Is rejection good for us?
BBC's English-learning show 6 Minute English looks at the social-media trend known as 'rejection therapy,' in which people deliberately ask others for things just to be turned down. The episode weaves this psychology into a quiz about the animator Walt Disney.
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What this episode answers
Is rejection actually good for us?
Yes, according to the episode's wrap-up, rejection isn't necessarily all bad — for some people it can even spark trying something new.
What does the show's opening quiz say happened to Walt Disney?
The quiz says one of his best-known works was lost, but the real answer revealed later is that his first feature-length animated film, widely expected to fail, went on to become a huge success.
What is the 'rejection therapy' video trend that's spreading on social media?
It's a social-media video trend in which people approach strangers with requests and deliberately set themselves up to be refused, filming the encounters and posting them as content.
Why do people deliberately ask others for things just to be turned down?
The article says the show poses this question but points listeners to another video in the trend for the rest of the answer, so it is not answered in the body.
How does the experience of being rejected affect people's emotions, such as adrenaline?
A person named Hana describes a surge of adrenaline after trying it, which grows sharper with more rejections, and says the experience has made it easier to strike up conversation with strangers and new people.
BBC's English-learning show 6 Minute English takes on a video trend making the rounds on social media called "rejection therapy," in which people go out of their way to ask others for things and get turned down on purpose. The episode ties this psychology to a quiz about the animator Walt Disney.
Quiz: What happened to Walt Disney?
At the start of the show, host Georgie poses a three-option quiz: "What happened to the animator Walt Disney?" The choices are A) he lost his job, B) he made money from part of his own work, or C) one of his best-known works was lost. The guest guesses A, that he lost his job, but the show holds the correct answer until the end.
Quiz answer: A wildly successful first feature film
The answer comes near the end of the episode: it's C. Disney's first feature-length animated film was widely expected to fail before its release, but it went on to become a huge success. From the way the show frames it, the film in question appears to be Snow White.
"Rejection therapy" spreads on social media
The second half of the episode turns to the social-media video trend called "rejection therapy." The host is careful to note that this isn't "therapy" in the formal, clinical sense. In these videos, people approach strangers with requests and deliberately set themselves up to be refused, filming the encounters and posting them as content.
What changes when you get rejected
The show cites the example of a person named Hana, who describes a surge of adrenaline after trying one of these videos. The more rejections Hana racks up, the sharper that feeling becomes. Hana says the experience has made it easier to strike up conversation with strangers and new people alike. The show poses the question of why people would deliberately seek out rejection, and points listeners to another video in the same trend for the rest of the answer.
Wrap-up
The episode closes by circling back to the opening quiz, suggesting that rejection isn't necessarily all bad — for some people, it can even be the spark for trying something new.
Takeaways
- Disney's first feature film was expected to flop before release but ended up a huge success.
- A social-media trend called 'rejection therapy' has people deliberately seeking out being turned down on camera.
- Repeated rejection is described as raising adrenaline and lowering the fear of approaching strangers.
This article is edited from a machine transcript of the first 30 minutes of the episode. It is not an official summary — please listen to the episode itself.