Sources of Ostracism

Until recently, researchers in the field of ostracism (i.e., the act of being excluded and ignored) have focused on investigating this phenomenon from the perspective of targets (i.e., the ostracized person). Although this has yielded important discoveries about the consequences of being ostracized, very little is known about the nature and consequences of being a source of ostracism (i.e., the ostracizer). This article reviews the current ostracism research pertaining to sources and outlines the immediate consequences of ostracizing. Also explored are the key challenges that researchers must overcome to ensure that ostracism is investigated from the perspective of both targets and sources.