Shame Responses Research Articles

Research-Based Theater and "Stigmatized Trauma": The Case of Suicide Bereavement.

BackgroundExisting research shows that family members who suffer the loss of a loved one through suicide often experience self-blame and shame, and that this limits their grieving process. It can also lock them into stigmatized positions and the notion that either somebody or a dysfunctional family is to blame for the suicide.AimThis article investigates from a narrative perspective how a theater play might counteract the stigma that surrounds suicide bereavement by contributing destigmatizing understandings of suicide.MethodsA theater play was performed in a churchyard theater in Stockholm, Sweden, in 2019. Audience members were asked to write down their free reflections on a form distributed at the theater. In particular, they were asked to assess whether they found the play related to their own lives and, if so, how; and to describe what they had learned. Their written reflections [N = 41] were analyzed from a narrative methodological perspective to investigate their responses to the play. Three categories of audience member were identified from their responses: people with their own suicide bereavement experiences; people with similar but different experiences of stigmatized trauma; and people who did not report any experiences of suicide or stigmatized trauma.ResultsThe suicide-bereaved generally reported familiarity with the thematic performed, in particular the “why question,” the blame and shame responses and the silenced family communication. Most of these aspects were also shared by those affected by other types of stigmatized trauma. Respondents from all categories emphasized how they had learned that suicide is a desperate rather than a deliberated act, caused by overwhelming emotional pain or depression. Ultimately, suicide was perceived as an involuntary death caused by complex interacting factors linked to both inner vulnerabilities and stressful life events, for which no one was to blame.ConclusionThe results show that research-based theater isa time-limited and cost-effective method of introducing alternative meanings and identities to both individual mourners and the broader cultural context from which stigma originates, and how it can have destigmatizing effects on a stigmatized trauma such as suicide bereavement.

Feeling shame and guilt when observing workplace incivility: Elicitors and behavioral responses

AbstractThis research investigates the elicitors and behavioral responses associated with feeling guilt and shame in response to observed workplace incivility. We draw from the appraisal model of self‐conscious emotions to hypothesize that perceiving personal responsibility for acts of incivility conducted by others in the organization is associated with feelings of guilt and shame, and that these relationships are differentially moderated by perceived controllability over the incident. We further propose that shame is associated with avoidance and withdrawal behaviors, whereas guilt is associated with retaliatory and supportive behaviors in response to the observed incivility. We tested these hypotheses with a sample of 309 full‐time working adults who completed an online survey through Amazon's Mechanical Turk platform. Our results support the claim that perceived responsibility is associated with feeling shame and guilt for observed incivility. The relationship between perceived responsibility and guilt was stronger when respondents perceived greater control over the incident; however, controllability did not moderate between responsibility and shame. As expected, shame was associated with avoiding the target and instigator and withdrawing from work, while guilt was associated with both retaliation toward the instigator and supporting the target. Implications of our results for theory and human resource development practice are discussed.

Parent Control and Child Shame: Associations with Children’s Task Persistence and Depressive Symptoms in Middle Childhood

SYNOPSIS Objective . Understanding how parents socialize shame may shed light on two related issues: why some children experience intense shame, and whether shame serves as an indirect pathway between parenting behavior and academic and mental health outcomes in middle childhood. Design . This cross-sectional study examined socialization of shame with mothers (N = 98, Mage = 38.73 years) and their school-aged children (53 girls, Mage = 11.55 years). Mothers reported their use of negative conditional regard (NCR) as it pertains to their children’s academic performance, a salient domain of functioning in this developmental stage. Children completed a brief narrative task that was coded to measure their shame-specific emotion regulation; they also participated in an impossible-puzzle stressor to assess task persistence and self-reported their depressive symptoms. Results . Separate models examining the unique effects of NCR in the academic domain and its associations with task persistence during the stressor and with child depressive symptoms showed that children’s more intense shame responses were an indirect pathway between higher NCR and these two distinct child outcomes. Conclusions . Parent use of NCR in the academic domain places school-aged children at higher risk for intense shame and thereby for lower persistence on challenging tasks and more depressive symptoms.

