Why was I Rejected? How the Attributed Reason for Social Rejection Impacts Subsequent Behavior.

<p>It is proposed that differences in rejection attribution could yield variations in subsequent prosocial behavior. To test the attribution hypothesis, 109 participants were randomly assigned to a performance based rejection, a personally based rejection, or a control condition and then worked with an ostensible partner via the Internet to develop uses for a common household item. Prosocial behavior was measured by the number of uses a participant generated (working harder for the team). When generating creative uses, participants in the rejection conditions performed significantly worse than nonrejected participants (<em>F</em>(2,74) = 4.576, <em>p</em><.05, <em>r</em>²=.11). However, in contradiction to the attribution hypothesis, participants in the 2 rejection conditions did not differ in performance. Explanations for why the rejection attribution hypothesis was not supported are discussed in addition to directions for future research regarding rejection attribution.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

MA (Master of Arts)

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis - unrestricted

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Psychology

Year dc:date.issued

2009

Author dc:creator

• Nelson, Brian Curtis

• Social Rejection
• Rejection Attribution
• Attribution
• Rejection
• Psychology
• Social and Behavioral Sciences
• Social Psychology

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright by the authors.

Repository record dc:identifier

https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/1883

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dc.etsu.edu:etd-3235