Ozlem Ayduk

Regulating the Interpersonal Self: Strategic Self-Regulation for Coping With Rejection Sensitivity

People high in rejection sensitivity (RS) anxiously expect rejection and are at risk for interpersonal and personal distress. Two studies examined the role of self-regulation through strategic attention deployment in moderating the link between RS and maladaptive outcomes. Self-regulation was assessed by the delay of gratification (DG) paradigm in childhood. In Study 1, preschoolers from the Stanford University community who participated in the DG paradigm were assessed 20 years later. Study 2 assessed low-income, minority middle school children on comparable measures. DG ability buffered high-RS people from interpersonal difficulties (aggression, peer rejection) and diminished well-being (e.g., low self-worth, higher drug use). The protective effect of DG ability on high-RS childrens self-worth is explained by reduced interpersonal problems. Attentional mechanisms underlying the interaction between RS and strategic self-regulation are discussed.

When Asking “Why” Does Not Hurt Distinguishing Rumination From Reflective Processing of Negative Emotions

Two experiments examined the psychological operations that enable individuals to process negative emotions and experiences without increasing negative affect. In Study 1, type of self-perspective (self-immersed vs. self-distanced) and type of emotional focus (what vs. why) were experimentally manipulated following the recall of an anger-eliciting interpersonal experience. A why focus on emotions from a self-distanced perspective (distanced-why strategy) was expected to enable “cool,” reflective processing of emotions, in which individuals can focus on their experience without reactivating excessive “hot” negative affect. Findings were consistent with this hypothesis. Study 2 replicated these findings and furthermore demonstrated that (a) the degree to which individuals construe their recalled experience in abstract versus concrete terms mediates the effect of the distanced-why strategy and (b) the status of the recalled experience (resolved vs. unresolved) does not moderate the effectiveness of the distanced-why strategy. These findings help disentangle the mechanisms that may allow adaptive working through from those that lead to rumination.

Facilitating Adaptive Emotional Analysis: Distinguishing Distanced-Analysis of Depressive Experiences From Immersed-Analysis and Distraction

Two studies examined the psychological processes that facilitate adaptive emotional analysis. In Study 1, participants recalled a depression experience and then analyzed their feelings from either a self-immersed (immersed-analysis) or self-distanced (distanced-analysis) perspective. Participants in the distanced-analysis group focused less on recounting their experience and more on reconstruing it, which in turn led to lower levels of depressed affect. Furthermore, comparisons to a distraction group indicated that distanced-analysis was as effective as distraction in reducing depressed affect relative to the immersed-analysis group. Study 2 replicated these findings and showed that both 1 day and 7 days after the experimental manipulations, participants in the distanced-analysis group remained buffered against depressed affect and reported experiencing fewer recurring thoughts about their depression experience over time compared to both the immersed-analysis and distraction groups.

Rejection Sensitivity and Depressive Symptoms in Women

It is proposed that interpersonal loss that communicates rejection increases the risk for depression specifically in individuals who not only expect rejection but are also concerned about preventing it. Accordingly, the role of rejection sensitivity (RS)—the disposition to anxiously expect, readily perceive, and overreact to rejection—in women’s depressive reactions to rejection by a romantic partner was examined. A 6-month longitudinal study of college women revealed that women high in RS compared with those who are low became more depressed when they experienced a partner-initiated breakup but not when they experienced a self-initiated or mutually initiated breakup. By contrast, RS was not associated with increased depression in response to failing to achieve an academic goal. These results support the view that depression in high-RS women is a reaction to a loss in a valued goal domain, that is, failure to prevent rejection in an important relationship.

From a distance: implications of spontaneous self-distancing for adaptive self-reflection.

Although recent experimental work indicates that self-distancing facilitates adaptive self-reflection, it remains unclear (a) whether spontaneous self-distancing leads to similar adaptive outcomes, (b) how spontaneous self-distancing relates to avoidance, and (c) how this strategy impacts interpersonal behavior. Three studies examined these issues demonstrating that the more participants spontaneously self-distanced while reflecting on negative memories, the less emotional (Studies 1-3) and cardiovascular (Study 2) reactivity they displayed in the short term. Spontaneous self-distancing was also associated with lower emotional reactivity and intrusive ideation over time (Study 1). The negative association between spontaneous self-distancing and emotional reactivity was mediated by how participants construed their experience (i.e., less recounting relative to reconstruing) rather than avoidance (Studies 1-2). In addition, spontaneous self-distancing was associated with more problem-solving behavior and less reciprocation of negativity during conflicts among couples in ongoing relationships (Study 3). Although spontaneous self-distancing was empirically related to trait rumination, it explained unique variance in predicting key outcomes.

Rejection Sensitivity and the Defensive Motivational System: Insights From the Startle Response to Rejection Cues

Rejection sensitivity (RS) is the disposition to anxiously expect, readily perceive, and intensely react to rejection. This study used the startle probe paradigm to test whether the affect-based defensive motivational system is automatically activated by rejection cues in people who are high in RS. Stimuli were representational paintings depicting rejection (by Hopper) and acceptance (by Renoir), as well as nonrepresentational paintings of either negative or positive valence (by Rothko and Miro, respectively). Eyeblink startle magnitude was potentiated in people high in RS when they viewed rejection themes, compared with when they viewed nonrepresentational negative themes. Startle magnitude was not attenuated during viewing of acceptance themes in comparison with nonrepresentational positive themes. Overall, the results provide evidence that for people high in RS, rejection cues automatically activate the defensive motivational system, but acceptance cues do not automatically activate the appetitive motivational system.

