Excluded, then inebriated: A preliminary investigation into the role of ostracism on alcohol consumption

Abstract

IntroductionOstracism has only recently been investigated as a relevant social stressor that might precede college student alcohol use. The present study continues initial efforts to examine the effects of ostracism on subsequent alcohol consumption in the laboratory. A 2 (sex: male, female) × 2 (condition: ostracism, control) between-subjects experimental design was conducted to examine the effects of these variables on alcohol consumption in the laboratory.MethodsSocial drinking college students (N = 40; 43% female) were randomly assigned to one of two social interaction tasks: either an in-person conversation from which the participant was excluded by two confederates, or independently rating neutrally valenced photographs alongside confederates. Participants then consumed a priming drink (targeted dose = 0.03 BrAC) before completing a mock taste test of up to 710 ml of light beer. Amount consumed (in ml) during the mock taste test served as the primary dependent variable.ResultsThe ostracism condition was effective at decreasing mood and psychological need variables (i.e., control, belonging) compared to the control condition. After removing from analyses those who identified the confederates as part of the study (n = 7; 3 control, 4 ostracism), results indicated that males consumed more beer than females, and that ostracized participants trended toward consuming more beer than control participants.ConclusionsFindings contribute important methodological additions to a burgeoning literature on the effects of ostracism on drinking, and suggest that ostracism may be a valuable addition to studies examining drinking to cope behaviors.

Exploring the relationship between social exclusion and smartphone addiction: The mediating roles of loneliness and self-control

“…Previous studies have confirmed that social exclusion is one antecedent of Facebook addiction as well as internet addiction ( Poon, 2018 ; Lim, 2019 ; Arslan and Coşkun, 2021 ). Some scholars have also found that social exclusion can positively and significantly predict substance use disorder and other addictive behaviors ( Rabinovitz, 2014 ; Bacon and Engerman, 2018 ; Wesselmann and Parris, 2021 ). Likewise, consistent with H1, the results of the present study also demonstrated that social exclusion is a significant and positive predictor of smartphone addiction.…”

Exploring the Links Between Social Exclusion and Substance Use, Misuse, and Addiction

“…Establishing such links causally is difficult, if not impossible, given the ethical and practical issues with studying misuse behaviorally. To our knowledge, there is only one experiment that directly examines substance use as a dependent outcome after experiencing social exclusion (Bacon and Engerman, 2018). This study found a marginally significant increase in the amount of alcohol consumed by excluded (vs. included) participants in an online interaction.…”

An experimental investigation of peer rejection and social anxiety on alcohol and cannabis use willingness: Accounting for social contexts and use cues in the laboratory.

“…Although inconsistent with hypotheses, other laboratory studies also have failed to find the effects of SA on alcohol outcomes. Emerging adults may be warier about consuming alcohol offered by strangers, particularly in a sample with a majority of women in a novel or potentially unsafe context (Bacon & Engerman, 2018; Bacon et al, 2015). As both substances were offered in random order, participants may have considered using cannabis to be a safer way of engaging with the social context.…”