Shame and guilt development in preschoolers: The role of context,audience and individual characteristics

The study examined the early development of shame and guilt, the individual differences related to them and the role of situation and audience. Fifty-eight children aged 3 to 5 years were observed in two paradigms: moral, in which they were led to believe that they had broken an object, and non-moral, in which they failed an easy task. Each session was led twice, with an adult and with a peer. Temperament and conduct were assessed through parental reports. Results showed that older children expressed more guilt than younger children. Shame-proneness was characterized by bodily tension, reticence and gaze avoidance, whereas guilt-proneness by latency to repair and confession. Children were able to distinguish the moral from the non-moral situation and, only in the former, shame was associated with difficult temperament and with emotional problems, whereas guilt was correlated with adaptive characteristics. Finally, children mainly expressed distress with the adult, who holds the authority.     

“What I did” versus “what I might have done”: Effect of factual versus counterfactual thinking on blame, guilt, and shame in prisoners

The present study tested the prediction that counterfactual thinking would have a stronger amplificatory effect on guilt than on shame and that the effect would be mediated by self-blame. Ninety sentenced prisoners were instructed to think either counterfactually or factually about the role they played in the events leading to their capture, conviction, and sentencing prior to reporting on their level of self-blame, guilt, and shame. Compared to factual-focused prisoners, counterfactual-focused prisoners reported feeling more blameworthy and guiltier but not more shameful. The effect of thought focus on guilt was fully mediated by blame. The findings support an emotion-specific account of the emotional consequences of counterfactual thinking that implicate attributional judgment as an important mediating process.     

Assessment of shame and guilt in a psychiatric sample: a comparison of two measures

The relationship between measures of shame, guilt, and psychopathology was examined in a heterogeneous inpatient sample (n=82) using the Test of Self-Conscious Affect (TOSCA) and the Personal Feelings Questionnaire-2 (PFQ-2). It was predicted that both shame scales would correlate positively with measures of psychopathology. This hypothesis was supported in bivariate analyses, however, when partialed for each respective guilt scale, only the TOSCA maintained significant associations with measures of psychopathology. It was predicted that only the PFQ-2 guilt scale would correlate positively with measures of psychopathology, and this hypothesis was supported in both bivariate analyses and partial correlations, controlling for shame scores. These findings support previous work, suggesting that the TOSCA and PFQ-2 guilt scales assess different constructs of guilt. Methodological issues of shame and guilt assessment with psychiatric patients also are discussed.     

Cain and Abel: Violence,Shame and Jealousy

In discussing the murder of Abel by his brother Cain the dynamics of shame and guilt are explored. An analysis of the psychological drama, more than the brutal fact itself, may help to understand the consequences of negation and love for the contemporary occurrences of family violence. In exploring the separate positions of Cain and Abel the differential effects and consequences of jealousy and envy are analyzed as well.     

Body-related state shame and guilt in women: Do causal attributions mediate the influence of physical self-concept and shame and guilt proneness

Guided by the process model of self-conscious emotions, this study examined whether physical self-concept (PSC) and shame and guilt proneness were associated with body-related self-conscious emotions of state shame and guilt and if these relationships were mediated by attributions of stability, globality, and controllability. Female participants (N = 284; Mean age = 20.6 ± 1.9 years) completed measures of PSC and shame and guilt proneness before reading a hypothetical scenario. Participants completed measures of attributions and state shame and guilt in response to the scenario. Significant relationships were noted between state shame and attributions of globality and controllability, and shame proneness, guilt proneness, and PSC. Similar relationships, with the additional predictor of stability, were found for state guilt. Mediation analysis partially supported the process model hypotheses for shame. Results indicate PSC and shame proneness are important in predicting body-related emotions, but the role of specific attributions are still unclear.     

