Humans have a fundamental need to belong and they do not function well when fulfillment of that need is thwarted (Baumeister & Leary, 1995). Indeed, people can lose or do without many things, but their sense of belonging is not one of them (Barnes, Carvallo, Brown, & Osterman, 2010). The present study explored the need to belong, loneliness, and unforgiveness in a sample of 96 former members of a church that practices ex-communication as a penalty for a range of infractions. Importantly, friends and family members are expected to shun those who have been ex-communicated. We predicted that ex-communicants would perceive expulsion as a significant act of injustice and injury and that they would find being shunned a deeply aversive experience and a profound challenge to their ability to meet their need to belong. Our findings suggest that shunned individuals experience increasing loneliness the greater their need to belong and the more they consider that the church treated them unfairly in expelling them. Loneliness was also positively associated with a tendency to experience lingering "unforgiveness" as reflected in a lack of interest in forgiving (cognitive unforgiveness) and rumination and continuing negative affect concerning expulsion (emotional/ruminative unforgiveness). In addition, emotional/ruminative unforgiveness increased the greater individuals' need to belong and perceptions that they had been treated unfairly and cognitive unforgiveness increased the greater individuals' perceptions of unfair treatment. We discuss these findings in relation to the importance of the need to belong and the unique experiences of our sample. Dr. Susan D. Boon Associate Professor Department of Psychology University of Calgary 2500 University Dr. NW Calgary AB T2N 1N4 CANADA 403-220-55564 www.personalrelationships.ca<http://www.personalrelationships.ca> <http://www.personalrelationships.ca>