1615 – Internal shame: differences between men and women greek roma

Abstract

Introduction International and Greek literature on Roma psychological features remains exceptionally limited. Objective This study examined the internal shame on Greek Roma. Aim Present study evaluated internal shame in a Roma population living in Greece and assess the differentiation of these feelings between Roma men and women. Materials and methods 361 individuals (125 male and 236 female with mean age 33.96 SD=12.77), residents of the general area of Greece, participated in the present study. The measuring tools used were: a) the Experience of Shame Scale (ESS), b) a questionnaire concerning socio-demographic information. Results The mean of the internal shame (ESS total) was 39.68 ± 10.67 (men), 49.06 ± 14.20 (women) (p= .000). The mean of the behavioral shame was 18.00 ± 5.61 (men), 20.69 ± 6.12 (women) (p= .000). The analysis of variance between age groups showed that age and Educational level did not affect the internal shame in Greek Roma. Marital status had a significant effect on internal shame of Greek Roma where the application of the Bonferonni criterion found that divorced participants demonstrated a statistical significant difference from those with different marital status (p =.009), the latter had lower levels of internal shame. Conclusion Levels of internal shame in the group of Roma women is very high and higher than Roma men and the influence of marital status on the internal shame is important for Greek Roma.