Dynamics of Perceived Rejection in Everyday Life
Abstract
Objective: Interpersonal rejection is typically studied using trait questionnaires or in laboratory settings, while its temporal dynamics that may characterize important individual differences are often overlooked. This study examined perceived rejection in daily life as a dynamic process and its specificity from negative affect.
Method: 89 community adults, including 46 with DSM-5 Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD), completed a 28-day EMA protocol with five prompts per day, yielding 9279 observations after data screening. Dynamic structural equation modeling was used to estimate equilibrium (typical level), inertia (persistence over time), innovation variance (magnitude of momentary perturbations), and stationary variance (overall within-person variability) for perceived rejection.
Results: Perceived rejection dynamics were associated with negative affect dynamics. After controlling for the corresponding negative affect components, SAD diagnosis and several interpersonal vulnerability measures (e.g., separation anxiety) remained associated with perceived rejection dynamics. When SAD diagnosis and interpersonal vulnerabilities were considered together, separation anxiety was uniquely associated with higher equilibrium, greater inertia, and greater stationary variance, whereas SAD was uniquely associated with greater log innovation variance; need to belong and rejection sensitivity were additionally associated with higher equilibrium.
Conclusions: Perceived rejection appears to reflect a distinct interpersonal dynamic process beyond negative affect. Within this process, a person’s typical level of perceived rejection, momentary perturbations, the persistence of deviations from the person’s typical level, and overall variability showed different patterns of association with SAD and interpersonal vulnerabilities, suggesting that these dynamic features capture different aspects of perceived rejection.
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BibTeX
@misc{shang2026dynamics,
title = {{Dynamics of Perceived Rejection in Everyday Life}},
author = {ZhaoXuan Shang and Haya Fatimah and Marina Bornovalova and Lijuan Wang and Fallon Goodman},
howpublished = {PsyArXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.31234/osf.io/6zw8k_v3},
url = {https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/6zw8k_v3/},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Dynamics of Perceived Rejection in Everyday Life
AU - ZhaoXuan Shang
AU - Haya Fatimah
AU - Marina Bornovalova
AU - Lijuan Wang
AU - Fallon Goodman
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/19
PB - PsyArXiv
DO - 10.31234/osf.io/6zw8k_v3
UR - https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/6zw8k_v3/
AB - Objective: Interpersonal rejection is typically studied using trait questionnaires or in laboratory settings, while its temporal dynamics that may characterize important individual differences are often overlooked. This study examined perceived rejection in daily life as a dynamic process and its specificity from negative affect. Method: 89 community adults, including 46 with DSM-5 Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD), completed a 28-day EMA protocol with five prompts per day, yielding 9279 observations after data screening. Dynamic structural equation modeling was used to estimate equilibrium (typical level), inertia (persistence over time), innovation variance (magnitude of momentary perturbations), and stationary variance (overall within-person variability) for perceived rejection. Results: Perceived rejection dynamics were associated with negative affect dynamics. After controlling for the corresponding negative affect components, SAD diagnosis and several interpersonal vulnerability measures (e.g., separation anxiety) remained associated with perceived rejection dynamics. When SAD diagnosis and interpersonal vulnerabilities were considered together, separation anxiety was uniquely associated with higher equilibrium, greater inertia, and greater stationary variance, whereas SAD was uniquely associated with greater log innovation variance; need to belong and rejection sensitivity were additionally associated with higher equilibrium. Conclusions: Perceived rejection appears to reflect a distinct interpersonal dynamic process beyond negative affect. Within this process, a person’s typical level of perceived rejection, momentary perturbations, the persistence of deviations from the person’s typical level, and overall variability showed different patterns of association with SAD and interpersonal vulnerabilities, suggesting that these dynamic features capture different aspects of perceived rejection.
ER -