; self-esteem). These papers provide innovative theoretical and methodological approaches to studying the antecedents and outcomes of sexual objectification. We encourage psychological scientists to build off the research in this special issue, expanding it into cross-cultural and policy contexts, thus providing potential solutions in the journey toward increased inclusion and social justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theory and research demonstrate that women are frequently the targets of sexually objectifying behavior, viewed and treated by others as mere objects for pleasure and use. When sexually objectified, attention is principally focused on scrutinizing and valuing their physical features, whereas their internal attributes (e.g., thoughts, feelings, personhood) may be largely ignored (Bartky, 1990). Although the processes and negative effects associated with sexual objectification have been examined extensively, no work has examined the "ignoring" component of sexual objectification. We reasoned that sexually objectifying a woman by ignoring and devaluing some of her personal attributes or features is akin to partial ostracism. Although sexual objectification and partial ostracism may seem to comprise opposite characteristics (i.e., attention vs. ignoring), we posit that sexually objectifying a woman, much like partial ostracism, involves ignoring some of her internal attributes (e.g., thoughts, feelings, voice). Across 4 studies, we expected and found evidence that a sexual objectification experience (vs. control conditions) resulted in women feeling sexually objectified, which led to increased feelings of ostracism, which, in turn, threatened and lowered women's fundamental need satisfaction (i.e., belonging, control, self-esteem, and meaningful existence). Our findings suggest that not only do women suffer the adverse consequences of being sexually objectified, but when they are objectified, they can also experience the added negative effects associated with being partially ostracized, a novel finding that contributes to both the sexual objectification and ostracism literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considerable knowledge about ostracism's impact comes from research using Cyberball, an online ball-tossing game. In Cyberball, the inclusion condition is the control condition, to which ostracism is compared. The assumption is that Cyberball-inclusion is not affirming and represents an expected level of inclusion. However, without a no-inclusion control condition, it is unclear whether inclusion elevates need satisfaction, whether ostracism depresses need satisfaction, or both. We introduce Cybertree—a control condition designed to provide a similar experience to Cyberball without inclusion. Individuals playing Cybertree did not differ from included individuals in terms of feeling ostracized, level of need satisfaction, and mood. Both Cyberball inclusion and Cybertree differed significantly from ostracized individuals. We conclude that Cyberball inclusion is a reasonable control group for Cyberball ostracism but discuss research questions that may benefit from the use of Cybertree. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cell phones are useful tools with both practical and social benefits. However, using them in the context of face-to-face conversations may be problematic. We consider this behavior a form of ostracism and test its effects on the satisfaction of basic psychological needs for belonging, self-esteem, control, and meaningful existence. In Study 1 participants who recalled a time in which a friend was checking a cell phone during a serious conversation reported feeling more ostracized (ignored and excluded), greater pain, and threat to basic needs than participants recalling a conversation without a cell phone interruption or a control event. Study 2 replicated and extended this effect: Cell phone-induced ostracism’s effects were partially mediated by decreased feelings of relational evaluation, and threatened basic needs both in serious and casual conversation contexts. Findings from both studies also indicated that cell phone-induced ostracism hurts women more so than men. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the current research, we examined whether ostracism and sexual objectification affect the tendency to blame the victim of sexual harassment. Previous research concerning victim blame examined the attribution of blame considering the characteristics of the victim, the perpetrator, and the relation between them. However, no research to date examined whether situational factors of the perceiver can affect their perception and judgment of blame. We propose that sexual objectification and ostracism may elicit empathy toward the victim, and in turn, reduce victim blame. In two experimental studies, women were instructed to imagine interacting with a videotaped man who either gazed at their body (objectification), away from them (ostracism), or at their face (treated well). Then, they were asked to read a newspaper article (study 1) or watch a video (study 2) portraying encounters in which the man's sexual advances continued after the woman expressed discomfort and lack of interest. In study 1, we found that sexually objectified women attributed less blame to the woman compared with the women who were treated well, with ostracized women falling in between and marginally different from both. In study 2, using mediation analysis we found an indirect effect such that sexually objectified women experienced greater empathy toward the victim, which was associated with reduced attribution of blame. It appears that greater similarity between the situation of the perceiver and the situation of the victim elicits greater empathy. This adds to the previous knowledge that personality similarities result in higher empathy., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Dvir and Nagar.)