Ostracism,voice, and exit: The biology of social participation

A bewildering variety of social patterns can be described and analyzed as manifestations of ostracism and social rejection. Ostracism can be viewed as a coerced or involuntary rupture of social bonds, as distinguished from voluntary exit; both appear to be characteristic ways that animals use in relating to other members of the group. Based on Albert O. Hirschman's Exit, Voice and Loyalty, a general theoretical framework can be built on the realization that ostracism is far from a strange aberration—but that its excesses strike most moderns as uncivilized. This analysis presumes that active participation, flight, and bonding are general categories intrinsic to social behavior. It follows that, in different social contexts, the implications of ostracism vary greatly. Modern democratic systems, in which voluntary exit remains a possibility, resemble our hominid past more closely than authoritarian societies that place individuals in the unenviable position of being trapped in silence (with no legitimate right to exercise political voice, yet no possibility of escape). At the risk of Charges of valuative bias, the argument is made that democratic regimes may be—all things equal—closer to the center of our species-typical range of behavior than other kinds of centralized states or governmental systems.     

Pukhtunwali: Ostracism and honor among the Pathan Hill tribes

The Pathan Hill tribes provide an example of the functional role of ostracism in a face- to-face, kin-based society. “Pukhtunwali,” the Code of the Pathans, regulates the uses of ostracism, as a response to the conflict between an individual's desire for freedom and the necessity of tribal unity. The most striking use of ostracism among the Pathans is the rejection by the tribe or clan of one of its own members whose behavior might lead to feud. If a member of a group has committed an act likely to provoke a reprisal, which may be directed against any individual of that group, the guilty person may be expelled. By ostracizing the person, the group is both punishing him, and withdrawing its support. In Pathan society ostracism functions simultaneously to deter behavior that violates customary legal norms, to punish specific acts that are culturally defined as improper, and to unify the primary reference group on which individuals depend for protection and economic support.     

Neurological correlates of social behavior

Experimental evidence obtained over the past decade in nonhuman primates suggests that there are neural structures necessary for the maintenance of social bonds and affiliative behavior. These include the amygdaloid nuclei, which is the critical brain area, and two anatomically closely related cortical structures—the temporal pole and posterior medial orbital cortex. Bilateral ablation of any of the areas results in a syndrome that varies from a quantitative decrease in affiliative behavior in confined colonies to total social isolation in naturally free-ranging groups. Lesions of these areas in adult females are also incompatible with the maintenance of the maternal-infant bond, but operated infants thrive and are well cared for. Species-typical behavior will determine the response of group members to lesioned conspecifics, and may vary from attempts to reintegrate the affected subject to attack and ostracism.The amygdaloid nuclei are hypothesized to be essential to placing an emotional bias on sensory information; thus this brain area is sensitive to, and its function dependent on, the social/environmental context of ongoing behavior. Brain impairment per se, does not necessarily result in ostracism and may be compatible with maintenance of social bondings depending upon the neural structures involved, subject's affective state, communication ability, and species typical behaviors. Observations of brain-impaired humans closely parallel studies in nonhuman primates.     

Human Sexual Differences in the Use of Social Ostracism as a Competitive Tactic

An aspect of social systems that is similar between chimpanzees and humans is that males form larger groups than females do. Both chimpanzee and human studies suggest that large groups are costlier for females than for males, so females attempt to reduce group size. Social ostracism of female group members occurs in both species and may serve as a mechanism for group size reduction. We formed groups of female and male children to examine directly whether human females would be more likely than males to employ social ostracism. We asked 7 female and 7 male groups of 10-yr-old children to compose and perform a play about a topic of interest to them. Female groups engaged in social ostracism more than male groups did. Further, within female groups, cortisol levels remained higher for female perpetrators of social ostracism than for their victims, suggesting that social ostracism is costly. In contrast, more frequent 1:1 conflictual behavior occurred in male than in female groups, but cortisol was unrelated to frequencies of 1:1 conflicts. Our results support the theory that human females find groups aversive and seek to reduce their size via social ostracism. Coalitions minimize the risk of retaliation but may induce costs.     

