Rejected people would not be nice because of legitimacy : an examination of individuals’ prosocial responses after rejected

Interpersonal rejection deeply affects individuals and yet individuals are often unable to avoid it in their daily lives. Although many studies have illustrated the rejected individuals’ aggression and avoidance mechanism, the evidence regarding prosocial behavior is mixed (Twenge, Baumeister, DeWall, Ciarocco, & Bartels, 2007; Williams & Sommer, 1997). The current article tests 1) whether prosocial responses are possible after rejected, and 2) whether legitimacy of rejection predict individuals’ prosocial responses after rejected. That is, if the rejected individuals perceived rejection to be legitimate, they may ingratiate their rejecters to regain interpersonal acceptance. Conversely, if the rejected individuals perceived rejection to be illegitimate, they may stop behave prosocially for a fruitless outcome. In Study 1, one hundred and twenty-two participants were interpersonally rejected by different reasons varying in the levels of legitimacy. It was found that the rejected individuals, regardless of the legitimacy of rejections, showed similar levels of prosocial responses. In Study 2, one hundred and four participants were interpersonally rejected to replicate the finding of Study 1. The results of both studies suggested that the rejected individuals may not be reasoned with legitimacy and legitimate rejection did not elicited more prosocial responses. Additionally, personality traits appeared to be the more promising predictors of prosocial responses