Shame expressions reduce the recipient’s insult from outgroup reparations

Despite a growing literature on the consequences of group-based guilt and shame, little work has examined how expressions of self-conscious emotions are received by targets of collective wrongdoing. Two experiments tested the hypothesis that when an outgroup member offers apologies accompanied by reparations, the recipients are likely to take insult unless the outgroup member expresses the self-abasing emotion of shame rather than guilt. Experiment 1 showed that when reparations were offered, participants were less insulted by shame than guilt expressed by an outgroup member, rather than an ingroup member. Experiment 2 improved Experiment 1 by manipulating the culprit’s action (reparation vs. withdrawal), and this experiment replicated Experiment 1’s interaction on a measure of insult, but only when reparations were offered. These interactions on insult were not explained by the emotion’s perceived intensity or surprisingness. Our results indicate a possible functional aspect of expressions of shame in an intergroup context. Self-abasement, as opposed to a mere admission of culpability and regret, can reduce the insult taken from an outgroup’s reparations.     

How social connectedness affects guilt and shame: Mediation by hope and differentiation of self

We tested a mediation model of social connectedness and guilt and shame. Social connectedness was hypothesized to be related to greater hope and differentiation of self. Hope and differentiation of self, in turn, were expected to be related to less shame and more prosocial guilt. The results found that hope mediated the relationship between social connectedness and guilt, and differentiation of self mediated the relationship between social connectedness and shame. Alternative explanatory models were explored and taken into consideration in the interpretation of the results.     

Shame as a prospective predictor of self-inflicted injury in borderline personality disorder: A multi-modal analysis

The primary aim of this study was to examine the prospective association of shame with self-inflicted injury (SII), including suicide attempts and nonsuicidal self-injury, among women with borderline personality disorder (BPD) who were enrolled in a clinical trial (N = 77). A multi-method approach was used to assess self-reported shame, nonverbal shame behaviors, and assessor ratings of shame during an interview regarding antecedents for a recent episode of SII. Higher levels of nonverbal shame behaviors predicted a higher likelihood of subsequent SII, and shorter time to SII, after controlling for past SII as well as other emotions associated with SII. Self-reported state shame and assessor ratings of shame were associated with prospective SII, but not after controlling for other emotions. These findings underscore the important role of shame in SII, particularly shame in the presence of contextual prompts for events that surround episodes of SII.     

反事实思维与内疚和羞耻的关系——以大学生和青少年罪犯为例

运用自我报告法从反事实思维的角度验证内疚与羞耻差异的"自我和行为"假设,探讨大学生和青少年罪犯在反事实思维与内疚和羞耻关系方面的特点。结果表明:1)研究结果不支持Lewis提出的内疚与羞耻差异的"自我和行为"假设,甚至与该假设相反;2)在真实的情境中,大学生和青少年罪犯内疚感和羞耻感与反事实思维的特点具有一致性。     

Parent Proneness to Shame and the Use of Psychological Control

We examined the link between parent proneness to shame and two forms of psychological control, overprotection and critical/rejecting behavior, in parents of preschoolers. Because shame is self-condemning, proneness to shame affects intrapersonal and interpersonal functioning. We hypothesized that parents’ emotion-regulatory responses to shame would increase the likelihood of psychological control: anxiety by leading to overprotection mediated by a worrisome approach to the child, and anger/hostility by leading to critical/rejecting parenting mediated by negative reactivity to the child. Participants were 198 mother-father pairs with a child 3.6 to 4.5 years of age. Overprotective and critical/rejecting parenting were assessed using both self and spouse reports of parenting practices. In addition, parents completed measures of proneness to shame, worrisome overconcern about the child, and negative reactivity to the child. Structural equation modeling yielded results that supported mediation by negative approach to the child for mothers’ and fathers’ critical/rejecting behavior. For fathers but not mothers, shame was indirectly associated with overprotective parenting through worrisome approach to the child. Parents’ proneness to shame may be an important factor leading to the use of psychological control.     

