Vicarious ostracism and control in young children

After observing ostracism or social exclusion, older children, adolescents and adults report decreased satisfaction of the need for control. Attempting to regain control can motivate aggression in ostracized adults. Research has shown that the onset of ostracism’s harmful effects on children’s behavior is at preschool age. We investigated whether preschoolers would exert more control after witnessing ostracism. A sample of 53 children (Mage = 5 years, 5 months) first watched priming videos either showing ostracism or not. Subsequently, they participated in two ball games. In both of the games (order counterbalanced), children could control the flow of a ball’s motion, either live between two people (i.e., social control) or between two bars on a laptop screen (i.e., non‐social control). Overall, children understood social exclusion when it was displayed in the videos. We found an effect of observed ostracism only on social control. Four‐ to five‐year‐old boys who witnessed ostracism stopped a ball game between two persons longer than boys who did not witness ostracism. Our results suggest that observing social exclusion elevates young boys’ need for control over a social situation. Girls showed a different pattern but their responses did not differ significantly between ostracism and non‐ostracism conditions.