Â
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on September 29, 2010
We all know that the phrase heartbroken is reflective of a social rejection. New research suggests the phrase may also have some physiological truth as researchers determine social rejection does affect the heart.
Dutch researchers have determined social rejection isn’t just emotionally upsetting; it also makes your heart rate drop for a moment.
The report is published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.
Research has shown that the brain processes physical and social pain in some of the same regions. A team of Dutch researchers wanted to find out how social pain affects you physically.
For the study, volunteers were asked to send the researchers a photograph of themselves. They were told that for a study on first impressions, students at another university would look at the photo to decide whether they liked the volunteer.
This was just a cover story for the real experiment.
Read in Full:Â http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/09/29/social-rejection-literally-affects-the-heart/18895.html