A Cross-Cultural Study on the Experience of Shame and Guilt

Abstract

Thirty-nine adults from mainland China (MC) and 34 adults of European descent from Canada (EC) were recruited and presented with five types of shame concepts (xiu chi, can kui, diu lian, xiu kui, and nan wei qing) and four types of guilt (nei jiu-1—harm to others, nei jiu-2—trust violation, zui e gan, and fan zui gan), which were based on Mandarin shame and guilt categories to recall or generate different situations for different types of shame and guilt. The responses were coded into themes, which were organized into eight higher order categories. Both cultures had “breaking own expectations,” “breaking other’s expectations,” and “intentional breaking social norms/rules” higher order categories. Chi-square analyses suggested that the main difference between cultures was in the higher order guilt category of “other’s improper actions”; ECs were more likely to associate guilt feelings with other people’s improper actions than MCs were. Moreover, within cultural differences between shame and guilt were also found. Euro-Canadian seemed to recognize the breadth of shame and guilt despite lacking the same terms. The results confirm that shame and guilt may be universal, but that cultural background moderates their experiences.