Social rejection occurs when an individual is deliberately excluded from a
social relationship or
social interaction. The topic includes
interpersonal rejection (or peer rejection),
romantic rejection and
familial estrangement. A person can be rejected on an individual basis or by an entire group of people. Furthermore, rejection can be either
active, by
bullying,
teasing, or ridiculing, or
passive, by ignoring a person, or giving the "
silent treatment." The experience of being rejected is
subjective for the recipient, and it can be
perceived when it is not actually present. The word
ostracism is often used for the process (in
Ancient Greece ostracism was voting into temporary exile).