Ghosting is the practice of ending a relationship without explaining to the partner and avoiding any communication attempts. Orbiting is identical to ghosting, but the disengager still visibly follows the former partner on social media. Despite the increasing attention that ghosting and orbiting have gained in the popular press, they remain largely unexplored phenomena in scientific inquiry. In this work, we explored the psychological and behavioral reactions to ghosting and orbiting from the victim’s perspective, comparing them to the experience of being rejected through direct communication. Participants were randomly assigned to recall one of three conditions (ghosting, orbiting, and rejection), and the reports of 208 young adults were analyzed through qualitative thematic content analysis. The results described different stages of reactions that follow event detection and that are respectively characterized by 1) surprise and confusion, 2) anger, sadness, and guilt, 3) attempts of relational repair, 4) acceptance. The specificities of being a victim of ghosting and orbiting are presented, comparing them with social rejection. The results are discussed in the light of the existing literature on social exclusion, suggesting that ghosting and orbiting can be considered forms of ostracism. Connections between the proposed stage model and traditional relationship dissolution theories are highlighted, and relevant implications for future research and interventions are presented.

重影是在不向对方解释且避免进行任何交流尝试的情况下终止关系的一种做法。绕行与重影相同，但脱离接触者仍在社交媒体上明显跟随前搭档。尽管人们越来越关注重影和绕行轨道在大众媒体上已经得到了广泛的应用，但在科学探究中，它们很大程度上仍是未探索的现象。在这项工作中，我们从受害者的角度探讨了鬼影和轨道运动的心理和行为反应，并将其与通过直接交流而被拒绝的经历进行了比较。随机分配参与者回忆三种情况（重影，绕行和拒绝）之一，并通过定性主题内容分析法分析了208名年轻成年人的报告。结果描述了事件检测后不同阶段的反应，分别以1）惊喜和困惑，2）愤怒，悲伤和内，3）尝试进行关系修复，4）接受为特征。介绍了成为鬼影和轨道运动受害者的特殊性，并将其与社会排斥相比较。根据有关社会排斥的现有文献对结果进行了讨论，表明重影和绕行可以被视为排斥的形式。强调了拟议的阶段模型与传统的关系消散理论之间的联系，并提出了对未来研究和干预措施的相关启示。