Does Watching This Make Me Feel Ashamed or Angry? An Examination of Latino Americans’ Responses to Immigration Coverage

Content analyses of U.S. English-language news coverage of immigration indicate that these stories are laden with negative, threatening messages and have an almost exclusive focus on Latino immigrants. However, little is known regarding how non-immigrant Latinos process and interpret these messages. The current survey of adult non-immigrant Latinos living in the United States addresses this question by applying insights from the rejection-identification model and research on vicarious shame. Based on this research, experiencing group shame in response to immigration news should drive Latinos to distance themselves from this identity, leading to greater affiliation with American identity (to maintain a positive self-concept) and stronger support for restrictive immigration policies (to mitigate the potential threats). Alternatively, experiencing anger in response to this coverage should result in less distancing from the shared Latino identity (i.e., greater affiliation), prompting decreased association with American identity and less support for restrictive immigration policies. Results from the mediation model tested here found support for predictions stemming from both vicarious shame and rejection-identification assumptions, indicating that they represent distinct pathways to views on immigration attitudes and identity management. Furthermore, in line with social identity theory, Mexican Americans (vs. non-Mexican Latinos) were more likely to distance from the immigration message and perceive immigration coverage to depict negative beliefs others hold about their ethnic group (owing to the disproportionate emphasis on Mexicans in this coverage). Results are discussed in terms of the implications for group standing as well as the importance of legitimacy of media messages in this context.

Antecedents and Consequences of Experiencing Guilt and Shame in Response to Observed Incivility

This research explores the emotions of guilt and shame felt by employees who observe acts of workplace incivility. Drawing from the literatures on self-conscious emotions and group-based guilt and ...

Is there positive in the negative? Understanding the role of guilt and shame in physical activity self-regulation

The high rate of global physical inactivity has led researchers to explore the psychological variables that impact physical activity (PA) behaviours. Drawing from tenets of control theory and literature on self-conscious emotions, the current study investigated the experience of guilt and shame in response to engaged in and missed PA. One hundred and fifty-four adults (Mage = 34.02, SD = 12.27) completed online questionnaires over a three-week period. Paired sample t-tests showed participants experience more guilt and shame after a missed intended PA session than an engaged-in session and, of the two, guilt is felt more strongly (t (150) = 8.31, p < .001). Following a missed PA session, attribution dimensions were explored; locus of causality was associated with guilt (p = .02) and stability with shame (p =. 01). Logistic regressions showed guilt had a negative relationship with PA intentions, and guilt and shame did not predict future PA. This finding is at odds with control theory and past empirical evidence. This disparity suggests the need for future research to explore these emotions within the PA domain to further inform the nature of their relationship. This research was the first to measure and explore the acute, real-life experience and motivational qualities of guilt and shame relative to PA engagement. Research implications and future directions are discussed.

Who gets mad and who feels bad? Mate value discrepancies predict anger and shame in response to transgressions in romantic relationships

Mate value discrepancies (MVDs) predict multiple outcomes in romantic relationships, including relationship satisfaction, jealousy, and forgiveness. We tested the hypotheses that MVDs would predict anger and shame in response to both medium and strong transgressions within romantic relationships. Participants in long-term committed relationships read scenarios describing relational transgressions and rated how much anger and shame they would feel if they were either the victim or the perpetrator of the transgressions in their current relationship. We found partial support for our hypotheses. Victims of medium-level transgressions were angrier the more alternative potential mates there were that were closer to their ideal mate preferences than their current partner. Perpetrators of strong transgressions felt more shame the higher in mate value their partner was compared to them. Results suggest that different MVDs may predict different outcomes in relationships and highlight the importance of using functional theories of emotions to predict individual differences in emotional responses.

Humiliated fury is not universal: the co-occurrence of anger and shame in the United States and Japan

ABSTRACTIt has been widely believed that individuals transform high-intensity shame into anger because shame is unbearably painful. This phenomenon was first coined “humiliated fury,” and it has since received empirical support. The current research tests the novel hypothesis that shame-related anger is not universal, yet hinges on the cultural meanings of anger and shame. Two studies compared the occurrence of shame-related anger in North American cultural contexts (where shame is devalued and anger is valued) to its occurrence in Japanese contexts (where shame is valued and anger is devalued). In a daily-diary study, participants rated anger and shame feelings during shame situations that occurred over one week. In a vignette study, participants rated anger and shame in response to standardised shame vignettes that were generated in previous research by either U.S. or Japanese respondents. Across the two studies, and in line with previous research on humiliated fury, shame predicted anger for U.S. participants. Yet, neither in the daily diary study nor for the Japanese-origin vignettes, did we find shame-related anger in Japanese participants. Only when presented with U.S.-origin vignettes, did Japanese respondents in the vignette study report shame-related anger. The findings suggest that shame-related anger is a culture-specific phenomenon.

