Being ostracized or excluded, even briefly and by strangers, is painful and threatens fundamental needs. Recent work by Zhong and Leonardelli (2008) found that excluded individuals perceive the room as cooler and that they desire warmer drinks. A perspective that many rely on in embodiment is the theoretical idea that people use metaphorical associations to understand social exclusion (see Landau, Meier, & Keefer, 2010). We suggest that people feel colder because they are colder. The results strongly support the idea that more complex metaphorical understandings of social relations are scaffolded onto literal changes in bodily temperature: Being excluded in an online ball tossing game leads to lower finger temperatures (Study 1), while the negative affect typically experienced after such social exclusion is alleviated after holding a cup of warm tea (Study 2). The authors discuss further implications for the interaction between body and social relations specifically, and for basic and cognitive systems in general.

Ijzerman, H., Gallucci, M., Pouw, W., Weiβgerber, S., Van Doesum, N., Williams, K. (2012). Cold-blooded loneliness: Social exclusion leads to lower skin temperatures. ACTA PSYCHOLOGICA, 140(3), 283-288 [10.1016/j.actpsy.2012.05.002].

Cold-blooded loneliness: Social exclusion leads to lower skin temperatures

GALLUCCI, MARCELLO;
2012

Abstract

Being ostracized or excluded, even briefly and by strangers, is painful and threatens fundamental needs. Recent work by Zhong and Leonardelli (2008) found that excluded individuals perceive the room as cooler and that they desire warmer drinks. A perspective that many rely on in embodiment is the theoretical idea that people use metaphorical associations to understand social exclusion (see Landau, Meier, & Keefer, 2010). We suggest that people feel colder because they are colder. The results strongly support the idea that more complex metaphorical understandings of social relations are scaffolded onto literal changes in bodily temperature: Being excluded in an online ball tossing game leads to lower finger temperatures (Study 1), while the negative affect typically experienced after such social exclusion is alleviated after holding a cup of warm tea (Study 2). The authors discuss further implications for the interaction between body and social relations specifically, and for basic and cognitive systems in general.
Articolo in rivista - Articolo scientifico
Emotions, Social Exclusion, Physiological Reactions
English
2012
140
3
283
288
none
Ijzerman, H., Gallucci, M., Pouw, W., Weiβgerber, S., Van Doesum, N., Williams, K. (2012). Cold-blooded loneliness: Social exclusion leads to lower skin temperatures. ACTA PSYCHOLOGICA, 140(3), 283-288 [10.1016/j.actpsy.2012.05.002].
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10281/34413
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