Social rejection,exclusion, and shunning among the Gombe chimpanzees

From the observations at Gombe over the past 23 years it appears that group punishment of deviant behavior through ostracism, as practiced in human groups, has not yet evolved in a truly sophisticated way in chimpanzee society. However, cases of “social rejection or exclusion” have been observed in three different behavioral contexts. Most frequently, a chimpanzee is the target of hostility as the result of competitive interaction within the community; in such cases, social cohesion counterbalances rejection, typically leading to integration within a relatively stable pattern of dominance and social interaction. The occasional departure of an individual who has been the target of aggression —like the withdrawal of Evered after repeated attacks by Figan and Faban—seems due to persistent hostility by a few males rather than general “ostracism” by the group as a whole. A second form of exclusion concerns outsiders found in the home range of the group: in these cases, hostility is more generalized, particularly in response to the attempt of an adult female with offspring to join the community. Finally, there are the rarely observed instances of shunning a group member whose behavior seems abnormal the social rejection of Pepe and Old Mr. McGregor after they suffered from polio.     

The Ordinal Effects of Ostracism: A Meta-Analysis of 120 Cyberball Studies

We examined 120 Cyberball studies (N = 11,869) to determine the effect size of ostracism and conditions under which the effect may be reversed, eliminated, or small. Our analyses showed that (1) the average ostracism effect is large (d > |1.4|) and (2) generalizes across structural aspects (number of players, ostracism duration, number of tosses, type of needs scale), sampling aspects (gender, age, country), and types of dependent measure (interpersonal, intrapersonal, fundamental needs). Further, we test Williams’s (2009) proposition that the immediate impact of ostracism is resistant to moderation, but that moderation is more likely to be observed in delayed measures. Our findings suggest that (3) both first and last measures are susceptible to moderation and (4) time passed since being ostracized does not predict effect sizes of the last measure. Thus, support for this proposition is tenuous and we suggest modifications to the temporal need-threat model of ostracism.     

Ostracism as a social and biological phenomenon: An introduction

Ostracism refers to the general process of rejection and exclusion, observed in human groups and in many other species. It occurs as “shunning” in small homogenous groups like the Amish or as rejection among children. Ostracism in various forms is also deeply embedded in our own legal tradition, and is used in the formal and informal legal procedures of other cultures, used to maintain order, to punish deviance, and to increase social cohesion. Hence, it is plausible to hypothesize that human ostracism may have physiological substrates or biological functions in addition to cultural, moral, and legal dimensions. Biological research shows that human emotions (anger, fear, reassurance, self-confidence) involve responses of the limbic system as well as ideas or thoughts in the cerebral cortex and that human behavior continually integrates biological and cultural factors. The legal system expresses and channels human behavior. For this reason laws should be more effective if their functions complement (rather than ignore) the function of the behavior being regulated. To look at law as it affects human behavior in the light of the life sciences does not imply the intention of finding a universally valid “natural law,” akin to theological or ideological doctrine. On the contrary, we find that humans can form radically different social systems due to the plasticity of their behavior. However, an interdisciplinary analysis of ostracism as a common area of behavior, combining biology, law, and the social sciences can produce insights that none of these fields alone can provide. Such an approach should increase our understanding of human nature and the functions of law.     

'Bioethics' is subordinate to morality in Japan

Disputes over brain death and euthanasia are used to illuminate the question whether there really is a Japanese way of thinking in bioethics. In Japanese thought, a person does not exist as an individual but as a member of the family, community or society. I describe these features of Japanese society as 'mutual dependency'. In this society, an act is 'good' and 'right' when it is commonly done, and it is 'bad' and 'wrong' when nobody else does it. Thus, outsiders to this ring of mutual dependency encounter ostracism. One feature of this society is a lack of open discussion which leads to the existence of multiple standards. This Japanese morality even prevails over written laws. In Japan, there is a public stance that euthanasia does not exist. On the other hand, there are certain decisions which have permitted euthanasia. Similarly, organ transplants were performed from brain dead donors, while that procedure was not accepted officially by the medical profession. In this situation, there is a danger that human rights will be neglected. So far bioethical approaches have not helped to work out these problems. This may be because Japanese think that bioethics is subordinate to morality. The current dispute over brain death involves a struggle for the establishment of a rational society in Japan. Overcoming mutual dependency and ostracism is essential to resolve this struggle and to lead Japan into a society of mutual respect where all individuals, families and communities are esteemed.     

