Prayer, self-affirmation, and distraction improve recovery from short-term ostracism

Brief episodes of ostracism trigger immediate pain, thwarted needs, and negative affect. Whereas the immediate effects of ostracism tend to be resistant to moderation, people differ in how quickly they recover. Here we investigated three strategies that may promote recovery from ostracism: prayer, self-affirmation, and distraction. In three experiments we found that all three interventions lead to greater recovery of basic needs satisfaction than a control condition in which participants were allowed to naturally ruminate. While all three interventions lead to a similar amount of recovery, only the effects of distraction condition were mediated by reductions in rumination, suggesting that prayer and self-affirmation promote recovery, but do so through mechanisms other than distraction. In addition, we found that religious commitment to God was associated with greater recovery following prayer, but not self-affirmation. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed. •We tested three interventions to aid recovery following ostracism.•Prayer, affirmation, and distraction aided recovery relative to a control condition•Commitment to God predicted recovery among participants who prayed•Reduced rumination mediated the effect of distraction on improvement