The Effect Of Perceived Effort On Social Exclusion In Burdened Members:the Moderating Role Of Growth Mindset

Social exclusion is ubiquitous in people’s daily life.Previous studies have explored the factors that influence social exclusion from the perspective of the victims.This study aims t o explore the impact of perceived efforts on reducing social exclusion from the perspective of the ostracizers.Based on the "effort reward effect" of perceived effort,this study propose s that perceiving others’ effort in others would decrease social exclusion towards them.Four experiments were conducted to test this hypothesis.Experiment 1 was a single-factor two-level between-subjects design to investigate whether the perceived effort would reduce social exclusion.Experiment 2 was built upon Experiment 1 and added an easy-shortcut group to eliminate the influence of getting better on social exclusion.Experiment 3 manipulated member identity variables and employed a between-subjects design of 2(perceived effort: perceived effort,none)×2(membership: burdensome member,non-burdensome member)to further explore the boundary conditions of perceived effort reducing social exclusion – whether perceiving effort in burdensome members would decrease social exclusion.In experiment 4,growth mindset was introduced to further explore the impact of perceived effort on social exclusion.2(perceived effort: perceived effort,none)× 2(membership: burdensome member,non-burdensome member)× 2(mindset: growth mindset,fixed mindset)was used to explore whether growth mindset moderates the relationship between perceived effort in burdensome members and social exclusion.The results of experiment 1 show that perceived effort can reduce the frequency of denial(1a)and removal of others(1b)compared with non-perceived effort.In experiment 2,it was found that perceived effort could reduce the frequency of denial(2a)and removal of others(2b),and there was no significant difference in the frequency of denial(2a)and removal of others(2b)for non-perceived effort and easy-shortcut.Experiments 1 and 2 show that perceived effort can reduce social exclusion.The results of experiment 3 showed that for the burdensome members,the perceived effort group and the non-perceived effort group had no significant difference in denial(3a)and removal of others(3b).For the non-burdensomed members,the frequency of denial(3a)and removal of others(3b)in the perceived effort group was significantly lower than that in the non-perceived effort group,indicating that the effort of the perceived burdensome member would not reduce the social exclusion of the burdensome member.Experiment 4 showed that compared to those with a fixed mindset,those with growth mindset were less likely to exclude effortful burdensome members.This study has the following theoretical and practical significance.Firstly,it introduces perceived effort into the field of social exclusion,explores its impact on social exclusion,and expands the theory of perceived effort and social exclusion.Secondly,the study finds that growth mindset can reduce the social exclusion towards effortful burdensome members,expanding the theory of growth mindset.Finally,it provides pathways to reduce social exclusion,particularly towards effortful individuals with low ability.