Who is more willing to engage in social rejection? The roles of self-esteem, rejection sensitivity, and negative affect in social rejection decisions

Abstract

How do self-schemas and their consequences guide would-be-rejectors? When making decisions about whether to reject, individuals consider the difficulty and emotional consequences of rejecting, and both of these considerations are likely to involve self-schemas. In three preregistered studies, we examine the roles of self-esteem, rejection sensitivity, and symptoms of depression and anxiety in rejection decisions. In an initial set of studies (N 1a = 214, N 1b = 264), participants forecast their willingness to reject and their emotional responses in friendship (Study 1a) and romantic (Study 1a-1b) vignettes. In Study 2 (N 2 = 259), participants who recently rejected rated that experience on the same measures. Correlates of negative self-schema were associated with negative emotions. Self-esteem, rejection sensitivity, and general distress were associated with forecasted difficulty rejecting, but only anxiety and general distress were associated with retrospectively-reported increased difficulty. Taken together, psychological distress may decrease willingness to reject in a way that participants cannot predict.