Undergraduate Research & Scholarships

Rhonda Armstrong Social Science

Who's at the Top?: the Effects of Rejection Resiliency on Power Attainment

It should not be surprising to hear that people respond to rejection in various ways. Additionally, there are several different pathways to achieving power, and people in powerful positions consistently have more adaptive responses to rejection. Rather than rejection resiliency being a product of power, Rhonda’s research seeks to show that it is actually a predictor of power attainment. By manipulating rejection resiliency, she intends to find differences across participants such that those who are primed with high rejection resiliency will achieve more power in a paired task than those primed with low rejection resiliency. This will inform power relations and provide an alternate pathway to power for minority groups, such that minorities can be taught resiliency skills to attain power at a similar rate as majority group members.

Profile image of Rhonda Armstrong
Major: Psychology & Social Welfare
Mentor: Mentor: Serena Chen, Psychology
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