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Lonely hearts and angry minds: Online dating rejection increases male (but not female) hostility
Author(s) -
Andrighetto Luca,
Riva Paolo,
Gabbiadini Alessandro
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
aggressive behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.223
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 1098-2337
pISSN - 0096-140X
DOI - 10.1002/ab.21852
Subject(s) - hostility , psychology , romance , anger , feeling , context (archaeology) , social psychology , interpersonal communication , interpersonal relationship , developmental psychology , psychoanalysis , paleontology , biology
The present work explores the hostile tendencies elicited by romantic rejection in the increasingly common context of online dating. To empirically investigate this issue, we created an ad hoc online dating platform in which fictitious online dating partners romantically rejected heterosexual male and female participants. Results revealed that male—but not female—participants who were rejected by desired dating partners displayed increased hostility. This pattern of findings was consistent across different measures, which considered both aggressive tendencies against the rejecting partners and hostile attitudes against the opposite gender. Further, increased feelings of anger explained the relationship between online romantic rejection and increased male hostility. Our work and its findings have both theoretical and methodological implications for the understanding of interpersonal processes in online interactions and the growing body of literature on online dating.