 19. Cognitive–Affective Processes in Rejection Sensitivity  415
is the case with most people when looking 
at gory pictures or watching a scary movie, 
for example, the magnitude of their naturally 
occurring startle response to a loud noise is 
potentiated (i.e., larger eyeblink response) 
reflecting strengthening of defensive action 
tendencies. In contrast, if they are happy or 
excited, because they are looking at cute baby 
pictures or watching a comedy, their startle 
reflex to the same burst of loud noise gets at -
tenuated, reflecting inhibition of defensive 
action tendencies. Thus, the magnitude of the 
startle response to a particular stimulus in 
the environment is interpreted as a readout of 
the degree to which that stimulus activates or 
inhibits physiological mechanisms that pre -
pare the organism for self-  defense.
In the context of RS-  personal, the startle 
paradigm was used with high-RS individu -
als to examine whether physiological mecha -
nisms that reflect activation of anxious rejec -
tion expectations are triggered by situational 
cues uniquely relevant to rejection (vs. nega -
tive but rejection-  irrelevant cues). The hy -
pothesis was that if anxious expectations of 
rejection are activated uniquely by rejection, 
not by any negative stimulus, then high-RS 
individuals should show greater potentiation 
of their startle reflex while viewing pictorial 
stimuli depicting rejection themes (e.g., lone -
liness) but not while viewing stimuli depict -
ing just negativity (e.g., gloomy colors).
Consistent with these hypothesis, Downey 
and colleagues (2004) showed that high-RS 
people startled more strongly than low-RS 
individuals while viewing artwork depicting 
rejection, social isolation, or interpersonal 
alienation, but not while viewing nonrepre -
sentational artwork that elicits general nega -
tive affect. Overall, these findings provide 
evidence that psychological features of situ -
ations that communicate rejection constitute 
the specific ifs of the high RS-  personal dy -
namic.
Activation Network of CAUs in the RS Dynamics
Once the high-RS dynamic is triggered (i.e., 
anxious rejection expectations are activat -
ed), it is hypothesized to lead high-RS peo -
ple to try to prevent rejection while also in -
creasing their likelihood of perceiving such 
rejection. Perceived rejection, in turn, elicits 
intense reactions to defend the self. Thus, 
the key activation links in the system include anxious expectations triggering prevention 
efforts, as well as perceptions of rejection, 
and perceived rejection triggering affective 
and behavioral overreactions. We elaborate 
on each component below.
Anxious Expectations → Perceptions of  Rejection
Extensive evidence from animal and neu -
robiological studies provide insight into 
the processes that are activated by anticipa -
tion of rejection. The anticipation of threat 
orients the individual toward threat cues, 
privileging schema-  driven, top-down inter -
pretations of their meaning (Davis, 1992; 
Öhman, Flykt, & Esteves, 2001). As such, 
for high-RS individuals, rejection-  relevant 
contexts increase their readiness to detect 
and interpret environmental cues in line 
with their prior rejection expectations.
There is strong empirical support for this 
hypothesized link between anxious rejec -
tion expectations and perceptions/attribu -
tions of rejection among high-RS individu -
als. For example, high-RS people tend to 
attribute more intentional rejection to their 
romantic partners’ cold or aloof behavior 
(Downey & Feldman, 1996, Study 3). In a 
laboratory setting, Downey and Feldman 
(1996, Study 2) found that high-RS partici -
pants were more likely than low-RS partici -
pants to perceive rejection when an interac -
tion partner left the study following a brief 
introduction, even when alternative expla -
nations (e.g., lack of time) existed. Another 
study revealed that high-RS people were 
more likely to detect cues of anger, but not 
other emotions, in faces that were emotion -
ally blended, demonstrating their readiness 
to perceive rejection-  related stimuli in the 
environment (Olsson, Carmona, Downey, 
& Ochsner, 2008).
Anxious Expectations → Prevention  Efforts
The defensive motivational system similarly 
motivates coordinated efforts to prevent or 
avoid rejection. For example, high-RS people 
are more likely to report suppressing their 
thoughts and emotions that may threaten 
their ongoing relationships, and this is par -
ticularly true among high-RS individuals 
who are also particularly concerned about 
preventing negative outcomes (Ayduk, May, 
Downey, & Higgins, 2003). High-RS ado -