Rejection Sensitivity Questionnaire (RSQ)

Let’s take a break from the reading today for a bit of interactive fun! I’ve been talking a lot about rejection sensitivity this past week or so. I’ve presented much confirming evidence that people with Borderline Personality Disorder tend to be more prone to rejection sensitivity then usual. I don’t know about you, but  that makes me wonder just where I would fall on that scale. Fortunately the Rejection Sensitivity Questionnaire (RSQ) was developed to do just that. (I keep trying to link to the direct source and cite the research but the site is down for maintenance so I’ll have to come back and do that later).

The questionnaire developed by Downey and Feldman is a two dimensional assessment of 1. The degree of anxiety or concern about the outcome of a proposed situation, and 2. The expectations of acceptance or rejection. 

To answer the (Adult Version) Rejection Sensitivity Questionnaire click HERE. You don’t have to sign in or anything, fill in the dots and get your results.

I’m not sure how high the scoring goes but this was my result. I answered with a mix of how I used to feel and how I currently feel and still got:

Your score is: 22    (Man I wonder what it would have been a couple years ago?)

You have very high rejection sensitivity. You tend to have greater concerns about social rejection than most people. You tend to worry excessively about social interactions and what others might think of you. You tend to fear, and expect, rejection and disapproval by others. This often leads to misinterpretation of social cues and problems interacting with others due to the misinterpretation. In addition, you may tend to have extreme anxiety in social situations and tendency to avoid many situations due to discomfort or suffer through the situations with high levels of anxiety. If the anxiety and avoidance interferes significantly in your life it is possible that you may have Social Anxiety Disorder and it may be helpful to you to seek therapeutic advice to reduce anxiety and change some of the irrational thoughts related to social interactions and disapproval. 

Ta da! Pretty much what I expected. Though much better than what it would have been years ago, and I am able to recover much quicker now with much less fall out. How about you? What do you get?

** There’s also a young adult version that you can take HERE.

I took this one too and tried to remember how anxious I would have been in college. I got a 25 on this one. Some things were tough though because they were things I wouldn’t bother to do and some things I just don’t care about. I tend to be much more anxious when it comes to romantic relationships than platonic friendships. I’m more anxious about teachers/employers than I am about my parents.