Social Rejection

Social rejection occurs when a person is deliberately or accidentally excluded from a social relationship or interaction, and it covers interpersonal or peer rejection, romantic rejection and familial estrangement alike, whether inflicted by an individual or by an entire group. Rejection can be active, through bullying, teasing or ridicule, or passive, through being ignored or given the silent treatment, and the experience of being rejected is subjective, so a person can perceive it even where it is not actually present. Some level of rejection is an ordinary part of social life, but it becomes a problem when it is prolonged, involves an important relationship, or targets someone especially sensitive to it, and rejection by an entire group carries especially negative effects, particularly when it produces social isolation; documented consequences include loneliness, low self-esteem, aggression, depression and heightened sensitivity to future rejection. The everyday word ostracism is also commonly used for this same pattern of social exclusion, distinct from the unrelated ancient Athenian political procedure of the same name.