Department of PsychologyDepartment of Psychology
How do people react when they are socially rejected? In the Social Rejection Lab, people experience a social rejection or acceptance. We then measure a variety of behaviors: aggression, prosocial behavior and helping, emotion regulation, self-control. Recently, we have also examined how aggression after rejection can be prevented. This is especially relevant because many incidents of violence, including the school shootings, were preceded by social rejection. This research was featured on "Dateline NBC," KPBS radio, CBS radio's the Osgood file, and other media outlets; links are provided to many of these sources. PDF copies of the actual research publications can be obtained from the journals in your university library or from me.
Abstract: The authors hypothesize that socially excluded individuals enter a defensive state of cognitive deconstruction that avoids meaningful thought, emotion, and self-awareness and is characterized by lethargy and altered time flow. Social rejection led to an overestimation of time intervals, a focus on the present rather than the future, and a failure to delay gratification (Experiment 1). Rejected participants were more likely to agree that "Life is meaningless" (Experiment 2). Excluded participants wrote fewer words and displayed slower reaction times (Experiments 3-4). They chose fewer emotion words in an implicit emotion task (Experiment 5), replicating the lack of emotion on explicit measures (Experiments 1-3 and 6). Excluded participants also tried to escape from self-awareness by facing away from a mirror (Experiment 6).
Twenge, J. M., & Campbell, W. K. (2003). "Isn't it fun to get the respect that we're going to deserve?" Narcissism, social rejection, and aggression. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29, 261-272.
Abstract: Three studies examined the effects of randomly assigned messages of social exclusion. In all three studies, significant and large decrements in intelligent thought (including IQ and GRE test performance) were found among people told they were likely to end up alone in life. The decline in cognitive performance was found in complex cognitive tasks such as effortful logic and reasoning; simple information processing remained intact despite the social exclusion. The effects were specific to social exclusion, as participants who received predictions of future nonsocial misfortunes (accidents and injuries) performed well on the cognitive tests. The cognitive impairments appeared to involve reductions in both speed (effort) and accuracy. The effect was not mediated by mood.
Twenge, J. M., Catanese, K. R., & Baumeister, R. F. (2002). Social exclusion causes self-defeating behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83, 606-615.
Abstract: In 4 experiments, the authors tested the idea that social exclusion leads to (unintentionally) self-defeating behavior. Exclusion was manipulated by telling some people that they were likely to end up alone later in life. This randomly assigned feedback caused people to take irrational, self-defeating risks (Experiments 1 and 2), choose relatively unhealthy, rather than healthy, behaviors (Experiment 3), and procrastinate longer with pleasurable activities rather than practicing for an upcoming test (Experiment 4). A control group, who heard that their future would be marred by frequent accidents, did not show these self-defeating patterns. Thus, the effect goes beyond just hearing bad news. Mood/emotional distress did not significantly mediate these effects across 3 different mood measures.
Reuters Health story
Abstract: Social exclusion was manipulated by telling people that they would end up alone later in life or that other participants had rejected them. These manipulations caused participants to behave more aggressively. Excluded people issued a more negative job evaluation against someone who insulted them (Experiments 1 and 2). Excluded people also blasted a target with higher levels of aversive noise, both when the target had insulted them (Experiment 4) and when the target was a neutral person and no interaction had occurred (Experiment 5). However, excluded people were not more aggressive toward someone who issued praise (Experiment 3). These responses were specific to social exclusion (as opposed to other misfortunes) and were not mediated by emotion.
Abstract: Two meta-analyses find that young Americans increasingly believe their lives are controlled by outside forces rather than their own efforts. Locus of control scores became substantially more external (about .80 standard deviations) in both college student and child samples between 1960 and 2002. The average college student in 2002 had a more external locus of control than 80% of college students in the early 1960s. Birth cohort/time period explains 14% of the variance in locus of control scores. The data included 97 samples of college students (total n = 18,310) and 41 samples of children (total n = 6,554) gathered from dissertation research. The results are consistent with an alienation model positing increases in cynicism, individualism, and the self-serving bias. The implications are almost uniformly negative, as externality is correlated with poor school achievement, helplessness, ineffective stress management, decreased self-control, and depression.
Foster, J. D., Campbell, W. K., & Twenge, J. M. (2003). Individual differences in narcissism: Inflated self-views across the lifespan and around the world. Journal of Research in Personality, 37, 469-486.
