Abrams, D., Hogg, M.A., & Marques, J.M. (2005). The social psychology of inclusion and exclusion. Psychology Press. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203496176
Abstract
This chapter reviews research on the consequences of being excluded from desired social relationships or groups, as well as the social psychological processes through which this occurs. Exclusion challenges people’s fundamental need to belong to a social unit. It causes a number of dysfunctional reactions including lowered self-esteem, greater anger, inability to reason well, depression and anxiety, and self-defeating perceptions and behaviours. Being excluded also evokes antisocial and aggressive responses, most likely because of the threat it poses to people’s need for control. Other responses are more passive and include withdrawal or self-harm, whereas more constructive responses include trying harder to engage with the majority or conforming more strongly to relevant norms. Social categories and groups can serve both as the target of and a haven from social exclusion. Under certain conditions, people may develop a strong political commitment to a devalued or excluded in-group. Additionally, groups may use exclusion as a means of controlling both the behaviour of individual members and the subjective validity of the group’s values or norms. When these values are threatened, it is more likely that groups will display intolerance and attempt to increase their internal cohesiveness. Strategies that promote intergroup contact on the one hand, and a shared sense of identity on the other, might go some way towards promoting inclusionary responses by both the excluders and excluded, respectively.