Not all rejections are alike; competence and warmth as a fundamental distinction in social rejection (original) (raw)
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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.
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.
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.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2005
In seems there are two dimensions that underlie most judgments of traits, people, groups, and cultures. Although the definitions vary, the first makes reference to attributes such as competence, agency, and individualism, and the second to warmth, communality, and collectivism. But the relationship between the two dimensions seems unclear. In trait and person judgment, they are often positively related; in group and cultural stereotypes, they are often negatively related. The authors report 4 studies that examine the dynamic relationship between these two dimensions, experimentally manipulating the location of a target of judgment on one and examining the consequences for the other. In general, the authors' data suggest a negative dynamic relationship between the two, moderated by factors the impact of which they explore.
Previous literature suggested that anger and sadness may be necessary to restore social bonds in the face of immediate relationship threat. The present research compared the social effectiveness of expressing anger and sadness in response to a negative personal evaluation. Results indicated that target anger in response to a negative competence evaluation, and target sadness in response to a negative warmth evaluation, had the most positive effects on the evaluators’ subjectively perceived persuasiveness of the targets’ communication (Study 1) and on the subjectively perceived fluency of the interaction by both interaction partners (Study 2). Results are discussed in light of the social functionality of emotion expression and the importance of interpersonal emotion congruency with evaluation content.
European Review of Social Psychology, 2010
In the present chapter we first review research that has identified two fundamental dimensions of social perception. Having defined these two dimensions, we then present the results of a research program conducted to explore the relationship between them. In general, using both experimental and correlational data, we find evidence of a compensation effect between the two dimensions when two targets are compared. That is, when one target is judged more positively on one of the two fundamental dimensions, the second is judged more positively on the other dimension. We show that this compensation effect is confined to these two fundamental dimensions rather than something that more broadly characterises comparative judgements on any two judgemental dimensions. We then explore the importance of this compensation effect for the formation, maintenance, confirmation, and communication of mixed stereotypes of social groups. In college, students who work diligently and get straight As are seen as nerds. Everyone tries to copy their notes and summaries but no one invites them to parties. In sharp contrast, a girl who is on the cheerleading squad will be invited to at least three different parties every Friday night, but she
Social Rejection, Control, Numbness, and Emotion: How Not to be Fooled by Gerber and Wheeler (2009)
Perspectives on Psychological Science, 2009
Emotional numbness remains an empirically supported and theoretically intriguing pattern of response to social exclusion that warrants further research, and it would be a loss to the field if such research were prematurely terminated or hampered by the unwarranted conclusions from misleading meta-analyses. The meta-analyses by Gerber and Wheeler (2009, this issue) are based on a biased sample that omits much relevant work. Worse, the authors misinterpret what evidence they do assemble, even interpreting strong evidence for numbness as if it contradicted numbness. Their conclusions about control are similarly unfounded and misguided.
Of Nice and Mean: The Personal Relevance of Others’ Competence Drives Perceptions of Warmth
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 2019
Past research shows that when forming an impression of an interdependent person, perceivers are motivated to look for information relevant to their goals and interests. The present experiments examined what happens after this information-seeking stage and showed that the relevance of the target’s attributes for one’s goals and interests drives warmth impressions. Using both a scenario (Experiment 1) and realistic methodologies (Experiment 3), we showed that when the perceiver had to collaborate with a target, the more competent the target, the more perceivers anticipated success and the more the target came across as warm. By contrast, in a competition setting, the competence of the target negatively affected prospects of success and impressions of warmth. Experiment 2 further showed that the target’s competence drove warmth impressions only when perceivers attached a great value to the success of the task, suggesting that these inferences have a motivational underpinning.
Two tales of rejection: Being rejected and rejecting others' (re)views
Journal of Organizational Behavior
School in Australia. Her research focuses on leadership, emotions, attributions, and teams. She coedits the JOB Annual Review and serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Organizational Behavior, The Leadership Quarterly, and Group & Organization Management. When she is not being a serious professor, she is a fun mom to two young children (Stephanie and Daniel). EDITORIAL 125