Abstract: The present investigation examined associations among narcissism, age, ethnicity, world region, and gender, using a large (n = 3445) sample of participants representing several different world regions and ethnicities. The results suggest that 1) reported narcissism declines in older participants, 2) consistent with previous findings, males report being more narcissistic than females, 3) that ethnic differences in reported narcissism are generally comparable to those found in the self-esteem literature, and 4) that world region appears to exert influence on narcissism, with participants from more individualistic societies reporting more narcissism. The results are discussed in terms of how age and culture might impact narcissism and how future research might address this topic.
Twenge, J. M. (2002). Birth cohort, social change, and personality: The interplay of dysphoria and individualism in the 20th century. In D. Cervone & W. Mischel (Eds.), Advances in Personality Science. (pp. 196-218). New York: Guilford.
Twenge, J. M., & Campbell, W. K. (2001). Age and birth cohort differences in self-esteem: A cross-temporal meta-analysis. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 5, 321-344.
Abstract: A meta-analytic review finds that college students' self-esteem increased substantially between 1968 and 1994 when measured using the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSE). Children's scores on the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory (SEI) show a curvilinear pattern over time, decreasing from 1965 to 1979 and increasing from 1980 to 1993. Children's SEI scores are directly correlated with social statistics (e.g., divorce rate, unemployment) for the corresponding years. Analyses for age differences show that SEI scores decrease slightly during the transition from elementary school to junior high and then rise progressively through high school and college. RSE scores increase steadily with age. Results are discussed in terms of the antecedents of self-esteem, including social acceptance, competencies, and the culture of self-worth.
Twenge, J. M. (2001b). Changes in women's assertiveness in response to status and roles: A cross-temporal meta-analysis, 1931-1993. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81, 133-145.
Abstract: Two meta-analyses find that American women's assertiveness rises and falls with their social status from 1931 to 1993. College women and high school girls' self-reports on assertiveness/dominance scales increase from 1931 to 1945, decrease from 1946 to 1967, and increase from 1968 to 1993, explaining about 14% of the variance in the trait. Women's scores have increased enough that many recent samples show no sex differences in assertiveness. Correlations with social indices (e.g., women's educational attainment, women's median age at first marriage) confirm that women's assertiveness varies with their status and roles. Social change is thus internalized in the form of a personality trait. Men's scores do not demonstrate a significant birth cohort effect overall. The results suggest that the changing sociocultural environment for women affected their personalities, most likely beginning in childhood.
Twenge, J. M. (2001a). Birth cohort changes in extraversion: A cross-temporal meta-analysis, 1966-1993. Personality and Individual Differences, 30, 735-748.
Abstract: This paper examines change over time in American college students' scores on the extraversion scales of the Eysenck Personality Inventory and the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. The meta-analysis aims to investigate birth cohort as a proxy for the larger sociocultural environment, a previously unexamined influence on personality beyond genetics and family environment. Data collection strategies yielded 59 studies reporting data on 16,846 students. Correlations between extraversion scores and year of data collection were positive and strong (most .65 or above) for both men and women and across both measures, suggesting that extraversion has increased over time. The increase is large, between .79 and .97 standard deviations over 20-25 years, explaining between 14% and 19% of the variance in personality over this time.
Twenge, J. M. (2000). The age of anxiety? Birth cohort change in anxiety and neuroticism, 1952-1993. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79, 1007-1021.
Abstract: Two meta-analyses find that Americans have shifted toward substantially higher levels of anxiety and neuroticism during recent decades. Both college student (adult) and child samples increase almost a full standard deviation in anxiety between 1952 and 1993 (explaining about 20% of the variance in the trait). The average American child in the 1980s reported more anxiety than child psychiatric patients in the 1950s. Correlations with social indices (e.g., divorce rates, crime rates) suggest that decreases in social connectedness and increases in environmental dangers may be responsible for the rise in anxiety. Economic factors, however, seem to play little role. Birth cohort, as a proxy for broad social trends, may be an important influence on personality development, especially during childhood.
Twenge, J. M. (1997a). Attitudes toward women, 1970-1995: A meta-analysis. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 21, 35-51.
Abstract: The social climate for women has changed considerably since the Attitudes Toward Women Scale was written in the early 1970s, but the pattern of change in AWS scores throughout the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s is unclear. Published reports of data from 71 samples of American undergraduates responding to the AWS were located and analyzed for differences across time (1970-1995) and region (South and non-South). Women's AWS scores are strongly correlated with year of scale administration (r = .78, p < .001), and men's scores show a similar trend toward more liberal/feminist attitudes (r = .60, p < .001). Scores show a steady trend toward more liberal/feminist attitudes, with no appreciable reversal or slowdown during the 1980s. Sex differences steadily increase from 1970-1985 and decrease from 1986-1995. Southern samples are marginally more conservative/traditional. The results are discussed in terms of generational differences, the effects of maternal employment on attitudes, and the individual's experience of cultural change.
