Attraction and rejection (original) (raw)
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Chapter 12. Attraction and rejection
Advanced Social Psychology the State of the Science 2010 Isbn 978 0 19 538120 7 Pags 419 459, 2010
Few experiences are more all-consuming than intense interpersonal attraction or intense interpersonal rejection. Most of us can readily remember attraction and rejection experiences that dominated our life for a while. Regarding attraction, perhaps we recall the mental preoccupation with our fi rst love or the strong desire to form a friendship with a fellow collegiate dorm resident. Regarding rejection, perhaps we recall the time when we were ostracized by everybody at a party or the time when the love of our life left us for another partner. As these examples illustrate, attraction involves an individual's positive evaluation of others and the desire to approach them, whereas rejection involves others' negative evaluation of an individual and the tendency to exclude him or her. Th e present chapter reviews the scientifi c work on attraction and rejection, beginning with attraction. Attraction What Is Attraction? Scholars have not arrived at a consensual defi nition of attraction. Perhaps the most infl uential defi nition over the past several decades is that interpersonal attraction is "an individual's tendency or predisposition to evaluate another social relations and behaviors
Attraction and Rejection (Part 17)
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Wan Noraini bt Wan Razab 4.5 Romantic rejection In contrast to the study of childhood rejection, which primarily examines rejection by a group of peers, some researchers focus on the phenomenon of a single individual rejecting another in the context of a romantic relationship. In both teenagers and adults, romantic rejection occurs when a person refuses the romantic advances of another or unilaterally ends an existing relationship. The state of unrequited love is a common experience in youth, but mutual love becomes more typical as people get older. Romantic rejection is a painful, emotional experience that appears to trigger a response in the caudate nucleus of the brain, and associated dopamine and cortisol activity (Fisher, H., 2006). Subjectively, rejected individuals experience a range of negative emotions, including frustration, intense anger, and eventually, resignation and despair. Men are significantly more likely than women to react with rage and aggression when rejected. Every year over a million American women are stalked, and the majority are stalked by a former boyfriend, husband, or live-in partner. Eight out of ten women are physically attacked by their stalker. Researchers in a variety of countries have demonstrated that stalkers are more likely to be male, and that male stalkers are more likely to become violent (Meloy, J. R. & Fisher, H., 2005). One reason why romantic rejection is so common in society is a tendency called falling upward. People generally desire mates that are higher than themselves on such characteristics as status and physical attractiveness, but not ones who are lower (Baumeister, R. F. & Dhavale, D., 2001). When someone falls in love with a person who has aspirations that are higher, that love is less likely to be reciprocated, potentially leading to rejection.
Basic Determinant of Success of Interpersonal Relationship: Rejection Sensitivity
Öz Reddedilmeyi kaygıyla bekleme, algılamaya hazır olma ve reddedilmeye karşı aşırı tepki gösterme olarak tanımlanan reddedilme duyarlılığı, bireyin, kişilerarası ilişkilerindeki sosyal ve psikolojik uyumunu etkileyen önemli bir olgu olarak görülmektedir. Reddedilme duyarlılığının bilişsel-duygusal bilgi işleme dinamiğine sahip olduğunu belirten ilgili literatür, aslında anılan duyarlılığın, benliği diğer insanlardan gelebilecek olası retten koruyabilmek amacına yönelik savunucu motivas-yonal bir sistem olarak görmektedir. Öte yandan reddedilme duyarlılığının oluşmasındaki en önemli kaynağın ebeveynler olduğu ve bu bağlamda, bağlanma ve ebeveynlik stilleri ile de yakın ilişkide olduğu; aynı zamanda reddedilme duyarlılığının bazı psikopatolojilerle ilişkili olduğu ve en fazla kişinin romantik ilişkilerini etkilediği belirtilmektedir. Bu noktalardan hareketle, bu gözden geçirme yazısında, kişilerarası ilişki başarısının odağında bulunan reddedilme duyarlılığına yönelik ileride yapılacak olası görgül çalışmalara, yol gösterici olunması amaçlanmıştır. Anahtar sözcükler: Reddedilme duyarlılığı, bağlanma, ebeveynlik. Abstract The rejection sensitivity, which is defined as waiting to be rejected, being ready to perceive, and being overreacted to rejection, is seen as an important fact affecting the social and psychological adjustment of the individual, the interpersonal relationship. The relevant literature, which states that the rejection sensitivity has a cognitive-affective processing dynamic, sees it as an advocacy motivational system intended to protect the possible rejection of the self from possible other people. On the other hand, the most important source of rejection sensitivity is parents, and in this context, they are closely related to attachment and parenting styles; at the same time it is stated that the rejection sensitivity is related to some psychopathologies and that most people affect romantic relations. Moving from these points, the purpose of the study is guiding the possible empirical work to be done in the future for the rejection sensitivity which is in the focus of the interpersonal relationship success..