Autobiographical memory for shame or guilt provoking events: Association with psychological symptoms

The diagnostic criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) specify that a qualifying traumatic stressor must incite extreme peritraumatic fear, horror, or helplessness. However, research suggests that events inciting guilt or shame may be associated with PTSD. We devised a web-based survey in which non-clinical participants identified an event associated with shame or guilt and completed questionnaire measures of shame, guilt, PTSD, and depression. In addition, we assessed characteristics of memory for the event, including visual perspective and the centrality of the memory to the participant’s autobiographical narrative (CES). Shame predicted depression and PTSD symptoms. There was no association between guilt and psychological symptoms after controlling statistically for the effects of shame. CES predicted the severity of depression and PTSD symptoms. In addition, CES mediated the moderating effect of visual perspective on the relationship between emotional intensity and PTSD symptoms. Our results suggest shame is capable of eliciting the intrusive and distressing memories characteristic of PTSD. Furthermore, our results suggest aversive emotional events are associated with psychological distress when memory for those events becomes central to one’s identity and autobiographical narrative.     

Empathy, guilt, and gender: a comparison of two measures of guilt

The relations of empathy with two measures of guilt were examined in a sample of 13- to 16-year-olds (N= 113). Empathy was measured using Davis's IRI and guilt by Tangney's TOSCA and Hoffman's semi-projective story completion method that includes two different scenarios, guilt over cheating and guilt over inaction. Empathy correlated more strongly with both measures of guilt than the two measures correlated with each other. For boys, cognitive perspective-taking was a stronger predictor for guilt than for girls. Hoffman's guilt over inaction was more strongly associated with empathy measures in girls than in boys, whereas for guilt over cheating the pattern was the opposite. The results indicate that boys and girls may emphasize different aspects of morality.     

Shame,guilt, and facial emotion processing: initial evidence for a positive relationship between guilt-proneness and facial emotion recognition ability

Shame and guilt are closely related self-conscious emotions of negative affect that give rise to divergent self-regulatory and motivational behaviours. While guilt-proneness has demonstrated positive relationships with self-report measures of empathy and adaptive interpersonal functioning, shame-proneness tends to be unrelated or inversely related to empathy and is associated with interpersonal difficulties. At present, no research has examined relationships between shame and guilt-proneness with facial emotion recognition ability. Participants (N?=?363) completed measures of shame and guilt-proneness along with a facial emotion recognition task which assessed the ability to identify displays of anger, sadness, happiness, fear, disgust, and shame. Guilt-proneness was consistently positively associated with facial emotion recognition ability. In contrast, shame-proneness was unrelated to capacity for facial emotion recognition. Findings provide support for theory arguing that guilt and empathy operate synergistically and may also help explain the inverse relationship between guilt-proneness and propensity for aggressive behaviour.     

On the relative effectiveness of affect regulation strategies: A meta-analysis

To examine the effectiveness of various affect regulation strategies and categories of affect regulation strategies, a meta-analysis was conducted. Results generally indicate that reappraisal (d=0.65) and distraction (d=0.46 for all studies; d=0.95 for studies with a negative or no affect induction) are the most effective regulation/repair strategies, producing the largest hedonic shift in affect. The effectiveness of different categories of regulation/repair strategies depended on the valence of the preceding affect induction. Results also indicate that stronger affect inductions and the use of bivariate affect measures will provide a richer understanding of affect regulation. Additionally, not all specific strategies or categories of strategies have been researched and the impact of individual differences on affect regulation has received relatively little attention. Finally, results indicate that control conditions in affect regulation research may not provide a valid point for comparison, as they facilitate effective affect repair.     

What do the TOSCA guilt and shame scales really measure: Affect or action?

