Abstract
a The aim of the present study was to review the current trend of research on the rejection sensitivity (RS) and to clarify the future prospects for it in Japan. RS was defined as the disposition to anxiously expect, readily perceive, and intensely react to rejection and has studied in many terms for two decades. Recently, it has been highlighted especially as one of core traits to delineate some psychopathologies such as depression and borderline personality disorder. Neuroimagin study has revealed different functions of brain between people with high RS and those with low RS, which in part led to different treatment plan, process, intervention, outcome and/or prognostic implication. However, in contrast to other countries, especially America, there have been much less researches on RS in Japan. Finally it is suggested that RS can be useful perspective to understand depression and borderline personality disorder – e.g. “a new type of depression,” a sort of refractory depression, which may be placed somewhere in the depression-personality disorder spectrum.
