American responses to five categories of shame in Chinese culture: A preliminary cross-cultural construct validation

Abstract

Abstract Bedford (1994) presents ethnographic evidence for five distinct forms of shame in Chinese language and culture. This study attempted to determine (1) whether these forms of shame were distinct emotional responses or linguistic categories identifying shame-appropriate circumstances and (2) whether these five forms of shame are affectivily distinguishable by Americans, given that Americans typically use fewer categories in describing shame. Nine scenarios written to capture the five forms of shame were rated on 28 affect descriptors by 85 American Ss. The descriptor means were calculated across Ss for each scenario and the inter-scenario correlations were submitted to a 5-factor principal axis factor analysis. Of the 45 factor pattern coefficients generated by oblimin rotation, only two coefficients on a single scenario were inconsistent with the a priori grouping of scenarios, suggesting that Americans are as capable as Chinese of experiencing distinct varieties of shame, even though the distinctions may not arise in everyday life nor be reflected in ordinary English usage. Implications for the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis are discussed.