Investigation for the effect of ostracism on revenge and forgiveness within the framework of self-determination theory

Ostracism is an important issue in terms of its short and long-term effects. Individuals may turn to positive or negative behaviors as a result of the needs threatened by exclusion. Although the ostracism literature is quite extensive, there are no clear results regarding the reactions that occur as a result of psychological ostracism. Therefore, in the current study, the effects of each of the needs expressed in ostracism and self-determination on both revenge and forgiveness were tested. While these effects were tested in three experiments, the mediating role of emotions and the moderator role of rejection sensitivity and cognitive flexibility were examined. IBM SPSS Statistics 24 program was used for analyses. The PROCESS macro v4.0 plugin was used for mediator and moderator analyses. In the first experiment, the effects of ostracism and competency feedback given at the end of a task on revenge and forgiveness were examined. Although the main and interaction effects of ostracism and competency feedback were not significant, the moderating role of cognitive flexibility in the relationship between competency feedback and forgiveness was found to be significant. In the second experiment, the interaction effect of ostracism and social support on forgiveness was found to be significant. Participants who were excluded and had no social support showed the lowest level of forgiveness. The significant effect of anger and calm emotions emerged on the relationship between social support and revenge. When participants perceive social support, their level of revenge decreases as their anger decreases and their calmness increases. In the third experiment, the interaction effect of ostracism and autonomy on revenge was found to be significant. Participants who were excluded and not autonomous showed the highest level of revenge. The mediating effect of happiness in the relationship between autonomy and revenge is significant, and the level of revenge decreases as the calmness of those who are autonomous increases. The findings are discussed based on relevant theories and studies.