Paradoxale agressieve reacties op afwijzing door leeftijdsgenoten: de verklarende rol van het toekennen van vijandige intenties

People are strongly motivated to feel accepted by others. Yet, when faced with peer rejection they often aggress against the peers they desire acceptance from, which may lead to further rejection. This experiment tests three potential mediators of aggressive responses to acute peer rejection in early adolescence. Participants (N=185, Mage=11.5 years) completed personal profiles that were allegedly evaluated online by peers. After receiving negative or neutral feedback, participants could aggress against the peers who had evaluated them. Rejected participants attributed more hostile intent to the peers, were angrier, showed a greater reduction in self-esteem, and were more aggressive. Results showed that only hostile intent attributions mediated the acute peer rejection-aggression relationship. Thus, acute peer rejection evokes hostile intent attributions that lead to aggressive reactions.