title: A focused attention intervention for coping with ostracism.
abstract: Ostracism-being excluded and ignored-thwarts satisfaction of four fundamental needs: belonging, self-esteem, control, and meaningful existence. The current study investigated whether training participants to focus their attention on the here-and-now (i.e., focused attention) reduces distress from an ostracism experience. Participants were first trained in either focused or unfocused attention, and then played Cyberball, an online ball-tossing game for which half the participants were included or ostracized. Participants reported their levels of need satisfaction during the game, and after a short delay. Whereas both training groups experienced the same degree of need-threat in the immediate measure, participants who were trained in focused attention showed more recovery for the delayed measure. We reason that focused attention would not reduce the distress during the ostracism experience, but it aided in recovery by preventing participants from reliving the ostracism experience after it concludes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Lille, France. Electronic address: mikael.molet@univ-lille3.fr.
authors.forename: Mikaël
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Molet
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Macquet
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Lefebvre
authors.forename: Kipling D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Williams
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention; D001945:Breathing Exercises / Q000379:methods / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005717:Games, Experimental; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D064866:Mindfulness / Q000379:methods*; D012929:Psychological Distance; D012649:Self Concept; D012933:Social Identification; D012934:Social Isolation / Q000523:psychology*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Focused attention; Ostracism; Recovery