Psychologists have long used the Test of Self-Conscious Affect (TOSCA) as an instrument for empirically distinguishing between trait emotions of guilt and shame. Recent assessments of the internal structure of the TOSCA guilt scale suggest that it may not measure the experience of guilt, but rather motivation to make amends for personal wrongdoing. In contrast, TOSCA shame may better assess the tendency to experience negative self-conscious affect. Previous research did not take into account that TOSCA guilt theoretically should only predict emotions in a situation of wrongdoing; we put this idea to the test in two studies. Experimental, but not control, participants received believable feedback that they had shown involuntary prejudice towards a member of a minority group. In both studies TOSCA guilt predicted reparative action after feedback was given, including expressing non-prejudiced views and recommending financial compensation to the minority group. However, TOSCA guilt had no relationship with feelings of guilt or shame after expressing prejudice. In contrast, TOSCA shame was a better predictor of feelings of guilt, shame and other self-critical emotions, but did not predict compensatory action. These findings suggest motivation rather than emotion as a mechanism behind past findings involving TOSCA guilt.     

When feeling bad makes you look good: Guilt,shame, and person perception

In two studies, we examined how expressions of guilt and shame affected person perception. In the first study, participants read an autobiographical vignette in which the writer did something wrong and reported feeling either guilt, shame, or no emotion. The participants then rated the writer's motivations, beliefs, and traits, as well as their own feelings toward the writer. The person expressing feelings of guilt or shame was perceived more positively on a number of attributes, including moral motivation and social attunement, than the person who reported feeling no emotion. In the second study, the writer of the vignette reported experiencing (or not experiencing) cognitive and motivational aspects of guilt or shame. Expressing a desire to apologise (guilt) or feelings of worthlessness (private shame) resulted in more positive impressions than did reputational concerns (public shame) or a lack of any of these feelings. Our results indicate that verbal expressions of moral emotions such as guilt and shame influence perception of moral character as well as likeability.     

Shame and the Solitary Way

In “Shame, Ministry, and Theological Education: Leaves from the Notebook of a Defiant Seminarian,” (Nathan Carlin, Pastor Psychol, 53:501–514, 2005) discusses the fact that many young adult Christians are highly influenced by relativism of all sorts, and notes that this can lead them to a state of doubt. He points out that if they voice their doubts too loudly, they are often shamed and abandoned by their elder Christians who do not have or do not voice their own doubts. He cites examples of the shaming to which he was subject when he was a seminarian at Princeton Theological Seminary. In this article, I discuss my own experience of being shamed as a graduate student at the University of Chicago, and suggest that although such shaming is immediately painful, it may have an unintended, long-term benefit for the one who is the subject of shaming, specifically, in the development of a faith that is unmistakably one’s own.     

Status signals: Adaptive benefits of displaying and observing the nonverbal expressions of pride and shame

A growing body of research suggests that pride and shame are associated with distinct, cross-culturally recognised nonverbal expressions, which are spontaneously displayed in situations of success and failure, respectively. Here, we review these findings, then offer a theoretical account of the adaptive benefits of these displays. We argue that both pride and shame expressions function as social signals that benefit both observers and expressers. Specifically, pride displays function to signal high status, which benefits displayers by according them deference from others, and benefits observers by affording them valuable information about social-learning opportunities. Shame displays function to appease others after a social transgression, which benefits displayers by allowing them to avoid punishment and negative appraisals, and observers by easing their identification of committed group members and followers.     

Guilt: A gendered bond within the transnational family

Between 1999 and 2003 Argentinians lived an economic, social and political crisis that led some of them to emigrate, mainly to the United States and Spain. There are few studies on Argentinean migration and even fewer studies that take emotions and gender during the migration process into account. The aim of this work was to understand the link between gender and guilt within the migration process. In order to consider this, I analyzed the expression of guilt within the narrative of Argentinean migrants in Miami, United States and Barcelona, Spain. In-depth interviews of Argentinean migrants were conducted in both cities. Research shows that guilt is a gendered emotion, which allows migrants to temporarily stay attached to their family in a gendered way during the migration process. Nonetheless, its expression depends on four different factors that are interrelated: representations of gender role and “imagined family”, representations' changes during the migration process and the context of departure and the context of arrival.