Abstract
Ostracism is a pervasive phenomenon with profound implications for psychological well-being and interpersonal functioning. Ostracism, often linked to distress and disruptions in psychological needs such as belonging, self-esteem, control, and meaningful existence, was examined in this study through its effects on selective memory, with belonging and emotion regulation as moderators. Participants completed a 7-day diary task documenting positive, neutral, and negative events, followed by scales measuring belonging and emotion regulation. On day eight, they played Cyberball, a digital ball-tossing game, and completed the Need- Threat Scale, Sense of Belonging Scale and Emotion Regulation Questionnaire before recalling events from their diaries.
Of the 109 participants (55 included, 54 ostracised), selective memory recall showed no significant differences between groups, contrary to the hypothesis predicting lower recall of negative events in the ostracised group and no differences for positive and neutral events. A Cyberball-specific belonging subscale showed significant effects, aligning with hypotheses, but general belonging scales did not, suggesting differences between context-specific and global belonging constructs. Emotion regulation results were partially consistent with hypotheses: ostracised participants showed increased reappraisal scores, possibly as a compensatory coping mechanism, and decreased suppression scores, as expected. Inclusion participants exhibited non-significant increases in both forms of emotion regulation. This study integrates multiple psychological dimensions, highlighting the complex interplay between memory, belonging, and emotion regulation, while contributing to the nuanced understanding of ostracism.