Do men and women handle rejection differently?

Question

Please elaborate.

Answer 1

I think everyone handles rejection the same way, because we are all human. Some of us simply know better ways to deal with the 'aftertaste' of it. I do not think it has anything at all to do with gender. However, self esteem is another story.

Edit: I was under impression that we were discussing strictly emotionally stable individuals?.. People with murderous tendencies do not fit in that category.

Answer 2

I suspect they do handle it differently. As men are usually the ones, who do the asking, and have to do it more often, they also are rejected more often as well. And some, often go after, girls, who are as they say, out of their league, and would often be very surprised, if the girl said yes. But if you don't ask you don't get. Where women, ask guys out rarely, they take it more personally, it's they who are being rejected. Where guys, just figure, the women, who reject them, just don't know a good thing when they see it. So, they don't see themselves as a victim, but the woman, as a prude, or Bi*tch, etc. Too snotty nose to go out with them, There is always some excuse they have in their minds, why they were rejected. Whereas the woman, just sees her rejection as her fault, she's just not pretty enough, or smart enough or not skinny or whatever enough. So it's harder for them to handle rejections.

Answer 3

I think that it is an individual experience rather than gender-related, and also depends on the particular situation...there's a big difference between being rejected by someone you like then by someone you love.

This is not a general view at all, but from my experience, I have seen that men have a more difficult time with rejection when they love, and women when they like, which is odd, considering we ladies are more emotional beings, but perhaps it has something to do with the dominant instinct in most male species.

Answer 4

I think becuase traditionaly male are the pursuers in a relationship . They get the door slammed in there face a lot .That can either toughen them up or make them real fragile .

Females may feel it more intensley than a male would becuase they are usaly not the pursuers .They also do not have to face as much rejection becuase a lot of guys are pursuing them .

There are individual differences though . A female telemarketer could probably scoff rejection rather easily .
A beauty queeen could either be immune to the negative effects of rejection or be shocked that they have been rejected .

A male may suffer from more chronic symptoms of rejection . While each individual rejection may not be devastating over the long term it could hamper his confidence .

Also if a man projects confiendence he might know there are other fishes in the sea .

I think all emn and all women go through phases like this at one point in time . Somtimes were weaker , sometimes were stronger .

To sum up women have more a challenge accutely dealing with rejection while man have more a chronic challenge when dealing with rejection .

Thats what have a good circle of friends and family is for .

Answer 5

Yes.I'm a corporate executive.45% of my company's quotes are accepted.That means that 55% of our quotes are rejected.To me it's no big deal,I know we have a fair price and provide a product that is the benchmark for the industry.
On a personal level:I ask a lady out and she says "no".Again ,no big deal,I know I am a good person and have an honest and moral character.While she may have said "no" it was not a rejection of the man I truely am.
I beleive that men and women handle rejection in a different manner because we are "wired" differently.Base emotions for a man will accept rejection and failure more readilly:eons ago when we were hunters and gathers,our efforts were rewarded with failure more often that sucess.The womens role eons ago were more often than not rewarded with sucess:they were the child bearer and family care giver.So when you look at the question on a primal emotional level,you should see the difference.

Answer 6

Are you speaking of rejection in the sense of just going up to a random person and him/her not being interested?

I think it really depends on the individual and the situation. I'm sure a person's reaction will be much different if someone is very mean about rejecting them than if the rejector says something like "I'm sorry, but I have a boyfriend."

I think typically men handle it a little better. They are the ones who normally open conversation with a girl, and therefore, they assume most of the risk. As such, they probably have gotten shot down, or got the "i'm not interested" vibes more often. I think it makes them a little better at reading those situations, so they know when to cut their losses, and they probably don't get upset as much.

A friend of mine will literally go up and talk to 30-40 girls in any given night, getting shot down 29-39 times. He just picks right up, could care less, and he tries the next one. Kind of sad, kind of funny, but I guess it can be a good attitude to have - he goes at it like he has nothing to lose.

Personally, I don't have that attitude (haha incidentally I also have standards), but I guess I don't really get rejected often either, and if I do, normally it's a "I have a boyfriend" kind of deal. I guess the way you approach girls has a lot to do with the way they would reject you, so if you're respectful and nice in your approach, girls will at least let you down easy haha.

Answer 7

My husband can't handle rejection and I have worked with several young guys who have a hard time with it! I think it bruises the ego a little! I think the younger they are the more they let it show and as they get older they fall into the category of the first person mentioned (they tend to shrug it off)

I think most women see rejection as a way to prove themselves (not all women) but it makes them try harder to get a person that clearly doesn't want anything to do with them to notice them! and it sends some into an emotional frenzy they are depressed, angry, glad, sad, hungry. LOL I think everyone has a way of handling these situations and some people can naturally handle them better

Answer 8

Both men and women can handle rejection poorly. But based on my own experiences and observations, it appears that men handle it worse only when they are persistent and take it personally.

I've never asked a guy out but I know some girls who have. Only two guys declined their invitation, but that's because they were either gay or in a relationship already. The girls just brushed it off and went to find another guy. They say it's not that big of a deal.

I myself have rejected many men and have gotten better at it, for I've gotten used to guys hitting on me at work, college, or social events. I often get guys asking for my number. If I don't want to give it to them but the guy seems nice and not cocky, I usually let them down easily. Most of the time, they’re cool about it. But many often question me about it and ask me why not. I just tell them I’m very busy at this time or, if that doesn't work and they still persist, I just tell them it's against my religion or that I already have a bf. That usually does the trick.

Some guys however are quite persistent and often continue to flirt. Like this one guy that I met at a cousin's dinner party, kept smiling and telling me "come on, there's no good reason why we shouldn't go out ...I promise you will love it...please say yes...we will have a great time" and so on. He went on and on and the entire time I'm trying to come up with excuses to leave. It felt like forever. But was thankfully saved by my cousin. Some guys are persistent by sending me flowers, thinking that I would change my mind. Sometimes guys take the rejection personally. I've seen guys who get angry and take offense. Some are even aggressive. For example, one guy couldn't take no for an answer. He would stalk me and follow me around and question me every time he saw a guy talking to me. To make a long story short, he stopped eventually after I threatened to get the police involved. This of course is an extreme case.

So overall I believe guys handle rejection poorly if they take it personally, but this is again based entirely on my own experiences. I've actually been told that I'm "too nice," but I just try not to hurt their feelings. Anyway, these are my anecdotes. I'm sure that there are some girls who handle rejection poorly as well. I just haven't observe it happen so I can't tell you about it.

I hope this answered your question.

Answer 9

I don't think it has anything to do with gender. I know some men who punch wells when they feel rejected, and I know some men who become really quiet and withdrawn. I know some women are bawl their eyes out, and some women who become enraged. It all has to do with the individual. My fiance (who is a male) and I handle rejection the same way in that we both become really withdrawn and quiet.

Answer 10

There is a saying that women fall in love faster, and men fall in love harder. That said, I think that if a woman has fallen in love, she will take it hard if she is rejected (no surprise there).

However, I think if a woman dumps a man after he has fallen for her, he will take it harder than he may let on. A lot of men I know will hide their feelings, good and bad, and will not let on to the woman that he is having trouble with getting rejected.

EDIT: Kendrick, baby -- Well, I got the saying from you. You were right with the comment. There, Lycra Spandex -- a feminist agreeing with a man.

Kendick -- I miss your picture Avatars.