Task-specific effects of ostracism on imitative fidelity in early childhood

This study examined task specific effects of third-party ostracism on imitative fidelity in early childhood (N = 96, 3–6-year-olds). Start- and end-states of action sequences were manipulated to examine the effects of priming third-party ostracism versus affiliation on children's imitation of instrumental (i.e., action sequence with a different start- and end-state) versus social convention (i.e., action sequence with an identical start- and end-state) tasks. Children's performance was coded for imitative fidelity and children's explanations for their behavior. As predicted, imitative fidelity was highest and social convention explanations were most common when primed with ostracism in the social convention task. The data are consistent with our proposal that imitation serves an affiliative function in response to the threat of ostracism, a response amplified for social conventions.     

A within-group gang attack on a young adult male chimpanzee: Ostracism of an ill-mannered member?

During a long-term study of wild chimpanzees in Tanzania, an unusual gang attack on a young adult male by the alpha male and seven other members of the same unit group (community) was observed and videotaped. Before the gang attack, the victim had not pant-grunted to the alpha male or to other adult males except for the second-ranked male, but had often bullied adult females without apparent reason. The alpha male's violent behavior, therefore, might have been punishment of or revenge against the ill-mannered young chimpanzee. This is the first record of an adult male other than an ex-alpha male becoming the object of ostracism by wild chimpanzees, although the victimized male did manage to return to the group after more than three months, when an ex-alpha male succeeded in reestablishing his former position.     

Animal analogues of ostracism: Biological mechanisms and social consequences

Utilizing a behavioral-biological perspective, this article examines the functions, causes, and costs of ostracism in nonhuman primates. Among nonhuman primates, ostracism may serve many functions other than promoting the cohesiveness of the group from which an individual is excluded. These functions include range extension, population regulation, outbreeding, and the diffusion of learned traditions. A variety of behavioral and biological processes contribute to the genesis and expression of ostracism. Behaviorally, female choice and the ability to form effective alliances seem to be critical for an adult male monkey to avoid being ostracized. Biologically, the integrity of the frontal lobes and adequate functioning of serotonergic neurotransmitter systems are essential to escape forced exile from the group. There is evidence that indicates that ostracism exacts a substancial physiological cost, including altered immune function, decrements in information processing, and changes in the metabolism of drugs. Moreover, recent studies suggest that several biological indices, including low concentrations of whole blood serotonin, may be markers that can be used to identify individual at risk for ostracism.     

Ostracism and the law of defamation

This article compares the classical political institution of ostracism with the modern law of the United States concerning defamation. The classical institution of ostracism was a political tool of very limited scope. In modern society the term “ostracize” generally means to exclude a person from all or some of the benefits of a group. The law of defamation is a rather limited means of protecting an individual's reputation, consequently protecting individuals from being ostracized. The article concludes that United States law concerning defamation is generally inadequate as a means of protection from certain social consequences that resemble ostracism, such as job and educational discrimination. In addition, the article concludes that “the law seems to foster an unarticulated public policy that drifts in accordance with the preferences of individuals who have a great deal of personal or institutional power.”     

Capital punishment in tribal Montenegro: Implications for law,biology, and theory of social control

Clan execution among feuding tribal societies is proposed as a significant precursor to modern law. This form of ostracism is examined with respect to its social control functions and the indigenous assumptions about behavior, genes and demography that guide the behavior. It is suggested that there are very close parallels between modern legal systems and nonliterate ones based on “self-help”, when capital punishment is used by normal decision groups in the name of “national security”.     

Group size determined by fusion and fission A mathematical modelling with inclusive fitness

We consider a mathematical model for the group size determination by the intra-reactions, self-growth, ostracism and fission within a group, and by the inter-reactions, immigration and fusion between two groups. In some group reactions, a conflict between two groups occurs about the reaction to change the group size. We construct a mathematical model to consider such conflict, taking into account the inclusive fitness of members in each group. In the conflict about the fusion between two groups, our analysis shows that the smaller group wants to fuse, while the larger does not. Also the criterion to resolve the conflict is discussed, and some numerical examples are given, too. It is concluded that, depending on the deviation in the total cost paid for the conflict by counterparts, the group reactions could result in a terminal group size different from that reached only by a sequence of outsider's immigrations into a group.     

