In the article, Superman to the rescue: Simulating physical invulnerability attenuates exclusion-related interpersonal biases, the authors, Julie Y. Huang, Joshua M. Ackerman, and John A. Bargh (2013) address the theory that simulating physical invulnerability can affect exclusion-related positive and negative feelings toward in and out-groups. The researchers want to test the correlation between danger and exclusion. They expected to find results that explain how the two correlate and if they create interpersonal biases. There are three studies in this experiment which each focus on different aspects of exclusion, and …show more content…
The participants who had previously been socially excluded and stimulated invulnerability were much less interested in becoming social and contacting members of their in-group than the participants who imagined being able to fly. Participants who had imagined being invulnerable only became less depended on social contact when they had been previously excluded. These first two studies agree with the hypothesis that people who imagine being invulnerable to physical threat can have changed attitudes regarding social exclusion. These attitudes were only affected when feelings of exclusion were recalled and not neutral topics. The findings of the third study correlated with the results of the second study. It found that after recalling an experience in which they were excluded, they had a decreased desire to make social contact with people in their in-group. However, in both studies it was found that a decreased desire for social connection only occurred when the participant had been …show more content…
They found that these studies demonstrated a connection between primed invulnerability and a change in responses toward outgroups. The authors concluded that physical invulnerability does not simply increase positive emotions, but instead it stops the compensatory responses when being excluded from social groups. Current research proves that mental experiences can relieve physical threat and decrease reactions towards outgroups. The data from the first study is consistent with the author’s hypothesis because it expressed the correlation between exclusion and the risk of physical harm. The author’s theory was fully supported by the data, and I agree with the authors conclusions because of this. The tests show that those primed with exclusion-related feelings have altered feelings toward outgroups, and the various studies prove this. I believe that the studies were accurately tested in order to find true