Abstract
Research on interpersonal rejection is voluminous, but less is known about perceived rejection in relation to social goals among peers during adolescence, especially while also considering factors that may moderate these associations. In a correlational design, we surveyed a diverse sample of middle school students to examine concurrent (Study 1; N = 269) and short-term longitudinal (Study 2; N = 321) links between rejection and adolescent communal (affiliation, closeness) and agentic (status, influence) goals, and narcissism and gender as moderators in the associations between rejection and social goals. Rejection was negatively related to (Study 1) and predicted decreases in (Study 2) communal goals. Narcissism was positively related to and predicted increases in agentic goals, and moderated the association between rejection and agentic goals (in both studies). One moderated effect of gender was found: perceived rejection predicted decreases in agentic goals for girls, but increases in agentic goals for boys. Our findings mostly align with existing research on interpersonal rejection in youth, and extend this literature by demonstrating that perceived rejection is meaningfully related to changes in trait-like social goals among peers, suggesting it may alter not only situation-specific cognitions, but also globalized goals, or motivations for peer interaction. The findings also call for further research on individual differences in associations between rejection and social goals, along with other outcomes.
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Danielle Findley-Van Nostrand
Danielle Findley-Van Nostrand is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Roanoke College in Virginia. Her Ph.D.is from the University of South Florida. Her interests lie in the domain of social development and include social behaviors and motives, status among peers, and self-processes during adolescence and young adulthood.
Tiina Ojanen
Tiina Ojanen is an Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of South Florida. Her Ph.D. is from the University of Turku in Finland. Her interests include social goals, behaviors, and social adjustment among peers.