Here Comes Revenge: Peer Victimization Relates to Neural and Behavioral Responses to Social Exclusion

The aim of this study was to examine whether repeated victimization relates to differential processing of social exclusion experiences. It was hypothesized that experiences of repeated victimization would modulate neural processing of social exclusion in the insula, anterior cingulate cortex, and lateral prefrontal cortex. Furthermore, we hypothesized that repeated victimization relates positively to intentions to punish excluders. Exploratively, associations between neural processing and intentions to punish others were examined. The sample consisted of children with known victimization in the past two years (n = 82 (behavioral) / n = 73 (fMRI), 49.4% girls, M-age = 10.6). The participants played Cyberball, an online ball-tossing game, which was manipulated so that in the first block participants were equally included and in the second block they were excluded from play. Victimization was not related to neural activation during social exclusion, although there were indications that victimization may be related to increased insula activation during explicit exclusion. Behaviorally, repeated victimization was related to more intention to punish excluders. Neural activation during social exclusion did not predict intentions to punish excluders, but results tentatively suggested that increased insula activation during social exclusion may be related to increased intentions to punish. Together, these results provide a replication of earlier Cyberball studies and point toward differential processing of social exclusion by children who are victimized.