Dealing with Romantic Rejection: The Effect of Implicit Theories and Self-Esteem on Rejection Narratives

Abstract

Effects of Dweck’s model of implicit self-theories on narratives of romantic rejection are investigated. Specifically, an entity theory of personality, or a view that personality cannot change, and an incremental theory of personality, or view that personality can change, were found to be both causally and correlationally associated with the manner in which participants narrated personal experiences of romantic rejection. Implicit theories of personality interacted with self-esteem in their effects on these narratives, as well as exhibited separate main effects. An experimental study showed that participants primed with an entity theory were more likely than participants primed with an incremental theory to exhibit defensive processing such as self-protection and to attribute their rejection to the person who rejected them. In addition, this experimental study showed that people with high self-esteem tended to narrate experiences of romantic rejection in a more emotionally positive manner than people with low self-esteem, with those primed with an incremental theory with high self-esteem showing more positive change in their narratives than most other participants. The correlational study showed that entity theorists with low self-esteem tended to exhibit less positive change in their narratives, and have a more helpless mindset towards future romantic endeavors than all other participants. Implications for future studies regarding the priming of implicit self-theories and the study of these theories in relational to narrative processing are discussed.