Differential Responses of Independent and Interdependent People to Social Exclusion

To what extent is a person’s interpersonal network mustered after social exclusion? This was investigated inrelation to self-construal- independent, or interdependent. We conducted two quasi-experimental questionnairestudies of university students (Study 1; N = 57, Study 2; N = 78). Results indicated that interdependent studentslowered identification with their academic departments after remembering a time when they were sociallyexcluded (Study 1). Their self-worth was also more highly contingent on relational harmony in the whole of theirinterpersonal networks (Study 2). In contrast, independent students did not exhibit these patterns. These resultssuggest that social exclusion caused interdependent (not independent) individuals make attempts to secure andvalue their entire networks, due to the possibility that such specific identification might actually serve to limitpossible interpersonal networks (boundary effect). It is concluded that independent and interdependent studentsevidence dissimilar responses to social exclusion. The implications of this finding are discussed.