PB2B

In the first article, Pain Processing after Social Exclusion and its Relation to Rejection Sensitivity, the researchers conducted many experiments on subjects that included people with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and a control group of healthy people. Some research has found that pain increases after exclusion, whereas others have found that pain decreases. However, there seems to be a link between the severity of social exclusion to the amount of sensitivity one has to pain. For example, if a person experiences severe forms of social exclusion, they are more likely to feel physical pain less. Similarly, in regards to rejection sensitivity, people that have higher levels of rejection sensitivity tend to show reduced sensitivity to physical pain. People with BPD expect rejection even more than people with anxiety disorders so it is no surprise that they have the least pain sensitivity.

In the next article, Power motivates interpersonal connection following social exclusion, social exclusion is compared to power. The researchers conducted four studies, each of which consisted of high power, low power, and a control group of participants. The experiments show that after exclusion, high power people try to connect more with people. Some research suggests that after exclusion people are less likely to try and react with other people; however, there is other research that shows that following exclusion people put more effort into social interactions. An interesting fact about seeking power is that individuals only seek connections after social exclusion and not inclusion. The studies also show that high power people are more likely to pursue social connections after exclusion than socially withdrawing themselves, whereas, low power people are more likely to remain excluded.

In each of these articles they have both used experiments to conduct their research. They also both used the Cyberball game and exclusion paradigm in their experiments. However, these articles looked at social exclusion in drastically different ways. In addition to comparing exclusion and rejection to pain, the first article also examined how these affected our amygdala, anterior insula, and thalamus. Whereas the first article was more scientific, the second article contained less psychological jargon.

This genre is unique because it is not as common to compare social exclusion to physical pain and power. With that being said, there are some constraints of the two articles. Although the first article’s audience is mainly intended for researchers and psychologists also studying social exclusion and the human mind, it was somewhat difficult to read and comprehend. The second article’s audience was pretty much the same as the first but with a focus on power and making connections. One constraint if this article is that it seemed a bit repetitive. However, there were many accordances of these articles as well. They were both, especially the first one, very informative and detailed. The second one was also very easy to understand and the information was broken down.

There are quite a few conventions these articles share as well. They have consist of an abstract, introduction, methods of research, and charts. These articles also both include some level of jargon. For example, the first article states, “In healthy participants, Eisenberger et al. [3] found that social exclusion led to an activation of the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC), the anterior insula, and the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex.” It is not as easy for student researchers to understand the language that is being used but it is easy for people who are in similar fields of study.

I found it very interesting that people can actually experience pain less based on if they’ve ever been placed in a situation where they were excluded. I also thought it was interesting that the article focused on people with BPD and how their results differ from individuals with anxiety or other disorders. Besides being easy to read, the second article was interesting because the connection to social exclusion and power. One line I thought was interesting to read was, “for high power individuals, the intention to connect is more dominant than the fear of further exclusion. This leads to a greater intention to connect with others following exclusion.” I was surprised to see that there are actually connections between these sorts of things.