Abstract

Rejection sensitivity is a cognitive and affective disposition to defensively expect, perceive and overreact to signs of rejection by others. In the current study, we explored the associations of two subtypes of rejection sensitivity (anxious and angry) with indicators of relational wellbeing, namely, school connectedness and agentic engagement. Participants were Italian middle school students (N = 254; Females = 48%; Italians = 94%). Results of correlational and variance analyses showed that females are more vulnerable to anxious rejection sensitivity. Moreover, the same subtype reported higher mean values than the angry one and was negatively associated with student agentic engagement. Both subtypes were negatively correlated with school connectedness. In the conclusion, reflections on rejection sensitivity in the school context are advanced.