Shame at Work: Multiple Conceptualizations of Shame and its Impact on Individual Outcomes

Abstract

The role of shame in organizations is an increasingly interesting topic of study for scholars with high relevance to practitioners. Commonly defined as the feeling associated with self-criticism following failure, shame is likely a pervasive emotion in organizational environments. This is important because research suggests that shame relates to a number of outcomes - both adaptive and maladaptive - that relate to organizational life. Despite this, the study of shame in organizations is still in its infancy and a number of questions remain unanswered. We present four papers that each represent different contemporary approaches to studying shame. For example, across these papers we conceptualize shame as an element of organizational culture, an individual difference, and as a felt emotion resulting from one’s own behavior (direct shame) as well as from the behavior of someone else (vicarious shame). In addition, two of the papers seek to add clarity to the shame construct, specifically by developing a new measure and by differentially testing dimensions of an existing measure. Finally, these papers address both the antecedents to, and outcomes of, shame. Taken together, we believe that this session presents a well-rounded view of the state of shame research and will hopefully foster rich discussion on the role of shame in organizations. Shame Predicts Success: When and Why Shame Proneness Relates Positively to Job Performance Presenter: Rebecca Schaumberg; The Wharton School, U. of Pennsylvania Presenter: Koji Chavez; Indiana U. To Accept One's Flaws or to Change Them: Shame Motivates First Steps Towards Self-Change Presenter: Kostadin Kushlev; Georgetown U. Presenter: Jason Proulx; Simon Fraser U. Presenter: Brian Lickel; U. of Massachusetts Amherst Presenter: Toni Schmader; U. of British Columbia “I am Ashamed of You!” Examining the Impact of Follower Unethical Behavior on Leader Outcomes Presenter: Rui Zhong; Sauder School of Business, U. of British Columbia Presenter: Michael Daniels; U. of British Columbia Presenter: Sandra Robinson; U. of British Columbia Organizational Affective Cultures of Shame & Guilt: A Scale Development Presenter: Giselle Elaine Antoine; U. of Washington, Seattle Presenter: Michael Johnson; U. of Washington