Associations between perceived injustice, unforgiveness, and psychological well-being among ex-communicants

Abstract

Through the experiences of individuals excommunicated from a small religious sect ( N = 95), we explored the association between perceptions of injustice resulting from chronic social exclusion and reduced psychological well-being. We also tested whether unforgiveness toward the church—particularly a tendency for participants to experience lingering negative affect and rumination about their treatment by the church—mediates this association. Analysis of responses to an online survey about participants’ experiences of chronic ostracism revealed the predicted association between perceived injustice and both anxiety and loneliness but not depression and supported our prediction that emotional-ruminative unforgiveness explains this association. Our findings also call into question whether the psychological outcomes of prolonged social exclusion are necessarily chronic and debilitating.