Peer Influence and Risk Following Ostracism: The Moderating Role of Rejection Sensitivity and Reward Availability

Being ignored and excluded is a painful experience that impacts crucial higher-order cognitive processes. We report two experiments examining the effect of ostracism on risk-related decision-making, peer conformity, and the moderating role of individual differences in rejection sensitivity. In Experiment 1, participants recalled being ostracized or included before completing a health risk-perception peer-influence task. Ostracized participants showed a significant decrease in risk perception but conformed more to risk-averse peers. In Experiment 2, participants completed a social gambling task, with ostracized participants exhibiting riskier behavior than included participants. Unlike Experiment 1, ostracized participants were more influenced by peers displaying moderately risky behaviors, rather than highly risk-averse ones. These effects were moderated by participants’ level of sensitivity to rejection. Together, these findings provide further evidence that ostracism alters risky decision-making and offers insight into how the peer environment shapes risk-taking.