Abstract
In general, human beings tend to try and reconnect after they have been socially rejected. It is not clear, however, which role the number of rejecters and rejection sensitivity plays. In addition, it is unclear whether the supposed pro-social behaviors are aimed at the rejecters or at innocent individuals. By means of a new paradigm, the present pilot study investigated compensatory behavior of individuals with varying degrees of social anxiety, following varying degrees of rejection. In addition, it was explored toward whom their behavior was directed: rejecters or innocent individuals. Female students (N = 34) were assessed on their degree of social anxiety and then, based on a personal profile they wrote, they were either rejected by 1, 2, or 3 fictional other participants or completely accepted. Afterward, the participants had to explicitly rate the creativity of drawings made by the others and, in a pro-social reward paradigm, awarded the other participants money based on their creativity rating. In addition, implicit social approach tendencies toward photos of rejecters, acceptors, or innocent individuals were assessed by means of an approach-avoidance task. The results confirmed that people with a low degree of social anxiety respond to rejection in a compensatory pro-social manner explicitly as well as implicitly, but that people with a high degree of social anxiety fail to do so. With regard to sources of rejection, only implicit approach-avoidance tendencies reflected a distinction between rejecters and innocent individuals. Theoretical implications are discussed in the light of the small sample size and other limitations.
Highlights
Human beings have an evolutionarily determined (DeWall, 2013) “need to belong” which may have ensured survival in prehistoric times and still underlies a great part of our social behavior today (Baumeister and Leary, 1995)
The current study proposed and piloted an experimental setup to explore explicit and implicit pro-social behavior following rejection in relation to social anxiety
This seems contrary to our prediction based on the belongingness hypothesis by Baumeister and Leary (1995) and previous studies showing that participants responded in a compensatory pro-social manner after rejection (e.g., Williams et al, 2000; Lakin et al, 2008; Mallott et al, 2009)
Summary
Human beings have an evolutionarily determined (DeWall, 2013) “need to belong” which may have ensured survival in prehistoric times and still underlies a great part of our social behavior today (Baumeister and Leary, 1995). Based on the belongingness hypothesis (Baumeister and Leary, 1995; DeWall, 2013) and evidence that human beings engage in compensatory pro-social acts after rejection (Williams and Sommer, 1997; Williams et al, 2000; Lakin and Chartrand, 2005; Maner et al, 2007; Carter-Sowell et al, 2008; Lakin et al, 2008; Mallott et al, 2009), it was expected that rejection (compared to acceptance) would lead to increased rewarding of others as well as increased approach tendencies toward face pictures. Exploring the workability of experimental paradigms to systematically study the role of social anxiety in response to social rejection is important when considering that HSAs seem to show subtle affiliative deficits in social interactions (Lange et al, 2014) and are more likely to generalize from one experience of (putative) exclusion in an interaction, to future interactions, thereby missing opportunities for affiliation with new partners (DeWall, 2013)
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