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Measuring Fear of Social Rejection (ongoing)

In this project, I aim to a) review all existing psychological models of social rejection/exclusion, b) review popular psychological experimental manipulations regarding social rejection/exclusion, c) propose a more inclusive model of social rejection/exclusion based on existing models and findings, d) propose a new psychological experimental manipulation that includes more dimensions and allows more flexible manipulations, and e) propose a new Fear of Rejection scale that measures individual’s trait fear of social rejection.

Overview:

Social Rejection / Exclusion Manipulation and Measurement
– Using A Faux Online Multiplayer Game

Goal:

Develop a social rejection/exclusion task (fake online multiplayter game) that manipulates feelings of rejection and measures individual’s post-rejection cognition & behavior

Rejection dimensions of interest:

Group vs. Individual

Was the rejection done by one individual or a group of individuals?

Implicit vs. Explicit Rejection

Was the rejection explicitly stated to the agent (“you can’t sit with us“) or implied via non-response (i.e., ghosting)?

Known vs. Unknown Intentions

Was the rejection intention made known to the agent? If known, was the intention personal (“because I don’t like you“) or irrelevant (“because we don’t have any more spaces left“)?

Proximity with rejecters

How close does the agent feel with the rejecter, prior to the rejection (e.g., strangers, acquaintances, close friends)?

Post-rejection cognition/behavior of interest:

State Fear of Rejection

How much did the rejection experience increase the agent’s state fear of rejection?

State Need for Affiliation

How much did the rejection experience increase the agent’s state of need for affiliation?

Affective Response

How angry vs. sad did the rejection experience cause the agent to feel?

Behavioral Approach vs. Avoidance

In subsequent social situations, does the agent engage in approach (when the need for affiliation is stronger than fear of rejection) or avoidant (when the fear of rejection is stronger than need for affiliation) behaviors?

Aggressive & Retaliative Behavior

If affiliation is not an option, does the agent exhibit aggressive tendencies?

Game design:

To accomodate the different dimensions of rejection, an online multiplayer defense game design was chosen for the following reasons:

• Multiplayer games are great social systems that allow both experimental control and ecological validity

• Defense games format promote collaboration among players, which makes in-game rejection more authentic (compared to when an opponent quits the game, the agent can interpret it as the opponent being a “sore loser”)

The design is heavily influenced by the Stardew Valley mini-game “Prairie King“ (map design and enemy algorithm), as well as Space Invader (shooting mechanism) and Tank90 (defending a shared base).

The experimental task takes the form of an online multiplayer game – Spider Apocolypse. Players of the game will work together, shooting arrows at invading spiders to protect their shared home.

Spider Apocolypse is not a real online multiplayer game. All other players aside from the agent/participant are AI NPCs.

The agent starts by entering their nickname and choosing a preferred avatar. This is to promote a sense of connection and self-representation in-game.

Once the agent is ready, a matching screen will appear for a few seconds, indicating that the agent is currently being matched with other online players.

When in-game, the agent defends the shared home with either one or three other players. A chatbox is displayed on the side of the screen.

The rejection condition is triggered half-way into the game, where one or more players quit the game, leaving the agent alone to defend the home for a few seconds before the game terminates itself.

Experimental manipulations in Spider Apocolypse:

Group vs. Individual

In the group condition, the agent plays with three other players.
In the individual condition, the agent plays with one other player.

Implicit vs. Explicit Rejection

In the implicit rejection condition, the other player(s) leave without further explanation.
In the explicit rejection condition, a reason for why the other player(s) left is provided.

Known vs. Unknown Intentions

In the known intentions, a personal reason is provided via the other player(s) sending a message in the chatbox along the lines of “[agent name], you suck at this game. I’m going to play another game.“
In the known intentions, a irrelevant reason is provided via a pop-up window that reads “the other player(s) left the game because they encountered a network issue.“
In the unknown intentions, a generic pop-up window reads “the game has been terminated due to an insufficient number of players.“

Proximity with rejecters

Manipulated outside of the game.

Progress:

2024 Feb

Dissertation completed and defended

2023 Dec

All studies and analyses completed

2022 Feb

All structural and UI elements are in

2022 Jan

NPC added; chat box added; rejection scenarios implemented

2021 Dec

Core game loop completed; WASD to move, space to shoot arrows

Fear of Rejection Scale

Goal:

Develop a Fear of Rejection scale that measures trait fear of rejection above and beyond existing scales

Research approach:

An initial pilot study designed via Qualtrics was administered via Prolific (N = 50) asking participants to outline some personal social rejection experiences.

The responses were then coded and transformed into rejection scenarios with response items (e.g., “how upset would you feel if this happened?“) to form the Fear of Rejection scale.

The scale was then tested in an iterative process.

Survey links (copies):

Fear of Rejection scale development (qualtrics link)
Data collected in 2021-2022, total N = 550

Analysis plan:

Iterative analyses using factor analysis and reliability analysis to ensure that subscale loadings are as expected and no redundant items are included.

Progress:

Feb 25, 2023

Findings presented at the 2023 annual conference for the Society of Personality and Social Psychology

Jan 10th, 2022

Version 2, 1st iteration administered on Prolific
4 subscales, 8 scenarios per subscale, 4 response items per scenario (total items N = 128)

Nov 1st, 2021

Version 1, 3rd iteration administered on Prolific
4 subscales, 14 scenarios per subscale, 3 response items per scenario (total items N = 168)

Jul 14th, 2021

Version 1, 2nd iteration administered on Prolific
4 subscales, 14 scenarios per subscale, 3 response items per scenario (total items N = 168)

Jun 25th, 2021

Version 1, 1st iteration administered on Prolific
4 subscales, 14 scenarios per subscale, 3 response items per scenario (total items N = 168)

Dec 21st, 2020

Pilot study administered to gather initial pool of items.

November 13th, 2020

IRB approved.

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