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Social Rejection but Not Ostracism Increases Cognitive Effort Avoidance
Suhao Peng1, Dan Tao2, Bin Xuan1
1Department of Psychology, School of Education, Anhui Normal University, Wuhu, People's Republic of China.
Social rejection impairs cognitive control and increases cognitive effort avoidance, while ostracism affects cognitive performance but not effort avoidance. These distinct effects explain varied responses to social exclusion.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Cognitive Neuroscience
Background:
- Social exclusion significantly impacts cognitive control.
- Previous research shows inconsistent findings due to varying exclusion types and cognitive effort.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the influence of social rejection and ostracism on cognitive effort avoidance.
- To differentiate the effects of social rejection versus ostracism on cognitive processing.
Main Methods:
- Study 1: Forty-six adults randomly assigned to rejection or control groups; measured cognitive effort avoidance using the demand selection task (DST).
- Study 2: Forty-eight adults experienced ostracism via Cyberball; cognitive effort avoidance assessed with DST.
Main Results:
- Social rejection impaired cognitive control accuracy and increased cognitive effort avoidance.
- Ostracism affected response speed and accuracy but did not significantly alter cognitive effort avoidance.
- Social rejection and ostracism have differential impacts on cognitive control and effort avoidance.
Conclusions:
- Social rejection and ostracism exert distinct effects on cognitive effort.
- These differences may explain inconsistent cognitive performance observed during social exclusion.
- Further research should explore underlying mechanisms and mitigation strategies for social exclusion's negative effects.
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