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Published on: November 15, 2014
Cyberball: a program for use in research on interpersonal ostracism and acceptance
Kipling D Williams1, Blair Jarvis
1Department of Psychological Sciences, Purdue University, 703 Third Street, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA. kip@psych.purdue.edu
Behavior Research Methods
|July 5, 2006
Summary
The Cyberball paradigm is an online ball-tossing game used to study interpersonal acceptance and exclusion. Researchers can manipulate variables like ostracism and measure prejudice using this versatile tool.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Social Psychology
- Human-Computer Interaction
Background:
- Research on interpersonal acceptance and exclusion has grown significantly since the mid-1990s.
- Various experimental paradigms exist, differing in efficiency, context specificity, and impact.
- A need exists for standardized, adaptable tools to investigate these social dynamics.
Purpose of the Study:
- To introduce and describe the Cyberball paradigm, a computer-based tool for studying interpersonal dynamics.
- To highlight the flexibility and applications of Cyberball in psychological research.
- To provide researchers with a freely available resource for investigating social exclusion and related phenomena.
Main Methods:
- Cyberball is presented as an online ball-tossing game where participants believe they are playing with other real individuals.
- The actions of the "other" players are surreptitiously controlled by the experimenter via the software.
- Researchers can manipulate game parameters such as inclusion/exclusion frequency, player information, and visual representations.
Main Results:
- The Cyberball paradigm effectively manipulates independent variables, particularly ostracism.
- It can be employed as a dependent measure to assess prejudice and discrimination.
- The game has demonstrated utility across different platforms (PC, Macintosh) and is readily accessible.
Conclusions:
- Cyberball offers a controlled and adaptable method for examining interpersonal acceptance and exclusion.
- Its design allows for nuanced investigation of social dynamics and individual differences.
- The paradigm serves as a valuable, freely available resource for the scientific community studying social behavior.
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