Appearance-based Rejection Sensitivity

Appearance-based Rejection Sensitivity (Appearance-RS) reflects a personality processing system characterized by anxious concerns and expectations about being rejected based on one’s physical attractiveness (Park, 2007). People differ in their sensitivity to rejection based on appearance with unique consequences for mental and physical health, affect, and feelings of belonging. Specifically, Appearance-RS predicts increased symptoms of eating disorders and the tendency to make appearance-based comparisons with others. People high in Appearance-RS who are reminded of a negative aspect of their appearance also report feeling more lonely and rejected than those low in Appearance-RS. These effects, however, can be attenuated by having people self-affirm (think about their greatest strength) or be reminded of a close, caring relationship partner.

Current research in the lab examines how being rejected by others based on appearance affects subsequent motivational orientation and behavioral coping strategies. We are also exploring the social factors that contribute to Appearance-RS, including parental, peer, and media influences. Future studies will examine the daily experiences of people with high versus low Appearance-RS to examine the antecedents and consequences of experiencing threats to appearance over time.

Appearance-RS Scale (15 scenario version)

Short Appearance-RS Scale (10 scenario version)

Contingencies of Self-worth and Self-threats

Contingencies of self-worth reflect the specific domains on which people base their self-esteem (Crocker & Wolfe, 2001). Research has shown that the pursuit of self-esteem in domains on which people stake their self-worth have important consequences for self-feelings, motivation, interpersonal relationship processes, and mental and physical health (Crocker & Park, 2003; Crocker, Lee, & Park, 2004; Crocker & Park, 2004a, 2004b; Park, Crocker, & Mickelson, 2004; Park & Crocker, 2004; Park, Crocker, & Vohs, 2006). Our current research examines how threats to domains of contingent self-worth affect people’s motivations and interpersonal outcomes as a function of having high self-esteem (HSE) versus low self-esteem (LSE).

In past research, Park and Crocker (2004) found that HSE people who based self-worth on competence and received a threat to this domain became less supportive toward another person’s personal problem and were less liked as a result. LSE, academically contingent people tended to show the reverse, becoming more supportive and likeable toward others following an academic threat.

In recent work, we found that LSE people who based their self-worth on academic competence and experienced failure reported lower state self-esteem, less positive affect, and showed less desire to want to appear competent to others. LSE, academically contingent people also showed a greater tendency to associate themselves with failure on an implicit, automatic level than did HSE people, or those whose self-worth was less contingent on academic competence. HSE, academically contingent people were not as negatively affected by failure as LSE, academically contingent people and instead, wanted to appear competent to others regardless of failure (Park, Crocker, & Kiefer, 2007). These findings suggest that HSE and LSE people processed academic failure in different ways, with the key distinguishing variable being how much they initially staked their self-worth on academic competence.

In another study, we examined the domain of Others’ Approval and found that following an instance of interpersonal rejection based on one’s likeability, participants who based their self-worth on others’ approval showed significant drops in their state self-esteem and mood, compared to those who were not rejected or whose self-worth was not contingent on what others thought of them. Following rejection, LSE, approval contingent people showed less desire to appear warm/caring/kind to others, but showed greater desire to appear physically attractive/good-looking/physically fit to others. HSE, approval contingent participants showed greater desire to appear warm/caring/kind to others following rejection, suggesting that HSE and LSE people adopt different self-presentation goals following a threat to the domain of others’ approval (Park & Crocker, 2008).

Current research is examining how threats to physical appearance affect motivation and behavioral preferences for activities among people with HSE versus. Specifically, we are examining how threats to appearance influence the self-presentational goals and interpersonal motivations of HSE and LSE people who base their self-worth on their appearance (Park & Maner, revising for invited resubmission).

Motivations underlying Behaviors

For any given attitude or behavior, it is important to examine the motivation underlying the behavior, as different motivations may lead to different outcomes. Current research in our lab is examining how different types of motivation affect psychological well-being and interpersonal outcomes. Specifically, we are examining how different motivations underlying a communal relationship orientation affect intrapersonal and interpersonal outcomes (Park, Troisi, & Maner, under review). In addition, we are examining how materialistic values relate to feelings of insecurity versus security, with implications for mental and physical health and close relationship outcomes.