Interoceptive Awareness as a Moderator of Affective Responses to Social Exclusion

Previous research has yielded inconsistent results concerning affective reactions to social exclusion. The present study provides evidence that conscious perception of bodily signals ("interoceptive awareness") constitutes an important moderating factor in this context. We compared participants with high versus low cardiac interoceptive awareness in regard to affective, cognitive, and physiological measures while they were included and excluded in a discussion with confederates. Participants with high interoceptive awareness showed a smaller decrease of positive affect and perceived acceptance as well as a smaller increase of negative affect and perceived rejection when comparing an inclusion phase with a subsequent exclusion phase than did participants with low interoceptive awareness. No significant differences in cognitive and physiological measures were observed. We assume that individuals with high interoceptive awareness, to whom physiological signals are more easily accessible, reduce aversive states to a larger degree by using somatic information for self-regulation.