Social Exclusion, Social Pain and State Self-Esteem: The Moderating Role of Childhood Trauma

Abstract

The current study sought to determine the impact of being socially excluded on social pain and state self-esteem and examine the moderating role of childhood trauma. Individuals aged between 19 – 30 (M = 24.13, SD = 2.89) were recruited, with 61.5% of the sample being female (N = 299). Participants answered questionnaires concerning childhood trauma, social pain and state self-esteem, whilst also participating within the online ball-tossing game Cyberball, in which they were assigned to either the inclusion or exclusion condition. Similar to previous findings, those within the exclusion condition reported significantly higher social pain when compared with those assigned to the inclusion condition. However, a non-significant finding was reached relating to state self-esteem, as the levels of state self-esteem amongst excluded participants did not fall below those of the included cohort. Additionally, childhood trauma was found to have no moderating role on the experience of social pain or state self-esteem following exclusion. Future research should consider using different sampling methods to obtain a more representative sample. The current study may assist in furthering the understanding the detrimental effects of social exclusion and social pain. These findings may have implications for the development of interventions and treatments aimed at reducing the negative impact of social exclusion on mental health and well-being.