Experience of shame within the family

Abstract

It is difficult to find research focusing on the subjective description of the shame experience in the social sciences literature. Most articles about shame are theoretical analyses focused more on the social consequences of this emotion (cf. Czykwin, 2013; Czykwin, 2019). Therefore, the aim of this study was to identify some fields/topics associated by the respondents with shame experienced in their families. The research is based on the biographical method. Based on the author's questionnaire with open-ended questions about experiences related to the feeling of shame, research material was collected and analysed in terms of categories that appeared most often in the narratives of the respondents. The results of the research show that in the case of women who represented the research sample, embarrassment was primarily related to their physicality and sexuality. Improper (violent) upbringing practices were significant in inducing vulnerability to shame. The results of the research showed that family experiences can be important in developing a tendency to shame proneness, and therefore more emphasis should be placed on educating parents about their own ways of regulating this emotion and developing appropriate (non-valued) communication with their children.