THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL EXCLUSION ON AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR: THE ROLE OF SELF-CONTROL AND ATTRIBUTION
- Liviu Poenaru
- Oct 9
- 2 min read
Oct. 2025
Yuhong Qiu, Liuye Chen, Chenlyu Xu, Xinlin He, Qingyao Zong, Wen Chen, Fang Liu
Highlights
Social exclusion increases individual's aggression.
Self-control mediated the relationship between social exclusion and aggression.
Attribution style moderated the impact of social exclusion on aggressive behavior.
Targeted intervention of self-control and attribution can reduce aggression.
Abstract
Social exclusion adversely affects individuals' cognition and emotions, potentially leading to aggression. Consequently, exploring its mechanism on aggression and mitigation strategies is crucial. This study used two consecutive experiments. In study 1, we recruited 158 participants, used MMM design, manipulated the subjects' sense of social rejection through the recall-writing paradigm, manipulated and measured their self-control with the Stroop paradigm and SCS scale, and measured their aggression with the Job Evaluation Task to explore the relationship between the three. Results revealed that social exclusion increased aggressive behavior, additionally, self-control mediates these relations. In study 2, we recruited another 158 participants, used Cyberball task to manipulate the subjects' sense of social rejection on the Internet, used SCS scale to measure their self-control, and used the Adolescent Online Aggressive Behavior Scale to measure their aggression, and manipulated the subjects to make different attributions through the instructions to further explore the potential moderating effect of attribution. The results suggest that social exclusion indirectly increases cyber-aggression by weakening individual self-control. Additionally, both internal and external attributions increase this effect. Findings are helpful to provide practical guidance for alleviating the negative consequences of social exclusion.
CITE
Qiu, Y., Chen, L., Xu, C., He, X., Zong, Q., Chen, W., & Liu, F. (2025). The impact of social exclusion on aggressive behavior: The role of self-control and attribution. Personality and Individual Differences, 243, 113231
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