Social Withdrawal Found Among Those Sensitive to Appearance-Based Rejection

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Three new studies by psychologists at the University at Buffalo have found that after receiving negative feedback about one's appearance, individuals who are highly sensitive to appearance-based rejection withdraw from social interactions and prefer to avoid even those with whom they have close relationships.

The studies are described in the article, "Interpersonal Effects of Appearance-based Rejection Sensitivity," by Lora E. Park, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychology at UB, and Rebecca T. Pinkus, Ph.D., a postdoctoral student in the department, in the most recent issue of the Journal of Research in Personality (Vol. 43).

Park, who directs the UB Research in the Self and Motivation Lab, explains that some people anxiously expect, readily perceive and overreact to rejection based on their physical attractiveness. Such individuals, she says, possess high appearance-based rejection sensitivity, or Appearance-RS.

In the current study, Park and Pinkus examined how sensitivity to appearance rejection influenced people's desire for social contact, specifically, how individuals with high Appearance-RS responded to negative feedback about their appearance in terms of their desire to approach or avoid other people.

In the first study, participants experienced one of two types of bogus rejection from an opposite-sex stranger: rejection based on their appearance or rejection based on their perceived intelligence. The more sensitive participants were to appearance rejection, the less they wanted to engage in social interaction (e.g., go to a party, meet new people, go on a date), but only after receiving negative feedback about their appearance. This effect was found even after controlling for self-esteem, self-rated attractiveness, general rejection sensitivity, social anxiety, gender and romantic relationship status.

In the second study, participants were given bogus positive or negative feedback based on their appearance, ostensibly from another participant. High Appearance-RS participants showed less desire to affiliate with even their close friends after receiving the negative appearance feedback, but not after receiving positive appearance feedback.

A third study examined whether daily fluctuations in sensitivity to appearance-based rejection predicted socially avoidant behaviors in everyday life. Results of a daily diary study revealed that high Appearance-RS participants showed greater social avoidance on days when they felt sensitive to rejection based on their looks.

"One way to cope with rejection is to draw closer to other people for affirmation, reassurance or social support. However, to turn toward others in a vulnerable state requires some level of interpersonal risk. Individuals who hold anxious expectations of rejection based on their appearance might therefore prefer to avoid others following appearance rejection, rather than risk the possibility of further rejection," Park says.

"The desire to withdraw from others, even close others, following appearance rejection is consistent with the finding that high Appearance-RS individuals lack interpersonal confidence and perceive themselves to be unattractive to begin with.

She adds, "People with high Appearance-RS may therefore seek to avoid others -- even close others -- following rejection as a way to minimize the possibility of further rejection.

"Although withdrawing from social contact may temporarily relieve anxiety triggered by the rejection experience, social withdrawal could potentially isolate individuals and exacerbate rejection concerns over time," says Park.

The University at Buffalo is a premier research-intensive public university, a flagship institution in the State University of New York system and its largest and most comprehensive campus. UB's more than 28,000 students pursue their academic interests through more than 300 undergraduate, graduate and professional degree programs. Founded in 1846, the University at Buffalo is a member of the Association of American Universities.