Rejection

Definition

Defined broadly, social rejection refers to one's perceived reduction of social acceptance, group inclusion, or sense of belonging. Social psychologists study real, imagined, and implied rejection in a variety of forms and contexts. Explicit rejection, exclusion, and ostracism are different kinds of rejection than can occur within groups or dyadic relationships of a romantic or platonic nature. Rejection typically produces negative immediate effects and leads to either antisocial or prosocial behavior, depending on the context of subsequent interactions.

History

Even though philosophers, writers, and laypeople have contemplated the nature of social rejection for centuries, social scientists had not formulated cohesive theories about social rejection and acceptance until relatively recently. In the 1950s, psychologists such as Stanley Schachter began examining the motivations that underlie social contact, and Abraham Maslow, in particular, argued that individuals seek relationships to fulfill a need to belong—belonging being a fundamental need secondary only to nourishment and safety needs. By the 1960s, psychologists began fleshing out attachment theories, which argued that parental rejection powerfully influences children's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Notwithstanding this early work on belonging needs and attachment, social psychological research examining the characteristics, antecedents, and consequences of rejection has only come of age in the last decade.

Complexities of Rejection

Contemporary social psychologists study rejection in an array of forms and contexts. Rejection may be active or passive and involve physical or psychological distancing or exclusion. For example, individuals may be actively rejected when others voice negative views of them or tell them that their presence is not wanted. In comparison, individuals may be passively rejected when others pay little attention to them or ignore them altogether (e.g., the silent treatment). Physical exclusion from a group elicits feelings of rejection in most circumstances (e.g., when an individual is purposefully left out), and psychological exclusion (e.g., when one's opinions are discounted or ignored) is also experienced as a rejection.

Rejection may be derived from individuals or groups, and the nature of these relationships influences the severity of the rejection. Romantic partners, friends, acquaintances, strangers, and group members can all serve as a source of rejection. Although the causes and characteristics of these rejections are arguably different on average (e.g., a stranger's insult has different connotations than that of a friend), the most powerful rejections are dispatched by individuals or groups that are important to a person. In other words, the more important a relationship is to a person, the more painful its weakening or dissolution will be.

[Page 739]Similarly, the further one falls in liking after a rejection, the more robust the consequences. In other words, the change in a person's opinion of another has more impact than the absolute level of that opinion. When an individual's positive initial opinion of another person dwindles to a negative opinion over time, this person will feel worse than had the individual always thought poorly of him or her. Likewise, even a drop in positive regard can feel like a rejection. A close friend who is suddenly treated like a casual acquaintance may feel rejected even though general liking remains. Consequently, initial liking needs to be taken into account when considering the impact of a rejection.

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