Effects of rejection intensity and rejection sensitivity on social approach behavior in women

Objective: Perceived rejection plays an important role for mental health and social integration.
This study investigated the impact of rejection intensity and rejection sensitivity on social
approach behavior.
Method: 121 female participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions differing
in the degree of induced rejection (inclusion, medium rejection, severe rejection). Thereafter
they were asked to interact with an unknown person during a touch-based cooperative task.
Results: Participants high in rejection sensitivity sought significantly less physical contact
than participants low in rejection sensitivity. Individuals in the medium rejection condition
touched their partners more often than those in the included condition, while no difference
between included and severely rejected participants could be observed.
Conclusions: The results suggest that the intensity of rejection matters with regard to coping.
While participants in the medium intensity rejection condition aimed to ‘repair’ their social
self by seeking increased contact with others, severely rejected participants did not adapt their
behavior compared to included participants. Implications for therapy are discussed.