This article aims to explore if social exclusion can constitute a pathway to radicalization, and if individual level of sensitivity of rejection moderates the effect of social exclusion. Humans innately seek belonging and meaning, and strive for re-establishing a sense of value and belongingness if faced with social exclusion. One way to achieve this is by adherence to a new and inviting group. In four studies, we test to what extent individuals who face social exclusion adapt to a radical including group. In Studies 1 (n = 104) and 2 (n = 308), we use a social media-like paradigm to manipulate social exclusion. In Study 3 (n = 1041), we use the so-called Cyberball paradigm, and in Study 4 (n = 40) we use a real-life manipulation. All studies show that rejected individuals who are sensitive to rejection are more prone to identify with, engage with and endorse an extreme group. The results hold over both ideological (Studies 1–3) and non-ideological (Study 4) content. Only the last study showed a main effect of social exclusion. We discuss the results in reference to the significance loss model of radicalization.

中文翻译：

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探索激进化途径：社会排斥和拒绝敏感性的影响

本文旨在探讨社会排斥是否可以构成激进化的途径，以及个人对拒绝的敏感性水平是否会缓和社会排斥的影响。人类天生寻求归属感和意义，并在面临社会排斥时努力重建价值感和归属感。实现这一目标的一种方法是加入一个新的、有吸引力的团体。在四项研究中，我们测试了面临社会排斥的个人在多大程度上适应了激进的群体。在研究 1 (n = 104) 和 2 (n = 308) 中，我们使用类似社交媒体的范式来操纵社会排斥。在研究 3 (n = 1041) 中，我们使用所谓的 Cyber​​ball 范式，在研究 4 (n = 40) 中，我们使用现实生活中的操作。所有研究都表明，对拒绝敏感的被拒绝者更容易认同，参与并认可一个极端团体。结果适用于意识形态（研究 1-3）和非意识形态（研究 4）内容。只有最后一项研究显示了社会排斥的主要影响。我们参考激进化的显着性损失模型讨论结果。