Testing effects of social rejection on aggressive and prosocial behavior: A meta-analysis
- PMID: 35349722
- PMCID: PMC9519812
- DOI: 10.1002/ab.22026
Testing effects of social rejection on aggressive and prosocial behavior: A meta-analysis
Abstract
Social rejection elicits profound feelings of distress. From an evolutionary perspective, the best way to alleviate this distress is to behave prosocially, minimizing the likelihood of further exclusion. Yet, examples ranging from the playground to the pub suggest rejection commonly elicits aggression. Opposing theoretical perspectives and discordant empirical results have left a basic question unanswered: does rejection more commonly elicit prosocial or aggressive behavior? We conducted three meta-analyses (one with studies measuring aggressive behavior; one with studies measuring prosocial behavior; and one with studies measuring both aggressive and prosocial behavior; N = 3864) to quantify: (1) the extent to which social rejection elicits prosocial or aggressive behavior and (2) potential moderating effects on these relations. Random-effects models revealed medium effects such that social rejection potentiated aggressive behavior (k = 19; d = 0.41, p < .0001) and attenuated prosocial behavior (k = 7; d = 0.59, p < .0001), an effect that remained consistent even when participants were given the option to behave prosocially or aggressively (k = 15; d = 0.71, p < .0001). These results cast doubt on the theory that rejection triggers prosocial behavior, and instead suggest it is a robust elicitor of aggression. Statement of Relevance: To our knowledge, these meta-analyses are the first to directly test whether social rejection elicits aggressive or prosocial behavior. By including a comprehensive collection of both published and unpublished research studies, and examining a wide variety of previously untested moderators, we show that social rejection robustly elicits aggressive behavior and inhibits prosocial behavior. Additionally, we demonstrate that aggressive behavior following social rejection is not simply a function of limited choices in response options. In fact, aggressive behavior was evoked even when the option to engage in prosocial behavior was provided. Furthermore, we conducted a comprehensive narrative review of the neural mechanisms underlying social rejection-elicited aggressive and prosocial behavior to supplement primary analyses. Overall, we believe that our work makes a critical theoretical contribution to the field.
Keywords: aggression; meta-analysis; prosocial; review; social rejection.
© 2022 Wiley Periodicals LLC.
Figures
Similar articles
-
Violent and prosocial music: Evidence for the impact of lyrics and musical tone on aggressive thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.Aggress Behav. 2024 May;50(3):e22148. doi: 10.1002/ab.22148. Aggress Behav. 2024. PMID: 38747497
-
Does stress make us more-or less-prosocial? A systematic review and meta-analysis of the effects of acute stress on prosocial behaviours using economic games.Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2022 Nov;142:104905. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104905. Epub 2022 Oct 11. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2022. PMID: 36228924 Review.
-
Bidirectional Associations of Prosocial Behavior with Peer Acceptance and Rejection in Adolescence.J Youth Adolesc. 2022 Dec;51(12):2355-2367. doi: 10.1007/s10964-022-01675-5. Epub 2022 Sep 17. J Youth Adolesc. 2022. PMID: 36114945 Free PMC article.
-
Violent video game effects on aggression, empathy, and prosocial behavior in eastern and western countries: a meta-analytic review.Psychol Bull. 2010 Mar;136(2):151-73. doi: 10.1037/a0018251. Psychol Bull. 2010. PMID: 20192553 Review.
-
Adolescents' aggressive and prosocial behavior: associations with jealousy and social anxiety.J Genet Psychol. 2008 Mar;169(1):21-33. doi: 10.3200/GNTP.169.1.21-33. J Genet Psychol. 2008. PMID: 18476475
Cited by
-
Potential Mechanism Linking Peer Relationships and Adolescent Prosocial Behavior: Mediation of Cognitive Empathy and Moderations of OXTR and DRD2.J Youth Adolesc. 2024 Jun 4. doi: 10.1007/s10964-024-02023-5. Online ahead of print. J Youth Adolesc. 2024. PMID: 38834755
-
The influence of social exclusion on prosocial behavior of college students: the role of relational need threat and regulatory focus.Front Psychol. 2024 Apr 24;15:1384279. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1384279. eCollection 2024. Front Psychol. 2024. PMID: 38721327 Free PMC article.
-
Differences in Aggressive Behavior of Individuals with Different Self-Construal Types after Social Exclusion in the Same Cultural Background.Behav Sci (Basel). 2023 Jul 27;13(8):623. doi: 10.3390/bs13080623. Behav Sci (Basel). 2023. PMID: 37622763 Free PMC article.
-
Facing ostracism: micro-coding facial expressions in the Cyberball social exclusion paradigm.BMC Psychol. 2023 Jun 19;11(1):185. doi: 10.1186/s40359-023-01219-x. BMC Psychol. 2023. PMID: 37337264 Free PMC article.
-
The influence of students' sense of social connectedness on prosocial behavior in higher education institutions in Guangxi, China: A perspective of perceived teachers' character teaching behavior and social support.Front Psychol. 2022 Nov 23;13:1029315. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1029315. eCollection 2022. Front Psychol. 2022. PMID: 36506956 Free PMC article.
References
-
- Ajzen I, Brown TC, & Carvajal F (2004). Explaining the Discrepancy Between Intentions and Actions: The Case of Hypothetical Bias in Contingent Valuation. PSPB, 30(9), 1108–1121. - PubMed
-
- Andreoni J, & Miller J (2002). Giving according to Garp: an experimental test of the consistency of preferences for altruism. Econometrica, 70, 737–753.
-
- Averill J (2012). Anger and Aggression: An Essay on Emotion. In Springer Series in Social Psychology. New York, NY: Springer US.
Publication types
MeSH terms
Grants and funding
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Miscellaneous