Introduction: Social-media can contribute to building up adolescents' relationships, but they might also bring negative exclusionary experiences. Being excluded is a subtle yet hurtful form of relational aggression, which affects people's psychological wellbeing, especially during developmental stages. In this study, we (1) analyzed the effects of social-media exclusion adapting the Ostracism Online paradigm to a cohort of Italian preadolescents (Mage = 11.47, 53% girls) and (2) tested the efficacy of two potential recovery strategies (i.e., social bonds vs. social surrogate). Method: Inclusionary status was manipulated through the number of “likes” participants received on a fictitious online social network. In the exclusion condition, participants received fewer likes than everyone else. In the inclusion condition, participants received a similar number of likes of other users. Then, all participants were asked to think of a significant positive relationship with a family member (social bonds), a celebrity (social surrogate), their present moment thoughts (control). Results: Preadolescents who received fewer likes than others reported higher levels of need threat (i.e., belong, self-esteem, meaningful existence, but not control) and negative emotions. Moreover, the social-bonds strategy generally brought a faster psychological recovery from social-media exclusion than the control condition. The efficacy of social-surrogates strategy was greater for boys than for girls, probably due to different choices in their favorite celebrities. Conclusion: These findings show how offline life offers compensatory opportunities for adolescents’ online life. When the lack of “Likes” signal exclusion on social-media, thinking of an existing social relationship help adolescents to cope with this negative experience.

Being liked or not being liked: a study on social-media exclusion in a preadolescent population / Timeo, S.; Riva, P.; Paladino, M. P.. - In: JOURNAL OF ADOLESCENCE. - ISSN 0140-1971. - 80:(2020), pp. 173-181. [10.1016/j.adolescence.2020.02.010]

Being liked or not being liked: a study on social-media exclusion in a preadolescent population

Timeo S.;Paladino M. P.
2020-01-01

Abstract

Introduction: Social-media can contribute to building up adolescents' relationships, but they might also bring negative exclusionary experiences. Being excluded is a subtle yet hurtful form of relational aggression, which affects people's psychological wellbeing, especially during developmental stages. In this study, we (1) analyzed the effects of social-media exclusion adapting the Ostracism Online paradigm to a cohort of Italian preadolescents (Mage = 11.47, 53% girls) and (2) tested the efficacy of two potential recovery strategies (i.e., social bonds vs. social surrogate). Method: Inclusionary status was manipulated through the number of “likes” participants received on a fictitious online social network. In the exclusion condition, participants received fewer likes than everyone else. In the inclusion condition, participants received a similar number of likes of other users. Then, all participants were asked to think of a significant positive relationship with a family member (social bonds), a celebrity (social surrogate), their present moment thoughts (control). Results: Preadolescents who received fewer likes than others reported higher levels of need threat (i.e., belong, self-esteem, meaningful existence, but not control) and negative emotions. Moreover, the social-bonds strategy generally brought a faster psychological recovery from social-media exclusion than the control condition. The efficacy of social-surrogates strategy was greater for boys than for girls, probably due to different choices in their favorite celebrities. Conclusion: These findings show how offline life offers compensatory opportunities for adolescents’ online life. When the lack of “Likes” signal exclusion on social-media, thinking of an existing social relationship help adolescents to cope with this negative experience.
2020
Timeo, S.; Riva, P.; Paladino, M. P.
Being liked or not being liked: a study on social-media exclusion in a preadolescent population / Timeo, S.; Riva, P.; Paladino, M. P.. - In: JOURNAL OF ADOLESCENCE. - ISSN 0140-1971. - 80:(2020), pp. 173-181. [10.1016/j.adolescence.2020.02.010]
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11572/258816
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