Research in social psychology: Consequences of short- and long-term social exclusion

Social exclusion is a common experience in people’s lives. This chapter examines the phenomenon of both short-term and long-term experiences of social exclusion from a social psychological perspective. I begin with a detailed look at research on the adaptive responses to social exclusion, which demonstrates emotional, cognitive, and behavioral responses that should facilitate either mending broken bonds or finding new affiliation partners. I then review work showing behavioral changes that seem antithetical to that goal. This is followed by a review of work within social psychology and related fields on chronic, long-term experiences of social exclusion; work related to bullying and school violence, solitary confinement in the prison system, social isolation and health, loneliness, stigma and discrimination, and a host of other topics are examined. Finally, I examine various factors which moderate how social exclusion impacts people as well as models and mechanisms attempting to explain the often and apparently contradictory findings within the social psychological literature on the topic.