Social Psychological and Personality Science, 2015
Social psychologists theorize that individuals seek connection following rejection. However, accepting connection from a low status other may imply that one is of similarly low status, which may call into question one's prospects for future acceptance. Thus, we hypothesized that rejection would lead individuals to distance themselves from a low status other even when the low status other is accepting. In two studies, single, heterosexual, female participants received simultaneous acceptance/rejection feedback from one physically attractive man and one less attractive man. As predicted, rejected individuals derogated their rejecters as indicated by a decreased desire for affiliation and more negative evaluations. Moreover, participants rejected by the attractive man also derogated the unattractive man even when the unattractive man offered acceptance. These data may shed light on specific circumstances under which rejection leads to antisocial behavior.
On Being Rejected: A Meta-Analysis of Experimental Research on Rejection
Perspectives on Psychological Science, 2009
This article presents the first meta-analysis of experimental research on rejection, sampling 88 studies. The results are consistent with a needs account, which states that rejection frustrates basic psychological needs, but not with a numbness account, which states that rejection causes physical and emotional numbness. Rejection moderately lowers mood (d 5 À0.50) and self-esteem (d 5 À0.70), but does not decrease arousal or flatten affect. Both belonging (d 5 0.69) and control (d 5 1.16) are frustrated by rejection. Aggressive responses to rejection, considered paradoxical by some, appear to be due to attempts to gain control; measures that contrast belonging and control (d 5 À1.17) cause antisocial responding, whereas measures that do not allow for control to be restored cause prosocial responding (d 5 1.21). These findings suggest that rejection makes individuals feel bad-ready to act to restore control or belonging-and that they will prioritize restoring control even if it requires being antisocial.
Not all rejections are alike; competence and warmth as a fundamental distinction in social rejection
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 2013
► Adaptive emotional reactions to social rejection ► Compare effects of rejection due to lack of competence and due to lack of warmth ► Rejection due to lack of competence primarily leads to anger ► Rejection due to lack of warmth primarily leads to sadness a b s t r a c t Social rejection can lead to a variety of emotions. Two studies show that specific emotional reactions to social rejection can be understood by relying on the fundamental distinction between competence and warmth. Rejection that is perceived to be due to incompetence leads to anger, whereas rejection that is perceived to be due to lack of warmth leads to sadness. Study 1 measures perceptions of competence and warmth judgments. Study 2 manipulates those perceptions. In both studies, rejection that was perceived to be the result of incompetence led primarily to anger, while rejection that was perceived to be the result of lack of warmth led primarily to sadness. These results show that the effects of rejection can be better understood if we take into account how rejection is perceived.
The rejection alarm: Person and situation moderators of rejection effects
Recent research on social rejection has emphasised the power of its effects. Some accounts argue that such rejection causes evolutionary-based pain signals in the brain that override individual differences and situational constraints. This chapter reviews emerging evidence and recent data suggesting that both individual differences and situational variables do moderate the impact of social rejection, and in some cases can even eradicate its effects. The factors explored are rejection sensitivity, social anxiety, degree of situational control, level of social scrutiny, self construal style, and the severity of the rejection.
Does rejection lead to disidentification? The role of internal motivation and avoidance strategies
European Journal of Social …, 2010
Getting rejected can either push newcomers out of the group or make them try harder to become accepted. It is suggested that newcomers' internal motivation to become a group member and their strategies determine the outcomes of rejection. It was expected that in rejected newcomers, avoidance strategies (but not approach strategies) lead to stronger disidentification. Moreover, the disidentification effect of avoidance strategies is predicted to be buffered by the internal motivation to become a group member. Two studies supported these predictions. Study 1 manipulated the group's feedback (rejection vs. acceptance) and assessed internal motivation and strategies. Study 2 measured feedback and replicated the findings in the field. Thus, by the adoption of the right motivational approach, newcomers can prepare themselves not to be driven out of a new group by the almost unavoidable experiences of rejection.
European Journal of Social Psychology, 1980
Studied the effects of attitudinal similarity between two males on reactions to social rejection by a female. Sixty-five male undergraduate students had met an attitudinally similar or dissimilar male confederate. Later a female confederate either chose or did not choose the male confederate as a work partner. Following that, measures designed to tap subjects affective state and self evaluations were administered. Two way interactions for affect and self evaluations (p < 0.01 and p 7lt; 0.05 respectively) indicate that, relative to a control group, only subjects whose similar male partner was chosen expressed unfavorable affect and self-evaluations. The relevance of these findings for the affective consequences of social comparison processes is discussed.