“You're leaving us?” Feeling ostracized when a group member leaves

Abstract

People leave groups. We examined the psychological consequences for the remaining group members; specifically, whether the departure of a member can produce feelings of ostracism (being excluded and ignored). We manipulated systematically the number of group members who left (zero, one, or two out of the two other group members) during a get to know you interaction (Study 1), a word creativity task (Study 2), and a virtual ball-toss game (Cyberball; Study 3). We measured participants' feelings of ostracism and associated outcomes overall and based on the relationships with each group member. Overall, participants felt worse when two group members left compared to one or no group members leaving. At the individual relationship level, we found evidence of partial ostracism as participants felt negative when evaluating their interaction with a group member who left. By using a multi-level approach, we found the everyday experience of a group member leaving produces a void, harming those left behind. We considered how this void could have implications for group dynamics theory and organizational practices.