Ostracism and opinion extremization

Targets of ostracism are motivated to reconnect with others socially. One strategy to reconnect with others could be to adopt prevailing opinions in a group. Yet, as opinions held by groups are often perceived as more extreme than opinions held by individuals, targets of ostracism could over-adjust, resulting in opinion extremization. Here, we aim to investigate whether ostracism increases opinion extremization in a group context in targets of ostracism. In two studies, we used an Ostracism Online paradigm (pilot study, N = 144) and an essay task (preregistered main study, N = 286) to manipulate the inclusionary status (ostracism vs. neutral) before participants took part in a simulated group chat. The strength of opinion of the participants was measured pre- and post-discussion. Our prediction that the strength of opinion will show a greater increase post-discussion (vs. pre-discussion) in the ostracism condition (vs. neutral) ( Hypothesis 1 ) was not confirmed. Also, there was no indirect effect via decreased need-fulfillment in the needs of the inclusionary cluster ( Hypothesis 2 ).