Berkeley, Calif. -- University of California at Berkeley researchers suggest rejection may trigger a primal feeling of threat in people with low self-esteem.
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The study, published in Psychological Science, also suggests those with low self-esteem who scored higher for attention control -- the ability to concentrate or focus -- are able to tone down their knee-jerk reactions to perceived threats.
"The potency with which rejection activates the threat system in people with low self-esteem suggests that fear of rejection runs extremely deep in low self-esteem people," study co-author Anett Gyurak, says in a statement.
Questionnaires determining either low or normal to high self-esteem as well as the ability to focus without distraction were completed by 38 females and 29 males. The study participants viewed emotionally charged paintings and had their "fight or flight" responses were measured.
Ayduk concludes the results show how maladjustment, such as low self-esteem, is determined on many levels, and that having a vulnerability factor such as low self-esteem can be overcome by the ability to control attention, opening the possibility for interventions in populations at risk for mental health problems.
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