Stranger, Lover, Friend?

Abstract. Social exclusion, even from minimal game-based interactions, induces negative consequences. We investigated whether the nature of relationship with excluder modulates effects ostracism. Participants played a virtual ball-tossing game stranger and friend (friend condition) or their romantic partner (partner while being fully included, excluded, excluded only by stranger, close other. Replicating previous findings, full exclusion impaired participants’ basic-need satisfaction evaluation most severely. While degree mattered, to did not: Classic null hypothesis testing Bayesian statistics showed no modulation ostracism depending on participants were friend, partner.