The activation of shame following dissociation in the context of relationships: A vignette study

Background and objectivesStudies show experiences of negative affective states, such as shame, elevate dissociation. Using vignettes, this study aimed to investigate the reverse, whether experiences of dissociation in the context of varied interpersonal relationships elevate shame. Methods269 adults completed online questionnaires (Dissociative Experiences Scale; Experiences of Shame Scale) and were randomly allocated to vignettes describing either dissociation or sadness in three different relationship contexts: (1) with an acquaintance, (2) with a close friend, or (3) when alone. Participants then completed six single-item questions assessing discrete emotions, a five-item adaptation of the State Shame and Guilt Scale, and 8 items measuring behavioural responses to shame. ResultsElevations of shame were evident when dissociation occurred in the presence of a close friend, but not in other contexts. Participants reported a greater inclination to stay with a close friend and discuss their experience of dissociation and sadness. LimitationsLimitations of this study are that a non-clinical sample was used and that dissociative experiences were not induced experientially. ConclusionResults did not suggest that shame is a generic reaction to experiences of dissociation or to specific relationship contexts. Rather, shame was uniquely evoked when dissociation occurred with a close friend. These findings suggest there is a contextualized bi-directional relationship between dissociation and shame, whereby shame appears to activate dissociation, and dissociation in the context of a close other seems to evoke shame. Knowledge about the activation of shame in response to dissociation may assist therapists in educating their clients about this connection.

A riot on campus: The effects of social identity complexity on emotions and reparative attitudes after ingroup-perpetrated violence.

When a group commits a transgression, members who identify closely with the group often engage in defensive strategies in which they are less likely to experience guilt and shame in response to the transgression than are less identified group members. Subsequently, highly identified group members are often less willing to offer reparations to the injured parties. Because appropriate emotional responses and reparations are critical to community reconciliation, the present investigation examined whether social identity complexity-the degree to which individuals perceive their multiple social identities as interrelated-reduced these defensive responses. In the aftermath of a campus riot, emotional responses and reparative attitudes of undergraduate students were assessed. Results indicated that individuals who closely identified with the university were in fact capable of experiencing guilt and shame, but only if they also had complex social identities. A path model indicated that emotional responses, in turn, predicted willingness to provide reparations to the campus community. Accordingly, social identity complexity provides a new approach to understanding responses to ingroup-perpetrated violence.

‘Only the Bad Gyal could do this’: Rihanna, rape-revenge narratives and the cultural politics of white feminism

In July 2015, Rihanna released a seven-minute long video for her new single, entitled ‘Bitch Better Have My Money’ (more widely known as ‘BBHMM’), the violent imagery in which would divide feminist media commentators for its representation of graphic and sexualised violence against a white couple. The resulting commentary would become the focus of much popular and academic feminist debate over the intersectional gendered and racialised politics of popular culture, in particular coming to define what has been termed ‘white feminism’. ‘BBHMM’ is not the first time Rihanna’s work has been considered in relation to these debates: not only has she herself been very publicly outed as a survivor of male violence, but she has previously dealt with themes of rape and revenge in an earlier video, 2010’s ‘Man Down’, and in her lyrics. In this article I explore the multiple and layered ways in which Rihanna, and by extension other female artists of colour, are produced by white feminism as both responsible for perpetrating gender-based violence, and as victims in need of rescue. The effect of such liberal feminist critique, I argue, is to hold black female artists responsible for a rape culture that continually subjects women of colour to symbolic and actual violence. In this context, the fantasy violence of ‘Man Down’ and to a greater extent ‘BBHMM’ dramatises the impossibility of ‘being paid what one is owed’ in a culture that produces women of colour’s bodies, morality and personal trauma as abjected objects of consumption. I read these two videos through the lens of feminist film theory in order to explore how such representations mobilise affective responses of shame, identification and complicity that are played out in feminist responses to her work, and how their attachment to a simplistic model of representation conceals and reproduces racialised relations of inequality.

