Associations between perceived injustice, unforgiveness, and psychological well-being among ex-communicants

Susan D. Boon*, Jac Brown

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    2 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Through the experiences of individuals excommunicated from a small religious sect (N = 95), we explored the association between perceptions of injustice resulting from chronic social exclusion and reduced psychological well-being. We also tested whether unforgiveness toward the church—particularly a tendency for participants to experience lingering negative affect and rumination about their treatment by the church—mediates this association. Analysis of responses to an online survey about participants’ experiences of chronic ostracism revealed the predicted association between perceived injustice and both anxiety and loneliness but not depression and supported our prediction that emotional-ruminative unforgiveness explains this association. Our findings also call into question whether the psychological outcomes of prolonged social exclusion are necessarily chronic and debilitating.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)1991-2011
    Number of pages21
    JournalJournal of Social and Personal Relationships
    Volume37
    Issue number6
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 1 Jun 2020

    Keywords

    • excommunication
    • loneliness
    • need to belong
    • ostracism
    • perceived injustice
    • psychological well-being
    • social exclusion
    • unforgiveness

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