The Link between Social Exclusion and Tendencies of Malevolent Creativity Behavior: The Chain Mediation Model of Ruminative Thinking and Depression

Background: Experiences of social exclusion can significantly affect individuals’ cognitive and emotional well-being, potentially resulting in maladaptive coping strategies or harmful behaviors. College students are at a critical stage of personal development, exhibiting distinctive psychological and behavioral patterns. Therefore, exploring the underlying mechanisms connecting social exclusion and malevolent creativity among college students is particularly important. This study aims to reveal the relationship between social exclusion and malevolent creative behavior among undergraduates and its potential mechanisms. Methods: This cross-sectional study collected data from 500 undergraduates across three universities in Guangxi via convenience sampling. Participants completed the Ruminative Responses Scale (RRS), the Malevolent Creativity Behavior Scale (MCBS), the Social Exclusion Questionnaire for Undergraduates (SEQU), and the Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS). Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlations, and a structural equation model (SEM) were used to analyze the data. Results: A strong correlation was found among social exclusion, depression, ruminative thinking, and malevolent creativity, with correlation coefficients ranging from r = 0.49 to 0.58 (p < 0.001). The results of the mediation analysis showed that ruminative thinking and depression each independently mediated the relationship between social exclusion and malevolent creativity, accounting for 15.25% and 18.38% of the total effect, respectively. Additionally, ruminative thinking and depression played a role of chain mediation between social exclusion and malicious creativity, contributing 11.73% to the total effect. Conclusion: Social exclusion significantly impacted malevolent creativity directly. Additionally, it had an indirect effect through ruminative thinking and depression, which included a chain mediation involving both factors. This study uncovers the mechanisms that connect social exclusion to malevolent creativity in university students.