Our research revolves around the question, why and under which circumstances people decide to ostracize others. Initial work suggests that people especially tend to ostracize persons who are perceived as either disruptive or burdensome within a group context – for example because the ostracized persons violated social rules and norms or because they cannot contribute to the group noticeably. In our following work three key questions are in the focus:

1)  Which different situations and context factors promote or decrease ostracizing behavior?

2)  Under which circumstances do people decide against ostracism and choose alternative behavioral strategies, like active confrontation or prosocial behavior?

3)  How do different experiences of ostracism and suspected reasons for ostracism influence the ostracized person’s reaction?

The group aims to contribute to theory building and research practice in research on social interactions. To test our assumptions, we will rely on both online and lab experiments, as well as survey studies in everyday contexts like work companies or schools.