Social Exclusion Online: A Literature Review and propositions for Future Research

Because the belonging need is fundamental, an exclusion experience thwarts this need and causes cognitive, behavioral, and affective consequences for human functioning. This paper aims to integrate the enumerated effects of social exclusion in a real-world setting. Also, as the boundary between the real world and cyberspace is blurred, it became crucial to understand the dynamics of social relationships in an online environment. Thus, this paper also intends to review the influences of social exclusion in the online environment. Based on a review of previous findings, this study provides several suggestions for future research. There are interesting research opportunities to investigate how ostracized people react to being excluded, especially in cyberspace.