Community ecology: is it time to move on? (An American Society of Naturalists presidential address)

Because of the contingency and complexity of its subject matter, community ecology has few general laws. Laws and models in community ecology are highly contingent, and their domain is usually very local. This fact does not mean that community ecology is a weak science; in fact, it is the locus of exciting advances, with growing mechanistic understanding of causes, patterns, and processes. Further, traditional community ecological research, often local, experimental, and reductionist, is crucial in understanding and responding to many environmental problems, including those posed by global changes. For both scientific and societal reasons, it is not time to abandon community ecology.     

The Effect of Ostracism and Optional Participation on the Evolution of Cooperation in the Voluntary Public Goods Game

Not only animals, plants and microbes but also humans cooperate in groups. The evolution of cooperation in a group is an evolutionary puzzle, because defectors always obtain a higher benefit than cooperators. When people participate in a group, they evaluate group member’s reputations and then decide whether to participate in it. In some groups, membership is open to all who are willing to participate in the group. In other groups, a candidate is excluded from membership if group members regard the candidate’s reputation as bad. We developed an evolutionary game model and investigated how participation in groups and ostracism influence the evolution of cooperation in groups when group members play the voluntary public goods game, by means of computer simulation. When group membership is open to all candidates and those candidates can decide whether to participate in a group, cooperation cannot be sustainable. However, cooperation is sustainable when a candidate cannot be a member unless all group members admit them to membership. Therefore, it is not participation in a group but rather ostracism, which functions as costless punishment on defectors, that is essential to sustain cooperation in the voluntary public goods game.     

Societal LCA Methodology and Case Study (12 pp)

Background, Aim and Scope Societal assessment is advocated as one of the three pillars in the evaluation of, and movement toward, sustainability. As is the case with the well established LCA, and the emerging LCC, societal life cycle assessment should be developed in such as way as to permit relative product comparisons, rather than absolute analyses. The development of societal life cycle assessment is in its infancy, and important concepts require clarification including the handling of the more than two hundred social indicators. Therefore, any societal life cycle assessment methodology must explain why it is midpoint- or endpoint-based as well as its reasons to be complimentary with, or included within, life cycle assessment. Materials and Methods: A geographically specific midpoint based societal life cycle assessment methodology, which employs labour hours as an intermediate variable in the calculation has been developed and evaluated against an existing LCA comparing two detergents. The methodology is based on using an existing life cycle inventory and, therefore, has identical system boundaries and functional units to LCA. The societal life cycle assessment methodology, much like LCA, passes from inventory, through characterisation factors, to provide an ultimate result. In analogy to economics and cost estimation, societal life cycle assessment combines, into its statistics, both data as well as estimates, some of which are correlated to elements of the LCI. It focuses on the work hours required to meet basic needs.A geographically specific midpoint based societal life cycle assessment methodology, which employs labour hours as an intermediate variable in the calculation has been developed and evaluated against an existing LCA comparing two detergents. The methodology is based on using an existing life cycle inventory and, therefore, has identical system boundaries and functional units to LCA. The societal life cycle assessment methodology, much like LCA, passes from inventory, through characterisation factors, to provide an ultimate result. In analogy to economics and cost estimation, societal life cycle assessment combines, into its statistics, both data as well as estimates, some of which are correlated to elements of the LCI. It focuses on the work hours required to meet basic needs. Results: The societal life cycle assessment of an appended case study indicates that Detergent 2 generates, relative Detergent 1, approximately 20% less employment in Russia, 35% less in France, and approximately five times more in Canada and South Africa, the latter derived from its higher aluminium content. There is essentially no difference in the employment in the use country (Switzerland) nor in Morocco, where some of the waste disposal was assumed to take place. Discussion: Given that housing is more affordable, in terms of shelter units per labour hour, in South Africa, compared to Europe, it is, therefore, of no surprise that Detergent 2 provides a societal benefit in terms of housing. Detergent 2 does, however, result in dematerialization, in that its environmental impact is lower (LCI). Therefore, as less resources are employed and labour required, in extraction, production and transport, the societal benefits in health care, education and necessities, a grouped variable, are lower for Detergent 2. This is despite the employment shift away from Europe and to less 'developed' regions. Conclusions: The assessment of societal impacts involves several hundred specific indicators. Therefore, aggregation is, if not impossible, at least heavily value laden and, therefore, not recommended. The impact of a societal action, derived from a product purchase or otherwise, is also highly local. Given this, societal life cycle assessment, carried through to the midpoints, and based on an existing LCI, has been developed as a methodology. The results, for an existing LCA-detergent case, illustrate that societal life cycle assessment provides a means to investigate how policy and policy makers can be linked to sustainable development. The sensitivity analyses also clarify the decisions in regards to product improvement. Recommendations and Perspectives: The goal of societal life cycle assessment is not to make decisions, but rather to point out tradeoffs to decision- or policy-makers. This case, and the methodology that it is based on, permit such a comparison. Substituting Detergent 2 for Detergent 1 reduces resource use at the expense of an increase in atmospheric and terrestrial emissions. Access to housing is improved, though at the expense of education, health care and necessities. As a recommendation, one would look at the fact that the majority of indicators are superior for Detergent 2 relative to Detergent 1and seek to improve the aqueous emissions in Detergent 2 via a change in the formulation. An energy or fossil fuel substitution at the site of production could also improve the societal benefits in terms of education and health care. While societal life cycle assessment remains in its infancy, a methodology does exist. The field can, therefore, be viewed in a similar way to LCA in the early 1990s, with a need to validate, consolidate and, ultimately, built toward a standard. The contribution is aimed at contributing to such a discussion and therefore proposes that a societal life cycle assessment be LCI-derived, geographically specific, based on mid-points, and use employment as an intermediate variable.     

