The Association Between Social Exclusion and the Feeling of Hunger

Abstract

Social exclusion increases appetitive responses. Whether the feeling of hunger, the preceding phase of the appetitive response, is enhanced by exclusion remains unclear. To better understand the psychological mechanism behind the promotion of appetitive responses, we investigated whether the feeling of hunger is stronger after social exclusion than after inclusion. We manipulated participants' social exclusion status using a computer programmed Cyberball game in which they were either excluded or included by two other players in a ball-tossing game. We measured hunger as a subjective experience immediately after the game. The results indicated that participants who were socially excluded reported an increased feeling of hunger compared with those who were included. It indicates that when the feeling of hunger is evoked, appetitive responses occur when people are socially excluded.