Doctoral Dissertations

Date of Award

5-1999

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Psychology

Major Professor

Warren H. Jones

Committee Members

Kathleen A. Lawler, John W. Lounsbury, Debora Baldwin, Michael Logan

Abstract

The need to belong is a fundamental, universal, and innate motivation to seek out and maintain relationships with other people. Because everyone possesses some degree of this need for acceptance and inclusion, the experience or threat of rejection often produces strong negative affect. The present research sought to investigate the role of belongingness needs in individuals' reactions to rejection. Study I addressed issues associated with measurement of the need to belong. Psychometric analyses of three belongingness/affiliation scales revealed that the Need to Belong Scale should be the measure of choice in future belongingness research. The purpose of Study II was to explore individual differences in reactions to social rejection. Results indicated that the strength of one's belongingness needs had no reliable effect on responses to rejection; however it appeared that satisfaction of one's need to belong strongly affected responses to rejection. Negative affective and cognitive reactions to interpersonal rejection were amplified in people who were lonely, anxious, depressed, and had low self-esteem. These findings clearly indicate that dispositional variables influence the magnitude of emotional and cognitive responses to rejection.

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