What is rejection sensitivity?
Rejection sensitivity is the tendency to anxiously expect, easily perceive, and intensely react to rejection (Downey & Feldman, 1996; Romero-Canyas et al., 2010). If you are sensitive to rejection, you will tend to feel wary in situations where you might be rejected. You may experience things as a rejection that other people don’t see the same way, and have sudden changes in your mood as a result.
Rejection sensitivity is common among Autistic people and ADHDers; however, it’s also an experience shared with other minority groups, including sexual and gender minorities. Many adolescents are also highly sensitive to rejection.
Some of the common reasons why people develop rejection sensitivity include having a history of:
• Being bullied, excluded, criticised and judged harshly by caregivers, teachers, colleagues, or friends.
• People making negative assumptions about you based on stigma and stereotypes.
• Significant interpersonal trauma and rejection in your early life.
• Big, painful emotions and difficulty soothing them, leaving you scared of feeling this way again.
Having had these experiences in the past can lead you to expect that other people will judge you negatively again. If you look for further rejection, you’ll eventually find it, and may then experience rejection sensitive dysphoria (RSD).
References:
Downey, G., & Feldman, S. I. (1996). Implications of rejection sensitivity for intimate relationships. Journal of personality and social psychology, 70(6), 1327–1343. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.70.6.1327
Romero-Canyas, R., Downey, G., Berenson, K., Ayduk, O., & Kang, N. J. (2010). Rejection sensitivity and the rejection-hostility link in romantic relationships. Journal of Personality, 78(1), 119–148. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.2009.00611.x