Citation

DeBono A, Layton RL, Freeman N, Muraven M. J. Soc. Psychol. 2016; 157(1): 64-76.

Affiliation

University at Albany, State University of New York , Psychology Department , Albany , United States.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/00224545.2016.1165168

PMID

26984040

Abstract

Logically, responding aggressively to rejection is maladaptive because one is unlikely to seek a relationship with an aggressor. We predict that when concealed, the illogical aggressive response to rejection is more likely, whereas when rejected individuals' aggressive responses are perceived as public, aggressive acts may be reduced. Participants were rejected by others (Experiment 1), or were either accepted or rejected during an online ball-tossing game (Experiment 2), and were then given an opportunity to aggress publicly or privately. Across experiments, when the opportunity to aggress was made public, rejected participants exhibited less aggressive behavior. When concerned about the perception of their public aggressive responses by others, rejected individuals' aggressive responses diminished compared with those whose actions were private. Crucially, this extended to aggression visible only to neutral others, suggesting that effects cannot solely be due to fear of retribution.

Language: en