Twenge, J. M. (1997b). Changes in masculine and feminine traits over time: A meta-analysis. Sex Roles, 36, 305-325.
Abstract: Sixty-three samples providing single-sex means on the Bem Sex-Role Inventory and 40 reporting similar data on the Personal Attributes Questionnaire were located and analyzed. Women's scores on the BSRI-M and PAQ-M (masculine) scales have increased steadily over time (r's = .74 and .43, respectively). Women's BSRI-F and PAQ-F (feminine) scale scores do not correlate with year. Men's BSRI-M scores show a weaker positive relationship with year of administration (r = .47). The effect size for sex difference on the BSRI-M has also changed over time, showing a significant decrease over the twenty-year period. The results suggest that cultural change and environment may affect individual personalities; these changes in BSRI and PAQ means demonstrate women's increased endorsement of masculine-stereotyped traits and men's continued nonendorsement of feminine-stereotyped traits.
Meta-analysis allows large collections of data to be summarized mathematically. They are very useful for determining the average overall effect in an area and the moderators of that effect. I have conducted several meta-analyses over different fields, including self-esteem, marital satisfaction, and children's depression. PDF copies of the actual research publications can be obtained from the journals in your university library or from me.
Twenge, J. M., Campbell, W. K., & Foster, C. A. (2003). Parenthood and marital satisfaction: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 65, 574-583.
Abstract: This meta-analysis finds that parents report lower marital satisfaction compared to nonparents (d = -.19, r = -.10). There is also a significant negative correlation between marital satisfaction and number of children (d = -.13, r = -.06). The difference in marital satisfaction is most pronounced among mothers of infants (38% of mothers of infants have high marital satisfaction, compared to 62% of childless women). For men, the effect remains similar across ages of children. The effect of parenthood on marital satisfaction is more negative among high socioeconomic groups, younger birth cohorts, and in more recent years. The data suggest that marital satisfaction decreases after the birth of a child due to role conflicts and restriction of freedom.
Abstract: A within-scale meta-analysis was performed on 310 samples of children (ages 8-16; N = 61,424) responding to the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI). Girls' depression scores stayed steady from 8 to 11 and then increased between ages 12 and 16. Boys' CDI scores were stable from ages 8 to 16 except for a high CDI score at age 12. Girls' scores were slightly lower than boys' during childhood, but girls scored higher beginning at age 13. There were no socioeconomic status effects and no differences between White and Black samples. However, Hispanic samples scored significantly higher on the CDI. Analyses for birth cohort showed a slight decrease in boys' CDI scores over time and no change for girls. Longitudinal studies demonstrated a marked testing effect.
Twenge, J. M., & Crocker, J. (2002). Race and self-esteem: Meta-analyses comparing Whites, Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, and American Indians. Psychological Bulletin, 128, 371-408.
Abstract: These meta-analyses examine race differences in self-esteem among 712 datapoints. Blacks scored higher than Whites on self-esteem measures (d = .19), but Whites score higher than other racial minority groups, including Hispanics (d = -.09), Asians (d = -.30), and American Indians (d = -.21). Most of these differences were smallest in childhood and grew larger with age. Blacks' self-esteem increased over time relative to Whites', with the Black advantage not appearing until the 1980s. Black and Hispanic samples scored higher on measures without an academic self-esteem subscale. Relative to Whites, minority males had lower self-esteem than did females, and Black and Hispanic self-esteem was higher in groups with high socioeconomic status. The results are most consistent with a cultural interpretation of racial differences in self-esteem.
Twenge, J. M., & Campbell, W. K. (2002). Self-esteem and socioeconomic status: A meta-analytic review. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 6, 59-71.
Abstract: Socioeconomic status (SES) has a small but significant relationship with self-esteem (d = .15, r = .08) in a meta-analysis of 446 samples (total participant n = 312,940). Higher SES individuals report higher self-esteem. The effect size is very small in young children, increases substantially during young adulthood, continues higher until middle age, and is then smaller for adults over the age of 60. Gender interacts with birth cohort: the effect size increased over time for women but decreased over time for men. Asians and Asian-Americans show a higher effect size, and occupation and education produce higher correlations with self-esteem than income does. The results are most consistent with a social indicator/salience model.