A Missing Link on Entrepreneurship Education Curricula

Indeed, there are many failure cases in entrepreneurs’ life. The psychological effects of business failure may produce shame and dysfunctional behavior responses. Do the entrepreneurs consider about the potential of shame they face? Do entrepreneurship education institutions pay attention to business closing as well as its impact to entrepreneurs’ identity? This research explored the curricula of 66 top business schools which have entrepreneurship specialization. There was a course category, namely self-development, which is important for entrepreneurs to build their mental, self-leadership, self-awareness, self-image, etc. Unfor­tunately, from 2908 courses offered, only 12.76% courses were related to entrepreneurship and 0.79% courses to self-development issues. The curricula were dominated by business knowledge and business skills. There was a missing link, i.e., “when the business goes wrong”, how to cope with failure, how to overcome shame, guilt, depression, stress, etc. In conclusion, there were lacks of self-development courses in the entre­preneurship education programs. This paper recommends to prepare the students to anticipate and overcome the shame by adding more psychological-related courses in the curriculum.

Shame: An overlooked factor in conceptualizing and treating borderline personality disorder: Its’ powerful role in the lives and suicides of people with BPD

Shame, a central emotion in borderline personality disorder (BPD), has been overlooked despite its’ relationship to self-injurious behaviour, chronic suicidality, self-esteem, quality of life, and angry-hostile feelings. Patients describe shame when explaining acute feelings of emotional pain. There is a paucity of research exploring the impact of shame on the person with BPD's sense of self and behaviors. BPD symptoms may be the expression of and defenses against this painful emotion. Shame-proneness is related to anger arousal and the tendency to externalize attributions for one's own behavior by blaming others or not taking responsibility for one's behavior. The relationship between shame-proneness and BPD has important implications for treatment. TARA for BPD, an educational and advocacy organization, developed a Family Psycho-education program teaching how shame is often the common denominator of BPD responses, triggering escalations, emotional shifts, volatile reactions, anger and misperceptions. Shame is the response to perceived negative evaluations (judgment, criticism, or blame) and general misinterpretation of social situations. Shame is an impediment to thinking clearly, exaggerates ambiguity and overwhelms cognitive ability in the moment. As shame is often confused with guilt, raising awareness of shame responses is essential for improving family relationships. Families can learn to recognize shame responses and implement evidence based techniques from dialectic behavior therapy (DBT) and mentalization based therapy (MBT) to decrease its’ impact on their loved one with BPD. Demonstration of methodology to address shame in family interactions and data from a TARA Internet survey of The Experience of Shame will be presented.Disclosure of interestThe author has not supplied his/her declaration of competing interest.

Examining the relationships between sub-clinical psychopathic traits with shame, guilt and externalisation response tendencies to everyday transgressions

Although many theories of psychopathy include reference to some form of emotional deficit, surprisingly little research has examined the relationships between psychopathic traits and important self-conscious moral emotions such as shame and guilt. The present study sought to examine these relationships in a sub-clinical sample, taking into account the important theoretical differences between the two emotions. Participants (N = 739) completed a measure of psychopathic traits and a measure of self-conscious affect style. Both primary and secondary psychopathic traits were found to be inversely related to guilt-proneness; however, the effect size was greater for primary psychopathic traits. Primary psychopathic traits were unrelated to shame-proneness, while secondary psychopathic traits were positively related to shame-proneness. Both primary and secondary traits were positively related to externalisation; however the effect size was greater for primary over secondary traits. The findings provide support for affective differences between psychopathy variants.

