Why do(n’t) you like me? The role of social approach and avoidance motives in attributions following social acceptance and rejection

Abstract

The present research aimed to answer the question of why people differ in their way of attributing experienced social acceptance and rejection. Using a motivational approach, two scenario studies

Individual Differences in Habitual Social Goals and Daily Well–Being: The Role of Age and Relationship Closeness

“…Whereas levels of approach goals were positive predictors of daily subjective well‐being and satisfaction with daily social encounters, levels of social avoidance goals were significantly negatively correlated with daily subjective health. These results are in line with the notion that approach and avoidance goals work through different processes: Approach goals enhance the exposure to positive social events, whereas avoidance goals enhance the reactivity to negative social events (Gable, ; Nikitin et al, ; Schoch et al, ). Positive social events might make people happier and more satisfied but might not be highly relevant for people's health (Uchino et al, ).…”

“…Although approach and avoidance goals are often positively correlated (Elliot et al, 2006;Impett et al, 2010;Nikitin & Freund, 2018), they predict different outcomes (e.g. Impett, Gable, & Peplau, 2005;Schoch et al, 2015;Updegraff, Gable, & Taylor, 2004) through different mechanisms (e.g. Gable & Poore, 2008;Nikitin & Freund, 2011, 2015aSchoch et al, 2015).…”

“…However, there are substantial individual differences in the orientation of social goals towards approaching positive outcomes or avoiding negative outcomes (Boyatzis, ; Mehrabian & Ksionzky, ). Social approach goals are mainly associated with positive (individual and interpersonal) outcomes due to the exposure to positive social events (Gable, ; Nikitin, Burgermeister, & Freund, ), preferential processing of positive social information (Strachman & Gable, ), and self‐serving attributions of positive social experiences (Schoch, Nikitin, & Freund, ). In contrast, social avoidance goals are mainly associated with negative outcomes due to a higher reactivity to negative social events (Gable, ; Nikitin et al, ), preferential processing of negative social information (Nikitin & Freund, ; Strachman & Gable, ), self‐defeating attributions of negative social experiences (Schoch et al, ), and behavioural inhibition (Nikitin & Freund, ; for summaries, see Gable & Berkman, ; Nikitin & Schoch, ).…”

The Motivational Power of the Happy Face

“…Our hypothesis was that the higher the habitual social approach motivation is, the faster are approach reactions to happy faces. As habitual approach motivation regulates responses to positive but not to negative social information (e.g., [54]), we did not expect habitual approach motivation to be associated with reaction times to angry faces.…”

Understanding the attraction process

“…After receiving a cue to rejection, greater expression of affiliative behavior should result when the other person is seen as willing to uphold their side of a social exchange and has something the person wants (i.e., appraisals of high willingness and high ability). This may result commonly when environmental/situational processes are attributed as the cause of the rejection (i.e., “I know they want to be with me, but their job is just so time consuming”; Schoch, Nikitin, & Freund, ).…”