Affiliation, acceptance and rejection

Question 1

What is affiliation?

Answer 1

The act of associating and interacting with one or more individuals which is driven by the need to feel a sense of involvement and belonging within a social group.

Question 2

Why do we affiliate with others?

Answer 2

Multidimensional model of affiliation (Hill, 1987)

• Positive stimulation
• Emotional support
• Social comparison
• Receive attention

Question 3

Differences in our desire to affiliate : Intrapersonal differences

Answer 3

An individuals desire to be with others can fluctuate over time and contexts

Social affiliation model : O’Connor & Rosenblood (1996)
People seek to maintain optimal level of social contact
People seek out social contact until their affiliative drive is satisfied
When they experience too much social contact they seek out solitude

Question 4

Interpersonal differences in affiliation : Biological and Cultural explanations

Answer 4

Biological explanations
Brain imaging studies have found that social interactions produce greater arousal of the CNS in introverts than extroverts (Johnson et al, 1999)
Introverts may avoid social situations to stop their arousal levels going too high

Cultural explanations
The more individualistic a country was, the more its members desired affiliation (Hofstede, 1980)

Question 5

Acceptance and rejection

Answer 5

Leary (2001) - Acceptance and rejection fall on a continuum

Merely tolerating > Welcoming but not seeking someone out > being highly sought out as relational partner

Merely ignoring someone > Avoiding or not including someone > Explicitly excluding or banishing someone

Question 6

Relational value

Answer 6

Subjective experiences of acceptance and belonging conceptualised along a continuum of perceived relational value

Perception of rejection and acceptance depends on whether the relational value is as high as desired

Relationally valued = increased likelihood of acceptance and access to desired social and material outcomes

Question 7

How do we increase our relational value and increase chances of acceptance

Answer 7

1) Seeking approval and liking
2) Reciprocity
3) Physical appearance
4) Achievement and competence

Question 8

Seeking approval and liking

Answer 8

One way to increase relational value is to get people to like us

Seen as possessing socially desirable traits (friendly, sincere, caring) and avoid being seen as possessing disliked traits (boring, conceited, obnoxious) (Leary, 1995)

We are more likely to like and interact with people who are perceived as similar (Ahyun, 2002) :
Physical characteristics = Murstein (1972)
Attitudes and beliefs = Bryne & Nelson (1965)

Question 9

Reciprocity

Answer 9

People should repay what another person has provided them (Gouldner, 1960)

We like people who like us back (Dittes & Kelley, 1956)

Question 10

Physical appearance

Answer 10

Physically attractive people are better liked and sought out as companions compared to those who are less attractive

People are judged more positively on personality traits, social skills and future prospects (Feingold, 1990)

Halo effect (Dion et al, 1972)

Criteria for attractiveness differs across cultures

However, a meta analysis by Feingold et al
(1992) found that there was no relationship > could be a self-fulfilling prophecy (attractive people are more confident, etc)

Question 11

Achievement and competence

Answer 11

Striving for competence and mastery to increase chances for acceptance and belonging (Baumeister, 1990)

Competence successful people have higher relational value and are more likely to be sought out for relationships as they are seen as more interesting relational partners and there are desirable rewards of their achievements (Leary, 2010)

Question 12

Types of rejection - Leary (2010)

Answer 12

Explicit rejection
- Ostracism = the experience of being excluded or ignored by an individual or group (Williams, 2007)
- Prejudice and discrimination

Implicit devaluation and rejection
- Bullying = Target of bullying and malicious teasing . low relational value in the eyes of the bully
- Criticism = Not explicit rejection but conveys a low relational value as they possess undesirable traits
- Betrayal = Indicates devaluation of the relationship between people (Fitness, 2001)
- Interpersonal favouritism = favouring another person who is regarded as equal or inferior

Question 13

What are the 4 reactions to rejection?

Answer 13

1) Four fundamental human needs
2) Hurt feelings
3) Loneliness
4) State self-esteem

Question 14

Fundamental human needs

Answer 14

According to Williams’ (2001) model of ostracism rejection threatens 4 fundamental human needs:
- Belonging = severs our connections and divides us from the group
- Control = No matter what input we try to have to involve ourselves in the situation we are cut out of it
- Self-esteem = being ignored makes us believe we are not liked or valued
- Meaningful existence = makes people feel like their life has no meaning and they do not exist

Williams et al (2002)
Ps took part in a 15 min discussion and were either included or not
Excluded ps had lower mood

Question 15

Hurt feelings

Answer 15

Emotion is most closely associated with rejection

Snapp & Leary (2001)
2 ps + 1 confederate
Told to talk about themselves
Acceptance (listening) vs rejection (not listening)
Found that rejected ps had significantly more hurt feelings and they felt more hurt when the confederate barely knew them vs when they were acquainted

Question 16

Loneliness

Answer 16

Linked to the perception that social network is inadequate

Experiences when ones social relationships are less satisfying than desired Peplau & Perlman (1982)

Loneliness is smaller social networks and fewer interactions rather than being alone

Lonely people can be:
- Less accepting of other people (Rotenberg & Kmill, 1992)
- less responsive to classmates (Anderson & Martin, 1995)

Question 17

State self-esteem

Answer 17

Even people who report being unconcerned about others opinions about themselves experience changes in self esteem following devaluing feedback (Gallagher et al, 2003)

Zadro et al (2005)
Ps took part in role playing, sources told to ignore or argue with the target
Being the target of ostracism significantly lowered self esteem compared to argument