Shame broadcasts social norms: An experimental investigation of what people learn from others' shame

Abstract

Divergent views exist about whether shame facilitates normative behavior in groups. Functional theories of shame theorize that shame is critical for normative self-governance. However, some prominent reviews of shame conclude that shame serves no adaptive function, given the number of problems associated with experiencing shame. We argue that this latter conclusion is problematic because it focuses solely on the consequences of shame for the person who experiences shame, thus overlooking shame's effects on the larger social context. We propose that shame facilitates norm acquisition—people infer the content of group norms from others' shame. We further propose that observing others' shame promotes norm-conforming behavior—upon witnessing someone feel shame about a behavior, observers adjust their own behavior to align with inferred normative standards. We test and find support for these predictions in four experiments. We manipulate whether someone expresses shame, no specific emotion, or other discrete emotions (e.g., sadness, embarrassment, anxiety, or anger) in response to their behavior. We then assess people's inferences about a group's norms regarding the behavior and people's likelihood of engaging in the behavior. We find that shame sends particularly strong signals about social norms. We also find that in response to witnessing others feel shame, observers will adjust their behavior to align with these inferred norms, even when doing so comes with a financial cost. We discuss how these findings advance understanding of shame's role in social conformity and cultural norms transmission.