The Effect of Rejection Resiliency Education on University Students’ Experiences of Sexual Rejection

Abstract

Sexual and romantic rejection have been shown to have clear connections to increased aggressive and manipulative responses, including physical and sexual assault. Sexual education programs have attempted to target this through evidence-based consent education curriculum; however, to date, no research has been done on the efficacy of education directly targeting rejection resiliency. The current study aimed to create a rejection resiliency program to decrease negative reactions to sexual rejection. Participants (N = 114) were university students assigned to receive either rejection resiliency education or a program on transitioning to university. Participants in both conditions completed a survey before the education session, immediately after, and three months after. Prior to the education, participants who reported more aggression, manipulation, and sexism also reported poor reactions to rejection, which is consistent with past research. Participants in the rejection resiliency condition reported feeling better able to handle rejection and more comfortable saying no to a sexual advance immediately after completing training. Contrary to expectations, participants who received the rejection resiliency training did not report significantly lower responses of aggression and manipulation compared to their initial responses nor the control group. Qualitative responses did support the importance of fostering open discussion about reacting to rejection and implied that more research should be done on effective education programming. Quantitatively assessing behaviour change in rejection resiliency may be challenging to do since many of the behaviours may be affected by social desirability bias. Participants may be reluctant to report their negative behaviours.