The impact of social rejection on value priorities: The mediating role of emotional reactions
View Emonet XII Paper Presentation “The impact of social rejection on value priorities: The mediating role of emotional reactions” by Amirzadeh, Ashkanasy, & Harati (2020) now.
Live Paper Discussion Session Time: Thursday, 9th July 2020, UTC 03:00
Zoom Meeting ID: 955 5875 9819
Authors:
Mahsa Amirzadeh, The University of Queensland, Australia
Neal M. Ashkanasy, The University of Queensland, Australia
Hamidreza Harati, The University of Queensland, Australia
Abstract:
Social rejection as a negative interpersonal experience leads to emotional, cognitive, and physiological outcomes. We propose that another possible outcome of social rejection for individuals is the formation of a new order of personal values. In particular, we propose that socially rejected individuals assign higher priority to values with a self-protective nature while giving less importance to self-expansive values (opposing values). In addition, we propose that emotional reactions mediate the relationship between the experience of social rejection and change in value priorities. We also articulate the mediating roles of emotional distress and emotional numbness as the two widely emotional outcomes of social rejection. We argue that emotional distress leads to a higher emphasis on self-protective values compared to self-expansive values because the former is grounded in uncomfortable feelings, while the latter reflects greater comfort with life. Emotional numbness also leads individuals toward assigning higher importance to self-protective values compared to self-expansive values; we argue that an emotionally numb state includes psychological characteristics that are compatible with the underlying motivations of self-protective values; this compatibility, in turn, leads to higher emphasize on self-protective values. We provide the theoretical and practical implications of workplace rejection for employees’ value priorities in organizational settings.
Contact:
Mahsa Amirzadeh, m.amirzadeh@business.uq.edu.au
Neal M. Ashkanasy, n.ashkanasy@uq.edu.au
Hamidreza Harati, h.harati@business.uq.edu.au