Effects of ostracism experience on sudden alcohol craving in relation to self control

For humans, being accepted and recognized by others, preserving their current social relationships and creating new social ties are extremely important. Otherwise, not being accepted and recognized by others, being excluded and ignored among others are regarded as serious stressors for humans. In this study, it is aimed to examine the sudden alcohol craving in individuals subjected to exclusion experience in relation with the role of "self-control mechanisms" of these individuals has in this process. Sample of the study consists of a total of 94 participants (48 females, 46 males) studying at İstanbul Arel University. Exclusion experience was administered via cyberball and recall paradigms. Other data collection tools used in the research are socio-demographical information form, The Brief Self- Control Scale (BSCS) and Alcohol Craving Questionnaire- Short Form- Revised (ACQ-SF-R) for dependent variable measurement. Besides, the participants were asked a single question to measure their alcohol craving levels. T-tests, covariance (ANCOVA) analysis, hierarchical regression analysis and Pearson correlation tests were applied on the data in order to test the hypothesis of the study. According to the results of the conducted t-test, answers of the male participants were higher than of female participants in the emotionality and compulsivity sub-dimensions of Alcohol Craving Questionnaire-Short Form-Revised test. When the t-test results for alcohol consumption frequency were examined, statistically meaningful differences in terms of alcohol consumption frequency between all sub-scales used in the study were found. The results of manipulation check analysis showed that, experimental manipulations of exclusion and inclusion worked effectively. A meaningful difference between the exclusion and inclusion experimental conditions were found in terms of alcohol craving in participants, as it was targeted in the beginning of this study. Additionally, the results of the analysis conducted to determine the importance of self-control mechanisms on reactions to ostracism in terms of sudden alcohol craving revealed a significant effect of self-control measures. As it was targeted in the beginning of this research, it is very much possible to say that experimentally induced exclusion is an experience with a remarkable impact on the individuals' alcohol cravings. As much as the experimental condition (exclusion/inclusion) is an effective factor, the paradigms applied to induce exclusion on the participants (cyberball and recall) showed no meaningful difference on the alcohol cravings. Key words: Ostracism, Cyberball Paradigm, Recall Paradigm, Self- control