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Article History

Received: 22 August 2024

Accepted: 23 October 2025

First Online: 25 November 2025

Competing interests

: The authors declare no competing interests.

: This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences of Utrecht University with approval number 22-0550 on 02/12/ 2022. The procedures used in this research adhere to the tenets of the Declaration of Helsinki.

: All participants provided written informed consent online before participation. After reading an information letter describing the study’s aims, procedures, potential risks, and their right to withdraw at any time, participants gave consent via the Qualtrics platform between December 13, 2022, and January 11, 2023. Only after providing consent could, they proceed to the study. Participants were assured of the confidentiality of their data and that it would be used solely for research and publication purposes. After completing the study, they were fully debriefed about the deception involved in the Cyberball manipulation. The study also included safeguards such as distress monitoring and the provision of mental health support resources. All procedures were conducted in accordance with the ethical standards and in compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).