The Effect of the Physical Presence of Co-Players on Perceived Ostracism and Event-Related Brain Potentials in the Cyberball Paradigm

The affective and cognitive mechanisms elicited by the experience of social exclusion—or ostracism—have recently been explored using behavioral and neurocognitive methods. Most of the studies took advantage of the Cyberball paradigm, a virtual ball tossing game with presumed co-players connected via the internet. Consistent behavioral findings indicate that exclusion obviously threatens fundamental social needs (belonging, self-esteem, meaningful existence, and control) and lowers mood. In this study, we followed the question whether the credibility of the setting affects the processing of social exclusion. In contrast to a control group (standard Cyberball setup), co-players were physically present in an experimental group. Although the credibility of the virtual ball tossing game was significantly enhanced in the experimental group, self-reported negative mood and need threat were not enhanced compared to the control group. Event-related brain potentials (ERPs), however, indicated a differential processing of social exclusion. The N2 amplitude triggered by occasional ball receptions was significantly reduced in the experimental group. This effect was restricted for an early time range (130–210 ms), and did not extend to the following P3 components. The ERP effect in the N2 time range can be related to a differential social reward processing in ostracism if co-players are physically present. The lack of a corresponding correlate in the behavioral data indicates that some facets of ostracism processing are not covered by questionnaire data.     

Maintaining cooperation in social-ecological systems:

Natural resources are vulnerable to over-exploitation in the absence of effective management. However, norms, enforced by social ostracism, can promote cooperation and increase stock biomass in common-pool resource systems. Unfortunately, the long-term sustainable use of a resource is not assured even if cooperation, maintained by ostracism and aimed at optimizing resource use, exists. Here, using the example of fisheries, we show that for a cooperative to be maintained by ostracism over time, it often must act inefficiently, choosing a ‘second-best’ strategy where the resource is over-harvested to some degree. Those cooperatives that aim for maximum sustainable profit, the “first-best” harvest strategy, are more vulnerable to invasion by independent harvesters, leading to larger declines in the fish population. In contrast, second-best strategies emphasize the resistance to invasion by independent harvesters over maximizing yield or profit. Ultimately, this leads to greater long-run payoffs to the resource users as well as higher resource stock levels. This highlights the value of pragmatism in the design of cooperative institutions for managing natural resources.