The Influence Of The Focus Of Attention On College Students' Needs Threat In The Context Of Social Exclusion

Social exclusion is defined as a neglected and is excluded,is a common and complicated social phenomenon.Social exclusion will lead to a drop in the individual basic needs(Sense of Belonging,Self-esteem,Control,Meaningful existence),but the impact on the individual varies with each indidual.In two studies,We examined the role of focus of attention in maintaining the adverse effects of ostracism.In Study 1,108 participants were randomly divided into four groups: OST-SFA group(52),OST-EFA group(15),INC-SFA(24),INC-EFA external attention group(17).Through the Cyberball program,Participants were included or ostracized and then completed Chinese version of the post-Cyberball-1questionnaire immediately and after a delay to measure need-threat by post-Cyberball-2.During the delay,participants answered questions that directed their focus of attention either toward themselves(self-focused attention;SFA)or externally(externally focused attention;EFA).Focus of attention did not affect the persistence of need-threat.However,a post hoc analysis of the self-focused ostracized participants showed that those who engaged in reappraisal during the delay interval recovered more quickly than those who did not.Based on the results of the Study 1,there were only one OST-SFA Group consisting of 70 participants in Study 2.All the participants completed the cyberball and then filled the post-Cyberball-1 questionnaire and answer four points focus on the internal operation of the subject.The participants returned to the laboratory after a week to complete the post-Cyberball-2 and a series of Individual Differences Scale.The results of the Study 2 shows that the individuals who are reevaluated recovered faster in needs threat after the repulsive delay period.Individual differences in the measurement showed that subjects who failed to reevaluate reported more stress,anxiety and fear of negative evaluation.Thus,the results of the study shows that low anxiety,stress and fear of negating individuals are more likely to reevaluate and then recover more quickly from the negative effects of social exclusion.