Making Meaning out of Negative Experiences by Self-Distancing

Both common wisdom and findings from multiple areas of research suggest that it is helpful to understand and make meaning out of negative experiences. However, people’s attempts to do so often backfire, leading them to ruminate and feel worse. Here we attempt to shed light on these seemingly contradictory sets of findings by examining the role that self-distancing plays in facilitating adaptive self-reflection. We begin by briefly describing the “self-reflection paradox.” We then define self-distancing, present evidence from multiple levels of analysis that illustrate how this process facilitates adaptive self-reflection, and discuss the basic science and practical implications of this research.

Enhancing the Pace of Recovery Self-Distanced Analysis of Negative Experiences Reduces Blood Pressure Reactivity

Recent work suggests that rumination plays a key role in mediating the relationship between stress and cardiovascular disease (Brosschot, Gerin, & Thayer, 2006). People engage in rumination because they believe that understanding their feelings will improve their mood. However, these attempts often backfire, instead maintaining negative affect (Nolen-Hoeksema, 1991) and delaying physiological recovery from negative events (Glynn, Christenfeld, & Gerin, 2002)—a key risk factor for cardiovascular disease (McEwen, 1998). At first glance, these findings suggest that people should avoid focusing on their negative feelings. However, this prescription contradicts an alternative literature indicating that emotional processing facilitates coping (e.g., Pennebaker & Chung, 2007). Thus, a key question emerges: How can people analyze negative experiences without enhancing their vulnerability to cardiovascular disease? According to a recent proposal (Kross, Ayduk, & Mischel, 2005), whether people’s attempts to understand their negative feelings are adaptive depends on the type of self-perspective they adopt. Research results supported the prediction that analyzing feelings surrounding a negative experience from a selfdistanced perspective (from an observer’s vantage point) leads people to display lower levels of negative affect and rumination than does analyzing such feelings from a self-immersed perspective (from one’s own vantage point; Kross et al., 2005; also see Kross & Ayduk, in press). The current study extends these findings to cardiovascular reactivity. We predicted that participants who adopted a selfdistanced perspective, compared with those who adopted a selfimmersed perspective, would demonstrate smaller increases in blood pressure reactivity both when analyzing their feelings during the experiment and during a recovery period after the experiment was over. METHOD

Rejection sensitivity and the rejection-hostility link in romantic relationships.

Rejection sensitivity is the disposition to anxiously expect, readily perceive, and intensely react to rejection. In response to perceived social exclusion, highly rejection sensitive people react with increased hostile feelings toward others and are more likely to show reactive aggression than less rejection sensitive people in the same situation. This paper summarizes work on rejection sensitivity that has provided evidence for the link between anxious expectations of rejection and hostility after rejection. We review evidence that rejection sensitivity functions as a defensive motivational system. Thus, we link rejection sensitivity to attentional and perceptual processes that underlie the processing of social information. A range of experimental and diary studies shows that perceiving rejection triggers hostility and aggressive behavior in rejection sensitive people. We review studies that show that this hostility and reactive aggression can perpetuate a vicious cycle by eliciting rejection from those who rejection sensitive people value most. Finally, we summarize recent work suggesting that this cycle can be interrupted with generalized self-regulatory skills and the experience of positive, supportive relationships.

Enhancing the Pace of Recovery

Recent work suggests that rumination plays a key role in mediating the relationship between stress and cardiovascular disease (Brosschot, Gerin, & Thayer, 2006). People engage in rumination because they believe that understanding their feelings will improve their mood. However, these attempts often backfire, instead maintaining negative affect (Nolen-Hoeksema, 1991) and delaying physiological recovery from negative events (Glynn, Christenfeld, & Gerin, 2002)—a key risk factor for cardiovascular disease (McEwen, 1998). At first glance, these findings suggest that people should avoid focusing on their negative feelings. However, this prescription contradicts an alternative literature indicating that emotional processing facilitates coping (e.g., Pennebaker & Chung, 2007). Thus, a key question emerges: How can people analyze negative experiences without enhancing their vulnerability to cardiovascular disease? According to a recent proposal (Kross, Ayduk, & Mischel, 2005), whether people’s attempts to understand their negative feelings are adaptive depends on the type of self-perspective they adopt. Research results supported the prediction that analyzing feelings surrounding a negative experience from a selfdistanced perspective (from an observer’s vantage point) leads people to display lower levels of negative affect and rumination than does analyzing such feelings from a self-immersed perspective (from one’s own vantage point; Kross et al., 2005; also see Kross & Ayduk, in press). The current study extends these findings to cardiovascular reactivity. We predicted that participants who adopted a selfdistanced perspective, compared with those who adopted a selfimmersed perspective, would demonstrate smaller increases in blood pressure reactivity both when analyzing their feelings during the experiment and during a recovery period after the experiment was over. METHOD