Vicarious group-based rejection: creating a potentially dangerous mix of humiliation, powerlessness, and anger.
Rejection can convey that one is seen as inferior and not worth bothering with. Is it possible for people to feel vicariously rejected in this sense and have reactions that are similar to those following personal rejection, such as feeling humiliated, powerless, and angry? A study on personal rejection was followed by two main studies on vicarious group-based rejection. It was found that merely observing rejection of ingroup members can trigger feelings of humiliation that are equally intense as those experienced in response to personal rejection. Moreover, given that the rejection is explicit, vicariously experienced feelings of humiliation can be accompanied by powerlessness and anger. Potentially, this combination of emotions could be an important source of offensive action against rejecters.
Department of Sociology, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands; Interuniversity Center for Social Science Theory and Methodology (ICS), University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Tinka M
TM
Veldhuis
Department of Social Psychology, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Ernestine H
EH
Gordijn
Department of Sociology, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands; Interuniversity Center for Social Science Theory and Methodology (ICS), University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
René
R
Veenstra
Department of Sociology, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands; Interuniversity Center for Social Science Theory and Methodology (ICS), University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands; Tilburg Center for Behavioral Economics (TIBER), Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands.
Siegwart
S
Lindenberg
D000293:Adolescent; D000786:Anger / Q000502:physiology*; D003617:Dangerous Behavior; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012059:Rejection, Psychology; D055815:Young Adult