Does social exclusion experience causes psychotic symptoms in

Does social exclusion experience causes psychotic symptoms in non-clinical population in different
cultures?
Bachelor theses at the Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy
Theme: The relationship of social exclusion and psychotic symptoms in different cultures
Description: Social exclusion is increasingly recognized as an important risk factor of schizophrenia.
The social defeat hypothesis states that the experience being excluded explains the long well-known
associations of urban upbringing, child abuse, and substance use with schizophrenia (Selten, Ven,
Rutten, & Cantor-Graae, 2013). This hypothesis warrants further investigations with carefully
designed experiments that manipulate social exclusion experience.
Several experimental study have supported the social defeat hypothesis by manipulating social
exclusion through Cyberball (Kesting, Bredenpohl, Klenke, Westermann, & Lincoln, 2013) and virtual
reality (Freeman et al., 2014). However, there are other social exclusion manipulation paradigms
(Gerber & Wheeler, 2009) that have not been tested, such as: the life-alone paradigm (Baumeister,
Twenge, & Nuss, 2002) or demarcated rejection paradigm (e.g. group-work rejection (Nezlek,
Kowalski, Leary, Blevins, & Holgate, 1997)).
Task:
Design: Randomized online experimental study, with pre- and post-test measurements
Manipulation: One social exclusion manipulation (such as: life-alone paradigm)
Outcome: State schizophrenia symptoms (e.g. CAPE-42)
Sample: Healthy individuals (see: continuum-hypothesis of schizophrenia (van Os, Linscott, MyinGermeys, Delespaul, & Krabbendam, 2009))
Recruitment: Internet forums, Crowdflower website
Contact:
Interested in testing different social exclusion
Interested in the influence of socio-cultural
experimental paradigms?
factors?
Edo Jaya, M. Sc.
Caroline Wüsten M. Sc.
AB Klinische Psychologie und Psychotherapie
AB Klinische Psychologie und Psychotherapie
Raum 5009
Raum 5009
[email protected]
[email protected]
Bachelor thesis in English or German
Bachelor thesis in English
References
Baumeister, R. F., Twenge, J. M., & Nuss, C. K. (2002). Effects of social exclusion on cognitive processes: Anticipated aloneness reduces
intelligent thought. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83(4), 817–827. doi:10.1037//0022-3514.83.4.817
Freeman, D., Evans, N., Lister, R., Antley, A., Dunn, G., & Slater, M. (2014). Height, social comparison, and paranoia: An immersive virtual
reality experimental study. Psychiatry Research, 218(3), 348–352. doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2013.12.014
Gerber, J., & Wheeler, L. (2009). On Being Rejected A Meta-Analysis of Experimental Research on Rejection. Perspectives on Psychological
Science, 4(5), 468–488. doi:10.1111/j.1745-6924.2009.01158.x
Kesting, M.-L., Bredenpohl, M., Klenke, J., Westermann, S., & Lincoln, T. M. (2013). The impact of social stress on self-esteem and paranoid
ideation. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 44(1), 122–128. doi:10.1016/j.jbtep.2012.07.010
Nezlek, J. B., Kowalski, R. M., Leary, M. R., Blevins, T., & Holgate, S. (1997). Personality moderators of reactions to interpersonal rejection:
depression and trait self-esteem. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 23(12), 1235–1244.
doi:10.1177/01461672972312001
Selten, J.-P., Ven, E. van der, Rutten, B. P. F., & Cantor-Graae, E. (2013). The social defeat hypothesis of schizophrenia: An update.
Schizophrenia Bulletin, 39(6), 1180–1186. doi:10.1093/schbul/sbt134
Van Os, J., Linscott, R. J., Myin-Germeys, I., Delespaul, P., & Krabbendam, L. (2009). A systematic review and meta-analysis of the psychosis
continuum: evidence for a psychosis proneness–persistence–impairment model of psychotic disorder. Psychological Medicine,
39(02), 179–195. doi:10.1017/S0033291708003814