Abstract

Although there is an extensive literature on interpersonal rejection, individual studies that have examined adults’ emotional and behavioral responses to rejection have tended to limit their scope to a specific category of rejector (e.g., acquaintances). As a result, prior research has failed to systematically investigate whether individuals’ emotional and behavioral responses to perceived rejection differ as a function of the role of the potential rejector. In the present study, a total of 481 participants read two scenarios describing hypothetical situations in which rejection by a specific individual (i.e., significant other, friend, or acquaintance) was ambiguous. After each scenario, participants rated the extent to which they would be likely to anticipate (a) experiencing various negative emotions (e.g., upset) and (b) engaging in various behavioral responses (i.e., act friendly, retaliate, complain, avoid) to the potential rejector. Overall, the potential of being rejected by another person with whom one has a close and valued relationship (i.e., a significant other and, to a lesser degree, a friend) was associated with heightened negative emotion and a heightened likelihood of engaging in an active response, either prosocial (i.e., act friendly) or antisocial (i.e., retaliate or complain). In contrast, potential rejection by an acquaintance was associated with relatively little negative emotion and relatively little desire to engage the other (i.e., avoid). In sum, the participants’ relationship with specific individuals was found to influence both the intensity of their anticipated negative emotional response to ambiguous rejection and the pattern of their anticipated behavioral response to the potential rejectors.

摘要

尽管有大量关于人际拒绝的文献，但针对成年人对拒绝的情绪和行为反应的个别研究倾向于将其范围限制在特定类别的拒绝者（例如，熟人）。因此，先前的研究未能系统地调查个人对感知拒绝的情绪和行为反应是否因潜在拒绝者的角色而异。在本研究中，共有 481 名参与者阅读了两种描述假设情况的情景，其中特定个人（即重要的其他人、朋友或熟人）的拒绝是模棱两可的。在每个场景之后，参与者评估他们可能预期的程度（a）经历各种负面情绪（例如，心烦意乱）和（b）对潜在的拒绝者做出各种行为反应（即表现得友好、报复、抱怨、回避）。总体而言，被与其有密切和有价值关系的另一个人（即重要的他人，在较小程度上是朋友）拒绝的可能性与消极情绪的增加和参与积极活动的可能性增加有关。回应，可以是亲社会的（即表现得友好）或反社会的（即报复或抱怨）。相比之下，熟人的潜在拒绝与相对较少的负面情绪和相对较少的与他人交往（即避免）的愿望相关。总共，