The mechanism of social pain: a social motive perspective

Abstract

My previous research has shown that people can re-experience pain associated with past socially hurtful experiences (Chen, Williams, Fitness, & Newton, 2008). This study further investigated the mechanism for such an effect from a social motive perspective. Theorists argued that social pain is a signal of deficits in need of belonging (MacDonald & Leary, 2005; Eisenberger & Lieberman, 2004; Williams, 2007); however, no published studies have tested whether the need of belonging mediates the effect of ostracism/social exclusion on social pain. In addition, Williams and colleagues (see William, 2007) have repeatedly demonstrated that ostracism episodes also threaten other social need, such as the need for control. Therefore, it is reasonable to expect that control should mediate the link between ostracism and social pain as well. To test these hypotheses, I asked participants to recall a past experience during which they were hurt physically or socially (i.e., betrayed by someone close to them). To help the participants re-live past experiences, I asked participants to type, on a computer, what had happened to them and how they had felt step-by-step. Immediately following pain reliving, participants were asked to fill questionnaires measuring their need for belonging and their need for control. Participants were then asked to indicate their feelings of pain on a visual analog scale and the McGill Pain Questionnaire (Melzack, 1978). The results showed that both belonging and control accounted for unique variance in social pain.