Rejection and Serious Aggression: Hurt People Hurt People

When people perceive that they are rejected by others, they may respond in positive ways to regain acceptance or in negative ways to achieve other goals, such as revenge. This chapter examines people’s negative responses to interpersonal rejection. After discussing conceptual issues that have plagued the study of rejection, the chapter examines five forms of extreme aggression in detail: school and mass shootings, intimate partner violence, hazing, retaliative suicide, and cyberbullying. The chapter examines evidence that supports a link between rejection and these five forms of aggression and discusses variables that influence the degree to which people respond aggressively to perceived rejection.

Duke Scholars

Author Mark R. Leary Psychology & Neuroscience