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Summary Ostracism – Williams (2008)
Ostracism is commonly defined as individuals being ignored and excluded without
any extra explanation or clear negative attention by other individuals or groups. (Williams,
2007). Williams discusses three theories about ostracism to explain the consequences
ostracism can have for individuals.
The first theory is called the temporal framework and it explains that there are
automatic responses followed by planned or conscious responses. In this framework, there are
three stages after an ostracism experience: the first stage is a painful response to any form of
ostracism experienced followed by an increase in sadness and anger, and it ends with a
reflective stage which is responsive for the reasons and sources of the form of ostracism
occurring.
The second theory is called the social monitoring and sociometric model and it
focuses mostly on one’s need to belong and how the social monitoring system helps to obtain
optimal levels of belonginess.
The last theory is called the cognitive framework, and it sees ostracism as a blow of a
blunt instrument that can cause damage to one’s cognitive abilities to self-regulate.
Different personalities and situations of individuals could explain the different
responses to ostracism. For example, people can have different, conflicting responses such as
fight, flight or freeze versus tend-and-befriend. Lonely people and people with a low self-
esteem have the tendency to isolate themselves socially from others, to cope with the pain of
rejection while people with high self-esteem might do something else to cope with rejection.
Leary (2006) suggests that ostracism might lead to aggression due to a lack of several
basic needs. It has been proposed that ostracism can endanger at least four needs of
individuals: the need to belong, the need to maintain a high self-esteem, the need to have at
least some personal control over the social environment and the need to have existential
rights acknowledged.
The main reactions individuals have to ostracism are aggressive or antisocial behavior
(fight), avoiding the situation (flight) and a frozen state (freeze), or the desire to be liked and
re-included by others (tend-and-befriend).
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Summary Narcissistic Personality – Twenge et al. (2008)
It is difficult to know whether young people are different from older people as a
function of age or of generation. To investigate this, the time-lag method can be used:
measuring people of the same age at different times (e.g., students from 1990, students from
2000, students from 2010, etc.). These are birth cohorts (people of the same age from
different generations). This research is a meta-analysis, in which groups of the same age from
different generations have completed the same questionnaires (Narcissistic Personality
Inventory - NPI). The NPI, the most widely used reliable and valid measure of narcissistic
personality, is not a clinical instrument and therefore has no cut-off score. Narcissism is
characterized by a positive and inflated self-image, social extraversion (although there is
often little interest in forming warm, emotional ties with others), self-regulation to improve
the self, for instance by attention seeking and taking credit from others. Those high in
narcissism are prone to aggression after insult and impulsivity. Due to the forced choice
format, the questionnaire is well protected against the social desirability of the answers.
Previous research revealed that Narcissism seems to increase with time, as
individualistic traits tend to be emphasized across generations. People also score higher on
self-confidence, assertiveness, and extraversion (related to narcissism). People are becoming
increasingly better, more important, stronger (in terms of personality) and more influential.
Narcissism is negatively correlated with age: young people are often more narcissistic than
older people. When looking at the current generations, it seems we are seeing a decrease in
narcissism (or at least no increase). It seems that generation X (in college mid-1980s to late
1990s) has less ego and self-confidence than the Millennials (in college early 200s to late
2010s, sometimes called GenY). On the contrary, Millennials appear to be outer-fixated,
group oriented, civically responsible but not self-absorbed.
Current research focuses on how narcissism levels have changed over the generations.
Contrary to common thought, college populations have not changed much, as well as
Socioeconomic Status (SES).Moreover, there are only minor differences in the ethnic
composition of the student population. The increase in university students is significant but
not very high. The number of women at the university, although it has increased, has not
become extremely high either.
It has been investigated whether narcissism increases with time by correlating average
scores on the NPI and the year of data collection: Results show a systematic increase in
scores on the NPI, meaning that the average college student now endorses two items more on
Summary Ostracism – Williams (2008)
Ostracism is commonly defined as individuals being ignored and excluded without
any extra explanation or clear negative attention by other individuals or groups. (Williams,
2007). Williams discusses three theories about ostracism to explain the consequences
ostracism can have for individuals.
The first theory is called the temporal framework and it explains that there are
automatic responses followed by planned or conscious responses. In this framework, there are
three stages after an ostracism experience: the first stage is a painful response to any form of
ostracism experienced followed by an increase in sadness and anger, and it ends with a
reflective stage which is responsive for the reasons and sources of the form of ostracism
occurring.
The second theory is called the social monitoring and sociometric model and it
focuses mostly on one’s need to belong and how the social monitoring system helps to obtain
optimal levels of belonginess.
The last theory is called the cognitive framework, and it sees ostracism as a blow of a
blunt instrument that can cause damage to one’s cognitive abilities to self-regulate.
Different personalities and situations of individuals could explain the different
responses to ostracism. For example, people can have different, conflicting responses such as
fight, flight or freeze versus tend-and-befriend. Lonely people and people with a low self-
esteem have the tendency to isolate themselves socially from others, to cope with the pain of
rejection while people with high self-esteem might do something else to cope with rejection.
Leary (2006) suggests that ostracism might lead to aggression due to a lack of several
basic needs. It has been proposed that ostracism can endanger at least four needs of
individuals: the need to belong, the need to maintain a high self-esteem, the need to have at
least some personal control over the social environment and the need to have existential
rights acknowledged.
The main reactions individuals have to ostracism are aggressive or antisocial behavior
(fight), avoiding the situation (flight) and a frozen state (freeze), or the desire to be liked and
re-included by others (tend-and-befriend).
, 2
Summary Narcissistic Personality – Twenge et al. (2008)
It is difficult to know whether young people are different from older people as a
function of age or of generation. To investigate this, the time-lag method can be used:
measuring people of the same age at different times (e.g., students from 1990, students from
2000, students from 2010, etc.). These are birth cohorts (people of the same age from
different generations). This research is a meta-analysis, in which groups of the same age from
different generations have completed the same questionnaires (Narcissistic Personality
Inventory - NPI). The NPI, the most widely used reliable and valid measure of narcissistic
personality, is not a clinical instrument and therefore has no cut-off score. Narcissism is
characterized by a positive and inflated self-image, social extraversion (although there is
often little interest in forming warm, emotional ties with others), self-regulation to improve
the self, for instance by attention seeking and taking credit from others. Those high in
narcissism are prone to aggression after insult and impulsivity. Due to the forced choice
format, the questionnaire is well protected against the social desirability of the answers.
Previous research revealed that Narcissism seems to increase with time, as
individualistic traits tend to be emphasized across generations. People also score higher on
self-confidence, assertiveness, and extraversion (related to narcissism). People are becoming
increasingly better, more important, stronger (in terms of personality) and more influential.
Narcissism is negatively correlated with age: young people are often more narcissistic than
older people. When looking at the current generations, it seems we are seeing a decrease in
narcissism (or at least no increase). It seems that generation X (in college mid-1980s to late
1990s) has less ego and self-confidence than the Millennials (in college early 200s to late
2010s, sometimes called GenY). On the contrary, Millennials appear to be outer-fixated,
group oriented, civically responsible but not self-absorbed.
Current research focuses on how narcissism levels have changed over the generations.
Contrary to common thought, college populations have not changed much, as well as
Socioeconomic Status (SES).Moreover, there are only minor differences in the ethnic
composition of the student population. The increase in university students is significant but
not very high. The number of women at the university, although it has increased, has not
become extremely high either.
It has been investigated whether narcissism increases with time by correlating average
scores on the NPI and the year of data collection: Results show a systematic increase in
scores on the NPI, meaning that the average college student now endorses two items more on
