van der Molen, M. 1 , Gunther Moor, B. 1, 2 & Crone, E. 1, 2
1 Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam
2 Institute of Psychological Research, University of Leiden
Social relationships are vitally important in human life. Social rejection in particular has been conceptualized as a potent social cue resulting in feelings of hurt. In two studies participants were presented with a series of unfamiliar faces and were asked to predict whether they would be liked by the other person. Following each judgment, participants received feedback indicating that the other person had either accepted or rejected them. A neuroimaging study showed increased activation when participants had positive expectations about social evaluation, and increased activation following social acceptance feedback. A heart rate study showed that feedback was associated with transient heart rate slowing and a return to baseline that was considerably delayed in response to unexpected social rejection. This pattern of results indicates that the impact of social rejection is context-dependent. In addition, the results seem to suggest that the heart and brain are differentially sensitive to social rejection/acceptance.