Coping With Ostracism Over Time: A Time-Contingent Sampling Study of Immediate and Later Responses at Day 0, Day 3, and Day 6

Abstract

Ostracism, feeling ignored and excluded, causes social pain and lowers well-being. People cope with ostracism in various ways. However, past studies on coping with ostracism often focused on one specific behavior (e.g., aggression), measured at a single time point. Such designs limit our understanding of the diversity and temporal trajectory of coping behaviors. We used a time-contingent sampling method with two additional follow-up assessments to capture immediate and later coping responses at Day 0, Day 3, and Day 6 after a naturally occurring ostracism experience (N = 143; 363 coping responses:). Our findings reveal that individuals initially prioritize withdrawal and prosocial coping, with prosocial responses becoming more prominent over time, while antisocial coping remained rare throughout all assessments. Moreover, individuals exhibited other (cognitive) coping strategies and non-responses, going beyond current ostracism coping taxonomies. These findings advance the understanding of ostracism coping by emphasizing a temporal perspective.