When a Negative Experience Sticks With You: Does the Revised Outcome Debriefing Counteract the Consequences of Experimental Ostracism in Psychological Research?
{"title":"When a Negative Experience Sticks With You: Does the Revised Outcome Debriefing Counteract the Consequences of Experimental Ostracism in Psychological Research?","authors":"Stefanie Miketta, Malte Friese","doi":"10.1177/15562646241227065","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>For research purposes, it is generally accepted that experimental ostracism manipulations can lead to a reduction of participants' well-being. To eventually restore participants' well-being, researchers rely on post-experimental debriefings that discredit prior deception. However, evidence suggests that discredited beliefs can persevere. The present research investigates whether a potent debriefing procedure restores participants' well-being after an experimentally induced ostracism experience. In two studies, participants were either excluded or included in a Cyberball game, indicated their well-being, and were debriefed. In two additional conditions, participants were debriefed before indicating their well-being. Ostracism compared to inclusion led to decreased positive and increased negative mood. The debriefing did not counteract this effect (Studies 1 & 2). Unwanted aftereffects of the manipulation persevered for more than one day after the experimental session (Study 2). These findings question the effectiveness of debriefings and raise issues about research ethics.</p>","PeriodicalId":50211,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.7000,"publicationDate":"2024-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10958747/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics","FirstCategoryId":"98","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/15562646241227065","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2024/1/23 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"ETHICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
For research purposes, it is generally accepted that experimental ostracism manipulations can lead to a reduction of participants' well-being. To eventually restore participants' well-being, researchers rely on post-experimental debriefings that discredit prior deception. However, evidence suggests that discredited beliefs can persevere. The present research investigates whether a potent debriefing procedure restores participants' well-being after an experimentally induced ostracism experience. In two studies, participants were either excluded or included in a Cyberball game, indicated their well-being, and were debriefed. In two additional conditions, participants were debriefed before indicating their well-being. Ostracism compared to inclusion led to decreased positive and increased negative mood. The debriefing did not counteract this effect (Studies 1 & 2). Unwanted aftereffects of the manipulation persevered for more than one day after the experimental session (Study 2). These findings question the effectiveness of debriefings and raise issues about research ethics.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics (JERHRE) is the only journal in the field of human research ethics dedicated exclusively to empirical research. Empirical knowledge translates ethical principles into procedures appropriate to specific cultures, contexts, and research topics. The journal''s distinguished editorial and advisory board brings a range of expertise and international perspective to provide high-quality double-blind peer-reviewed original articles.