Social exclusion causes self-defeating behavior.
Four experiments tested the idea that social exclusion leads to (unintentionally) self-defeating behavior. Exclusion was manipulated by telling some people that they were likely to end up alone later in life. This randomly assigned feedback caused people to take irrational, self-defeating risks (Experiments 1 and 2), choose unhealthy, rather than healthy, behaviors (Experiment 3), and procrastinate longer with pleasurable activities rather than practicing for an upcoming test (Experiment 4). A control group, who heard that their future would be marred by frequent accidents, did not show these self-defeating patterns. Thus, the effect goes beyond just hearing bad news. Emotional distress did not significantly mediate these effects across 3 different mood measures.
Twenge
Jean M
JM
Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, California 92182-4611, USA. jtwenge@mail.sdsu.edu
Catanese
Kathleen R
KR
Baumeister
Roy F
RF
D000339:Affect; D005260:Female; D005715:Gambling / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012059:Rejection, Psychology; D012309:Risk-Taking; D016728:Self-Injurious Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D014481:United States