Implications of rejection sensitivity for intimate relationships.

TLDR

Rejection‑sensitive individuals anxiously anticipate, readily detect, and overreact to perceived rejection. The authors developed a measure to operationalize the anxious‑expectations component of rejection sensitivity. Rejection sensitivity undermines intimate relationships by causing individuals to over‑perceive intentional rejection, leading to jealousy, hostility, and reduced support, which in turn drives partner dissatisfaction.

Abstract

People who are sensitive to social rejection tend to anxiously expect, readily perceive, and overreact to it. This article shows that this cognitive-affective processing disposition undermines intimate relationships. Study 1 describes a measure that operationalizes the anxious-expectations component of rejection sensitivity. Study 2 provides experimental evidence that people who anxiously expect rejection readily perceive intentional rejection in the ambiguous behavior of others. Study 3 shows that people who enter romantic relationships with anxious expectations of rejection readily perceive intentional rejection in the insensitive behavior of their new partners. Study 4 demonstrates that rejection-sensitive people and their romantic partners are dissatisfied with their relationships. Rejection-sensitive men's jealousy and rejection-sensitive women's hostility and diminished supportiveness help explain their partners' dissatisfaction.