The present study experimentally investigated the role of rejection sensitivity during adolescence and young adulthood on the ability of predicting the chance of receiving positive peer feedback....Show moreThe present study experimentally investigated the role of rejection sensitivity during adolescence and young adulthood on the ability of predicting the chance of receiving positive peer feedback. Previous studies examined trait characteristics, neural correlates and social learning of socially anxious individuals and found that rejection sensitivity has a negative impact on how one predicts and implements positive feedback. Participants (132 adults and 61 adolescents) took part in a social learning paradigm, wherein they had to predict whether four of their peers would like or dislike them based on certain personality characteristics. To see if learning biases are present, the scores of the participants were operationalized by calculating the Positive Prediction Discrepancy (PPD), the difference between the expected ratio of positive feedback and the actual probability of it. Unknown to the participants, the four peers differed in the probability of giving positive feedback. Results indicated that neither rejection sensitivity (RS) nor age significantly predicted PPD scores for peer 1, peer 3, and peer 4. However, RS exhibited a significant negative effect on PPD scores for peer 2, suggesting that higher RS was associated with lower predictions of positive feedback for this peer. Altogether, this study suggests that while rejection sensitivity did show a significant negative relationship with positive prediction discrepancy for peer 2, there was no significant impact observed for the other peers or with age across the different peer feedback anticipation discrepancies. This indicates a nuanced association between rejection sensitivity and the anticipation of positive feedback, particularly in specific peer contexts, rather than a generalized effect across all peers.Show less
Maladaptive perfectionism is characterized by high standards and the perception that own performance does not meet these expectations, the discrepancy in perfectionism. It is often accompanied by...Show moreMaladaptive perfectionism is characterized by high standards and the perception that own performance does not meet these expectations, the discrepancy in perfectionism. It is often accompanied by fear of negative evaluation and instable self-esteem. This study used a SELF- speech task and looked at the discrepancy trait of perfectionism specifically to examine how individuals with this trait update their feelings about the self, with the expectation that they would show a negativity bias. Additionally, it was hypothesized that these individuals would show differences in brain activity (mid-frontal theta oscillations) caused by negative feedback. Ninety-five participants, out of which fifty-two were in the high discrepancy group, gave a speech about themselves and received positive and negative feedback about their performance. Results of this study show that individuals learn differently from negative and positive feedback. More specifically, both groups showed a positivity bias indicating that they update their feelings about the self more after receiving positive than negative feedback. Differently than expected, the high discrepancy group did not show negativity bias and had learning rates similar to the low discrepancy group. This study also found that theta power activity was not correlated to the mismatch or valence of the feedback received after the task. Furthermore, no group differences in theta power activity were found. These findings indicate that the discrepancy between one’s expectations and self-perception is not related to a negativity bias or increased mid-frontal theta power oscillations. Future research should focus on other classifications of perfectionism to confirm these findings.Show less
