Experiment to investigate the relations, if any, between social ostracism and gendered variables. The study used a randomized pool of undergraduates and was completed under the supervision of Professor Allan Clifton of the Psychology department at Vassar College.

1. Participants
Vassar College PSYC 105 students
Total participants, N =72
Exclusion Condition, Ne = 36
Included Condition, Ni = 36
Male, Nm = 22, Females, Nf = 49, Other = 1
Measures
Used Cyberball (Williams K.D, 2007) software to assess effects of exclusion
condition on below scales:
•Quick inventory of Depressive Symptomatology (QIDS-SR-16)
•Rosenberg Self-Esteem scale
•Evaluation scales of game partners
•Need threat scales
Analysis
•Demographics as a predictor of post-ostracism behavior
•Specific gender differences in depression, self-esteem, evaluation scales of
game partners and need threat perception
•Interaction between gender and exclusion
•Effect of exclusion when gender was controlled for
Method
Social exclusion
•Humans are social beings )Gardner et al., 2000)
•Associated with negative impacts on cognitive function, health, memory,
decision-making (Steptoe et al., 2013; Gardner et al., 2000; Buelow, 2014)
•Controversy on gender as a significant factor in determining who is more
vulnerable (Durlik & Tsakiris, 2015)
•Gender has been shown to impact responses to other negative experiences
(Stroud, 2002; Wesselmann, 2012).
Cyberball
•Uses computer program to randomly ostracize participants
•Social cyber ostracism (Williams, 2009)
•Cyberball as an effective program to look at social exclusion (Williams, 2000;
Williams & Jarvis, 2006)
Hypotheses
•Females will rate their fellow players differently than males.
•Females will have higher QIDS score (more depressed) regardless of
ostracism condition.
•Females will report lower self esteem in both conditions.
•Males will feel less threatened by game partners.
Social exclusion & demographic variables : Gender differences as a predictor of post ostracism behavior
Introduction
Results
Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology (QIDS-SR-16)
•No significant relationship found between gender (female/ male) and depressive
symptoms.
•Results show that gender might not predict depressive symptomatology in post
ostracism behavior.
Rosenberg Self-Esteem scale
•No significant relationship found between gender (female/male) and self-
esteem in ostracism condition.
•Gender might not influence self- esteem in post ostracism behavior
•There was an interaction of gender and combined self esteem scores from
Session 1 and 2. Gender influenced the difference in self esteem scores
between sessions
Evaluation scales of game partners
•No significant relationship between gender (male/ female) and how participants
evaluated game partners on specific general questions
•Given the design of the experiment, there was no way to test how participants
generally evaluated game partners
Need Threat Scales
•Some conditions showed significant/ partial significance of gender
•Participants felt othered by game partners
Conclusions
•Importance of reporting results regardless of significance (Nosek, 2015)
•Gender might interact with exclusion in very specific cases (need-threat) but
there seems to be very little overall interaction of gender and post-ostracism
behavior like depression, self-esteem, evaluation of game partners and need
threat scales.
•Ostracism condition seems to overpower other interactions
Discussion
Evaluation Scales of Game Partners (N=72 p>.05)
Findings did not support team ratings hypothesis
QIDS One Way ANOVA (N=72 p>.05) See Figure 1.2
Gender (Male N=22 Female N=49, other N=1) F=.575 p>.05
Findings did not support depression index hypothesis.
Rosenburg Self Esteem Scale Sessions 1 and 2 Two Factor ANOVA
Gender: (N=72, 22 male 49 female, 1 other), p>.05
No significant interaction between gender and self-esteem
Ostracism Condition: (N=72, 36 included, 36 excluded) p>.05
No significant interaction between ostracism condition and self-esteem post
game
Findings did not support self esteem hypothesis.
Needs Threat Scale Two Factor ANOVA (N=71, 22 male 48 female, 1 other)
Figure 1.1
Gender
Belongingness Threat p>.05, Control Threat p>.05, Self Esteem Threats
p>.05, Meaningful Existence Threats p>.05
Total Threat p>.05
Condition
Belongingness Threat p<.05, Control Threat p<.05, Self Esteem Threats
p<.05, Meaningful Existence Threats p<.05
Total Threat p<.05
Gender*Condition
Belongingness Threat p>.05, Control Threat p>.05, Self Esteem Threats
p>.05, Meaningful Existence Threats p>.05; Total Threat p>.05
Findings did not support needs threat hypothesis.
Fig 1.2: Comparison of Quick Inventory of Depressive
Symptomatology means across gender
Figure 1.1:Significance of gender, condition and its interaction with
need threats scale
Isabella Chirico, Imrul Islam, Sylvia Kang
Vassar College
Asterisk (*) denotes significant data QIDS scores showed no significant difference across genders