When Does Social Exclusion Reduce Stereotyping? A Chatroom-Based Replication of Individuation Effects in Impression Formation

This study aims to replicate the core finding of Claypool et al. (2014) that social exclusion reduces reliance on stereotypes and promotes individuated impression formation. Based on Social Monitoring System Theory, the original research suggests that experiences of exclusion heighten motivation for social reconnection, leading individuals to process social targets more deeply rather than relying on category-based judgments. To address limitations of prior paradigms that relied on recall tasks or human–computer interaction, the present study adopts a chatroom interaction paradigm to induce social exclusion in a more ecologically valid interpersonal context. Participants will be randomly assigned to a social exclusion, social inclusion, or control condition and will engage in an online group discussion with trained confederates. Following the manipulation, participants will complete measures assessing basic psychological needs and emotional states, and then perform an impression formation task adapted for the Chinese cultural context. They will evaluate occupational targets described with mildly counter-stereotypical behaviors on stereotype-related and irrelevant traits. We hypothesize that socially excluded participants will show lower stereotype-consistent trait ratings than included or control participants. This study tests the robustness and generalizability of the social exclusion–individuation effect using a real-time social interaction paradigm in a non-Western context.