The Dynamics of Rejecting Compliments in Relation to Social Anxiety and Loneliness: A Review Analysis

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-551-5_107How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Praise behavior; Social anxiety; Interpersonal relationship; Social interaction; Positive Psychology

Abstract

In interpersonal communication and social interactions, the act of praise plays a significant role. It not only maintains relationships, but also enhances the motivation and performance of the recipient. The existing research lacks systematic exploration of the psychological and social interactive effects triggered by the cessation of praise, which leaves a critical gap that urgently requires addressing. To against this backdrop, this study adopts a literature review method to delve into the mechanisms and underlying tensions through which the cessation of praise influences individuals’ social anxiety and loneliness. This paper hypothesizes that discontinuing praise may reduce anxiety levels by alleviating social pressure and enhance self-satisfaction in the short term. In the long run, however, the absence of such behavior may weaken interpersonal bonds, thereby exacerbating feelings of loneliness. This hypothesis awaits further empirical validation in subsequent research. This study holds both theoretical and practical significance. Theoretically, it addresses a gap in praise behavior research and advances social interaction theory. Practically, it provides insights for mental health interventions, such as managing social anxiety, social phobia, and interpersonal relationship maintenance, especially for individuals navigating cross-cultural differences in praise norms or experiencing social burnout.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Yujing Lin
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/03/26
TI  - The Dynamics of Rejecting Compliments in Relation to Social Anxiety and Loneliness: A Review Analysis
BT  - Proceeding of 2025 8th International Conference on Humanities Education and Social Sciences (ICHESS 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 988
EP  - 995
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-551-5_107
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-551-5_107
ID  - Lin2026
ER  -