Modulation of brain response to peer rejection by rejection sensitivity: An exploratory study
Yue Leng1, Xing Qian2, Yanmei Zhu2
1School of Biomedical Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University, China; Research Center for Learning Science, Southeast University, China; Key Laboratory of Child Development and Learning Science (Ministry of Education), Southeast University, China; Institute of Child Development and Education, Southeast University, China.
Neuropsychologia
|July 9, 2018
Summary
Individuals with high rejection sensitivity (RS) show heightened neural and psychological distress when facing explicit rejection. Their brain responses indicate attentional bias and difficulty with emotion regulation during social exclusion.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Social Psychology
Background:
- Rejection sensitivity (RS) influences responses to implicit rejection cues.
- Explicit peer rejection provides direct social feedback.
- Understanding RS's impact on explicit rejection responses is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how rejection sensitivity (RS) modulates psychological and neural responses to explicit rejection feedback.
- To examine the role of RS in distress and mood following social exclusion.
- To identify neural correlates of RS in an ecologically relevant social context.
Main Methods:
- Employed a Chatroom task to simulate social interaction and rejection.
- Utilized event-related potentials (ERPs) to measure neural responses.
- Collected subjective ratings for psychological distress and mood.
Main Results:
- High RS individuals reported greater ostracism distress and negative mood after rejection.
- Neural responses, specifically parietal P3 and left frontal LPP, were enhanced in high RS individuals to rejection feedback.
- These neural findings suggest attentional bias and reduced emotion regulation in high RS individuals.
Conclusions:
- Rejection sensitivity significantly modulates psychological and neural responses to explicit rejection.
- Heightened neural activity in high RS individuals reflects amplified attention and emotional reactivity to social exclusion.
- The study offers novel insights into the neural underpinnings of rejection sensitivity in realistic social settings.
