Volume 48, Issue 2 pp. O182-O188
Short Paper

The visual influence of ostracism

Marius Golubickis

Corresponding Author

Marius Golubickis

School of Psychology, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Scotland, UK

Correspondence

Marius Golubickis, School of Psychology, University of Aberdeen, King's College, Aberdeen AB24 3FX, Scotland, UK.

E-mail: [email protected]

Search for more papers by this author
Arash Sahraie

Arash Sahraie

School of Psychology, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Scotland, UK

Search for more papers by this author
Amelia R. Hunt

Amelia R. Hunt

School of Psychology, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Scotland, UK

Search for more papers by this author
Aleksandar Visokomogilski

Aleksandar Visokomogilski

School of Psychology, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Scotland, UK

Search for more papers by this author
Pavlos Topalidis

Pavlos Topalidis

School of Psychology, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Scotland, UK

Search for more papers by this author
C. Neil Macrae

C. Neil Macrae

School of Psychology, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Scotland, UK

Search for more papers by this author
First published: 24 May 2017
Citations: 7

Abstract

Reflecting the fundamental human need to establish and maintain positive connections with others, it has been suggested that an Ostracism Detection System is sensitized to targets by which one has been ostracized. Evidence supporting the operation of this system has yet to be provided, however. Accordingly, using binocular rivalry to explore attentional processing, here, we considered the extent to which targets previously associated with ostracism dominate visual awareness. Participants initially performed a virtual ball-tossing game (i.e., Cyberball) in which they were “ostracized” or “included” by the other players. Afterwards, the faces of these players were presented together with houses in a binocular rivalry task. The results revealed that targets associated with ostracism (vs. inclusion) dominated longest in visual awareness.

The full text of this article hosted at iucr.org is unavailable due to technical difficulties.