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Meta-Analysis
. 2015 May 29;10(5):e0127002.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0127002. eCollection 2015.

The ordinal effects of ostracism: a meta-analysis of 120 Cyberball studies

Chris H J Hartgerink  1 , Ilja van Beest  2 , Jelte M Wicherts  1 , Kipling D Williams  3
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

The ordinal effects of ostracism: a meta-analysis of 120 Cyberball studies

Chris H J Hartgerink et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

We examined 120 Cyberball studies (N = 11,869) to determine the effect size of ostracism and conditions under which the effect may be reversed, eliminated, or small. Our analyses showed that (1) the average ostracism effect is large (d > |1.4|) and (2) generalizes across structural aspects (number of players, ostracism duration, number of tosses, type of needs scale), sampling aspects (gender, age, country), and types of dependent measure (interpersonal, intrapersonal, fundamental needs). Further, we test Williams's (2009) proposition that the immediate impact of ostracism is resistant to moderation, but that moderation is more likely to be observed in delayed measures. Our findings suggest that (3) both first and last measures are susceptible to moderation and (4) time passed since being ostracized does not predict effect sizes of the last measure. Thus, support for this proposition is tenuous and we suggest modifications to the temporal need-threat model of ostracism.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Cyberball game screenshot.
Fig 2
Fig 2. PRISMA flowchart of the current meta-analysis.
Fig 3
Fig 3. Dotplots of the average estimated simple effects with 95% confidence intervals.
T1 represents first measure and T2 represents last measure. These effects are across the same subset. Traditional ostracism effect refers to the between-subjects effect of being ostracized with no moderator present, whereas moderated ostracism effect refers to being ostracized with a moderator present. Vice versa, moderator effect within ostracism/inclusion level refers to the between-subjects effect of the moderator factor, within the ostracized/inclusion conditions. The subset labeled “All” contains all measures. The subset labeled “Fundamental” contains only fundamental need measures. The subset labeled “Intrapersonal” contains all intrapersonal measures. The subset labeled “Interpersonal” contains all interpersonal measures. The subset labeled “Model” contains those where first measures is immediate and last measure is delayed. See S4 File.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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