Psychometric development and validation of ostracism experience scale (OES): across sample of young adults from Pakistan

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJHRH-12-2020-0125
• Published date: 26 July 2021
• Date: 26 July 2021
• Pages: 257-275
• Subject Matter: Health & social care,Vulnerable groups,Inequalities & diverse/minority groups,Sociology,Race & ethnic studies,Minorities,Multiculturalism,Racial identity,Work,economy & organizations
• Author: Beenish Shahzad,Muhammad Aqeel,Hifza Naseer,Muhammad Abdullah Khan,Nimra Fawad,Amna Tahreem

Psychometric development and validation

of ostracism experience scale (OES):

across sample of young adults

from Pakistan

Beenish Shahzad, Muhammad Aqeel, Hifza Naseer, Muhammad Abdullah Khan,

Nimra Fawad and Amna Tahreem

Abstract

Purpose –Ostracism is being socially ignored or excluded by others. Ostracism leads to serious

psychological distress and health issues in the youngadults being ostracized. However, there are

no psychometrically designed instruments to measure thi s phenomenon in young adults. This study

aims to develop a scale that measures ostracism effi ciently and establishes the scale’s

psychometric properties.

Design/methodology/approach –The research design used for the study is ‘‘a mixed-method study

using non-experimentalresearch with an exploratory sequential approach and instrument development

design.’’ For the formation of the item pool, theoretical evidence was collected and focus group

discussions were conducted.Afterward, content validity was establishedwith the help of subject matter

experts,followed by Velicer’s minimum average partialmethod and maximum likelihood factor analysisto

form the instrument’sfactorial structure.

Findings –Velicer’s minimumaverage partial method and maximum likelihoodfactor analysis made two

factors as follows: ostracismexperience and psychological effect. The instrumentdeveloped has a high

value of alphareliability i.e. a = 0.97 and a = 0.96, a = 0.92for the subscales, respectively.

Research limitations/implications –The sample used for the research was enough to run the

analysis, but future studies can go for a more extensiveand more diverse sample. The sample was

based solely on university students. The current research focused only on the target of the

phenomenon, and the whole research process was conducted onli ne because of the Covid-19

pandemic going on. The scale developedcan be used in several settings to find out if the individual

is being ostracized or not.

Practical implications –The scale’smost important implication is in the collegesand universities where

young adults are found and face this problem daily. Likewise, psychologists can also use it in clinical

settings. The other important implication of this scale is that it is opening a route to future research as

differentvariables can be studied in ostracismsuch as depression, physical health and anxiety.

Social implications –Ostracism is a hidden evil in societies that is not usually talked about. When

people are not given equal importance in groups or settings, it leads to seriouspsychological issues in

those individuals.This scale will in the identificationof the problem that will lead to a proper solutionto this

evil.

Originality/value –This work is original and not copied from anywhere. The research was conducted

with the sole purpose of developing a scaleon the ostracism experiences in young adults. The data is

collected in theform of online surveys. The current scale is anattempt at developing a more reliable and

valid scalethat can be used in social settings.

Keywords Loneliness, Social exclusion, Ostracism, Young adults, Stress, Inferiority complex,

Ostracism experience, Social ignorance, Social rejection

Paper type Research paper

Beenish Shahzad,

Muhammad Aqeel,

Hifza Naseer,

Muhammad Abdullah Khan,

Nimra Fawad,

Amna Tahreem are all based

at the Department of

Psychology, Foundation

University Islamabad,

Rawalpindi, Pakistan.

Received 20 December 2020

Revised 31 May 2021

Accepted 14 June 2021

DOI 10.1108/IJHRH-12-2020-0125VOL. 15 NO. 3 2022, pp. 257-275, ©Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 2056-4902 jINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN HEALTHCARE jPAGE 257

Introduction

Human beings are social animals, and therefore, theyhave a higher need for belonging and

acceptance by the surroundings and people living in those surroundings. Social

acceptance is essential for the normal physical and psychological functioning of an

individual (Lau et al., 2009;Williams, 2006,2007). According to Maslow’s hierarchy of

needs, human beings have a basic necessity of belonging and love (Jawad, 2020). When

these needs are not fulfilled and an individual feels left out, several psychological issues

emerge. It is a fundamental human right to be respected and accepted. When a person or

group ostracizes fellow individuals, they violate basic human rights and adversely impact

the psychological well-beingand the health of an individual (Dillon, 2003).

Ostracism is defined as being excluded or ignored by others (Bernstein et al., 2010a,

2010b;Williams, 2007). We form social groups and these social groups are created based

on similarities and differences (Jacobs, 2016). Sometimes, even in those groups, some

individuals are not given importance, and therefore, they feel like outsiders inside that

group. For example, a student in the class batch is from the lower class. Consequently, the

rest of the class does not like her; the social exclusion and ignorance she will face are

ostracism.

Ostracism causes significant psychological disturbances and the most common being

distress (Masten et al.,2009), depression (Gilman et al., 2013), loneliness (Asher et al.,

1984), complexes and frustration. Ostracism also results in lowering the quality of work or

quality of life in an ostracized individual.Ostracism is very common in educational institutes

and workplaces (Chung, 2018). The scope of this research is to measure ostracism among

young adults who are also university students; therefore, the main point of interest is

ostracism in educational institutes.

As most of the research done on the topic of ostracism is on children or adolescents

(Rudert et al., 2020), the current study is conducted on young adults (undergraduate

students and graduates from universities). Theoretical and empirical evidence is combined

with participants’ self-reports to form a well-established scale to measure the ostracism

experience among young adults. The current scale measures two significant subtypes of

ostracism, social exclusion, social ignorance and ostracism’s psychological effect on

individuals. Psychometricproperties of the scale are also established.

Literature review

The purpose of doing a literature review is to find out the theoretical and empirical basis of

the research. The literature is done using Google Scholar, Springer, APA PsycNet,

ScienceDirect, Elsevier, publish or perish, key websites and university catalogs. The

literature is based on thematic analysis. We first identified the relevant literature using

publish or perish. The keywords used for the literature were ostracism, ostracism in

educational institutes, ostracism experience scale, ostracism experience, social exclusion

and social ignorance. The current literature review has not potentially covered all the

aspects of literature, but an effort has been made to cover all the critical aspects of

evidence.

The evidence of ostracism can be tracedback to “the responsive theory of social exclusion”

Freedman, William and Beer proposed in 2016 (Freedmanet al.,2016). Ostracism is a form

of social exclusion and is a response from the source toward the target. The researchers

proposed three forms of responses, explicit rejection, ostracism and ambiguous rejection.

Ostracism is identified to be more harmful than explicit rejection. When the source ignores

the request of the target, it causes pain and distress in the target. On behalf of the source,

the negative effect of their response can be decreased if they explicitly reject the target’s

request, rather than ostracizing them and making them feel worse(Freedman et al., 2016).

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