The Role of Friends in Adolescent Appearance-Based Rejection Sensitivity: An Exploration of Individual Perceptions of the Friendship Context, and Interactions Within Best Friend Dyads and Friendship Groups

Abstract

When we consider society’s fixation with physical attractiveness coupled with adolescent concerns about social acceptance, it seems inevitable that some young people develop a tendency to expect social rejection based on the way they look. This tendency has recently been referred to as appearance-based rejection sensitivity (appearance-RS; Park, 2007). Building upon the existing theory and research on rejection sensitivity and body dissatisfaction, and on two recent studies that examined the role of social relationships on appearance-RS (Bowker et al., 2012; Park, DiRaddo, & Calogero, 2009), the primary purpose of the studies reported here were to examine the specific and multiple roles of friends in appearance-RS. Following a review of the literature and the development of a modified version of the Appearance-RS Scale (Park, 2007) suitable for adolescents, the Adolescent Appearance-RS Scale (AA-RSS), two studies were conducted.