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Seventh & Eighth Grade
LESSON
Nine
Rejection and Social Pain
60 min
This lesson is currently under review with Nest Educational Advisors. Please check back later for updates.
This lesson aims to enhance students' understanding of how rejection affects physical, emotional and behavioral responses and to empower them with strategies to manage these feelings constructively. Students explore how the brain reacts to rejection and social pain. The lesson examines the three common behavioral responses to rejection: prosocial, asocial, and antisocial behaviors. Students learn how practicing resilience can protect their sense of significance, and how to respond to rejection in non-violent, healthy ways. By applying resilience habits to real-life scenarios and using critical thinking to examine potential outcomes, students will learn practical ways to cope with rejection.
Materials
Handouts
quicklinks
how to prepare for this lesson
At the start of class, teachers should have the following prepared:
- Teacher should have groups predetermined to save time.
- Students should have journals out
- Print out copies of 7.9 Rejection Scenarios Handout for each student
Additional Resources
Sources
- Eisenberger, N. I., & Lieberman, M. D. (2004). Why rejection hurts: A common neural alarm system for physical and social pain. Trends in Cognitive Sciences.
- Chen, Z., Williams, K. D., Fitness, J., & Newton, N. C. (2008). When hurt will not heal: Exploring the capacity to relive social and physical pain. Psychological Science.
- KidsHealth. (n.d.). Rejection. Nemours Foundation.
- Wesselmann, E. D., Nairne, J. S., & Williams, K. D. (2012). When does rejection trigger aggression? A multimotive model. Psychological Science