Emotion regulation of social exclusion: a cross-cultural study

Social exclusion, or ostracism, threatens fundamental human needs: belonging, self-esteem, control, and meaningful existence. Individuals cope with this by regulating their negative emotions. Culture significantly influences both emotional reactions and emotion regulation strategies. Previous research demonstrates an "own-race bias" in emotional responses, where individuals react more strongly to same-race emotional stimuli. However, the impact of culture on emotional responses and regulation specifically to social exclusion remains under-investigated. While some studies indicate stronger social distress from same-race exclusion, the generalizability across cultures is unclear. Cultural differences also affect emotion regulation motivation and adaptiveness; for instance, emotion suppression is considered maladaptive in individualistic cultures but potentially adaptive in collectivistic cultures. This study aimed to examine how cultural differences (specifically between individualistic White and collectivistic East Asian cultures) affect emotional responses to and regulation of social exclusion, focusing on cognitive reappraisal as an emotion regulation strategy due to its widespread use and relatively long-lasting effects. The hypotheses were that participants would exhibit stronger emotional responses and more effective emotion regulation toward same-race social exclusion, and that White participants would display better overall emotion regulation than East Asian participants.

The literature review establishes the significance of social exclusion as a threat to fundamental human needs and the role of emotion regulation as a coping mechanism. It highlights the influence of culture on both emotional responses and regulation strategies. Studies demonstrating the "own-race bias" in emotion processing are reviewed, along with research showing cultural differences in emotion regulation motivation and adaptiveness, particularly concerning emotion suppression versus reappraisal. The lack of research focusing specifically on cultural influences on the emotional response to and regulation of social exclusion is emphasized, making this study crucial in addressing the gap.

Eighty college students (40 White from the UK, 40 East Asian from China) participated. Participants completed questionnaires assessing demographics, depression, anxiety, and emotion regulation strategies. Exclusion criteria included significant depressive symptoms. Sixty pictures depicting social exclusion were used (30 with White characters, 30 with East Asian characters). Pictures were matched for valence and arousal. Participants viewed pictures under two conditions: no-reappraisal (passive viewing) and reappraisal (reinterpretation). After each picture, they rated their vicarious negative emotional experience on a 9-point scale. The study used a repeated-measures ANOVA to analyze subjective ratings in the no-reappraisal block, considering picture type (same-race vs. other-race) and ethnic group. A two-way ANOVA on "reappraisal advantage" (difference between no-reappraisal and reappraisal ratings) was performed, examining picture type and ethnic group. Additional ANOVAs explored ratings in the reappraisal block and potential gender effects. A temporal analysis assessed whether the effect of social exclusion attenuated over time within each block. Statistical analysis was conducted using SPSS Statistics 20.0.

Both White and East Asian participants exhibited a significant "own-race bias" in emotional responses to social exclusion during passive viewing, reporting higher negative emotion ratings for same-race exclusion. White participants reported significantly higher negative emotions to White character images compared to East Asian participants for the White character images. East Asian participants reported higher negative emotions to East Asian character images compared to White participants for the East Asian character images. Analysis of reappraisal advantage revealed a main effect of picture type, with greater advantage for other-race images overall. A significant main effect of ethnic group was found, with White participants showing a larger reappraisal advantage. A critical interaction effect between picture type and ethnic group demonstrated that East Asian participants showed a more significant reappraisal advantage for same-race images, while the effect for White participants was non-significant. White participants demonstrated a significantly larger reappraisal advantage than East Asian participants for same-race exclusion images. In the reappraisal block, participants showed higher negative emotion ratings for same-race images, and East Asian participants reported higher overall negative emotions than White participants. The temporal analysis showed no significant difference in negative emotion ratings between the first and second halves of either block, suggesting that the effect of social exclusion did not diminish over time within the experiment. The analysis of gender differences showed that female participants reported significantly higher negative emotion ratings and demonstrated a marginally larger reappraisal advantage than male participants.

The results confirm the "own-race bias" in emotional responses to social exclusion, extending previous findings to a cross-cultural context. The stronger emotion regulation for same-race exclusion suggests that in-group identification and cultural belonging enhance emotion regulation effectiveness, potentially through increased empathy and understanding. The greater emotion regulation capacity in White participants aligns with previous research suggesting higher motivation for emotion regulation in individualistic cultures. This might relate to differences in social support networks and coping strategies. The significant interaction effect highlights the importance of considering cultural context in intervention strategies. While reappraisal was effective, further investigation comparing reappraisal strategies (e.g., reinterpretation vs. distancing) across cultures is warranted.

This study demonstrated the "own-race bias" in emotional responses to and regulation of social exclusion across White and East Asian cultures, with White participants showing superior reappraisal abilities. These findings underscore the need for culturally sensitive assessments and interventions for social exclusion, potentially adapting strategies like mindfulness programs to specific cultural contexts. Future studies should use real-life social exclusion scenarios, include diverse age groups, measure attributions to social exclusion, assess implicit racial attitudes, incorporate control stimuli, and counterbalance block order to strengthen the findings and address limitations.

The study utilized hypothetical scenarios rather than real-life experiences of social exclusion. The sample was limited to young adults, potentially restricting generalizability to other age groups. Participants' attributions to the social exclusion scenarios were not measured. Baseline self-regulation abilities were not assessed, and implicit racial attitudes were not considered. The fixed order of experimental blocks might confound the findings on the attenuating effect of social exclusion, and the absence of control stimuli could also be improved upon.