Expressions of shame in investigative interviews with Australian Aboriginal children

This study inspected a sample of 70 interview transcripts with Australian Aboriginal children to gain a sense of how frequently verbal shame responses were occurring in investigative interviews regarding alleged sexual abuse. Transcripts were examined to determine how children articulated shame, how interviewers reacted to these responses, and how shame related to children's accounts. Examination of frequencies revealed that verbal shame responses occurred in just over one-quarter of the interviews. One-way analyses of variance indicated that children who expressed shame within the interview spoke the same amount as children who did not express shame, however, they required more interviewer prompts before a disclosure was made. Interviews where children expressed shame also included a greater number of interviewer reminders compared to interviews without shame responses. Results emphasize the importance of interviewer awareness of shame, and also point to the value of reassurance, patience, and persistence with non-leading narrative prompting when interviewing children who express shame during discussions of sexual abuse.

Depression history as a moderator of relations between cortisol and shame responses to social-evaluative threat in young adults

Changes in cortisol and shame are commonly elicited by psychosocial stressors involving social-evaluative threat. According to social self preservation theory, this coordinated psychobiological response is adaptive. Individuals with a history of depression, however, may exhibit diminished cortisol reactivity to acute stressors, which could interfere with coordinated cortisol and shame responses. The present study examined temporal relations between cortisol and shame responses to a psychosocial stress task in young adults who varied in their history of depression (56 remitted-depressed, 46 never-depressed). Lagged effects multilevel models revealed that depression history moderated relations between cortisol levels and shame ratings 25–55min later. The pattern of these interactions was similar: whereas higher cortisol levels predicted increases in shame in never-depressed individuals, cortisol levels were unrelated to shame responses in remitted-depressed individuals. Findings suggest a dissociation between cortisol and shame responses to stress in individuals with a history of depression.

Vicarious shame and psychological distancing following organizational misbehavior

When organizations are engaging in publicly visible misbehavior, organizational members’ emotional responses may affect the organization’s ability to react effectively. If members respond with shame, they have a high tendency to distance themselves from the organization, a phenomenon termed cutting off reflected failure. Further, for those who identify more closely with the organization at the time of the misbehavior, this effect is stronger. We report two studies that tested the above predictions—a field study of a real industry-wide crisis in Taiwan’s fast-food industry and a university accounting scandal. We found that shame responses enhanced intentions to distance from the organization, and that organizational identification boosted the shame response.

Shame if you do--shame if you don't: women's experiences of infant feeding.

Emotions such as guilt and blame are frequently reported by non-breastfeeding mothers, and fear and humiliation are experienced by breastfeeding mothers when feeding in a public context. In this paper, we present new insights into how shame-related affects, cognitions and actions are evident within breastfeeding and non-breastfeeding women's narratives of their experiences. As part of an evaluation study of the implementation of the UNICEF UK Baby Friendly Initiative Community Award within two primary (community based) care trusts in North West England, 63 women with varied infant feeding experiences took part in either a focus group or an individual semi-structured interview to explore their experiences, opinions and perceptions of infant feeding. Using a framework analysis approach and drawing on Lazare's categories of shame, we consider how the nature of the event (infant feeding) and the vulnerability of the individual (mother) interact in the social context to create shame responses in some breastfeeding and non-breastfeeding mothers. Three key themes illustrate how shame is experienced and internalised through 'exposure of women's bodies and infant feeding methods', 'undermining and insufficient support' and 'perceptions of inadequate mothering'. The findings of this paper highlight how breastfeeding and non-breastfeeding women may experience judgement and condemnation in interactions with health professionals as well as within community contexts, leading to feelings of failure, inadequacy and isolation. There is a need for strategies and support that address personal, cultural, ideological and structural constraints of infant feeding.

Experimentally manipulated achievement goal state fluctuations regulate self-conscious emotional responses to feedback.

Self-conscious emotions, such as pride and shame, have important implications for performance in competence pursuits. Emotions and motivation are strongly linked and it may be that achievement goals play a role in regulating self-conscious emotions. This study investigated the effects of between-person achievement goal orientations and within-person fluctuations in achievement goal states on pride and shame responses to feedback. Undergraduate students (N 58) completed a 24-round game of Tetris. Before each round, scoring criteria prompts were provided to manipulate achievement goals and participants rated their goals. After each round, participants received experimentally manipulated feedback and rated their pride and shame. A set of hierarchical linear models revealed that performance achievement goal states moderated the effects of feedback on pride and shame at a within-person level. These results suggest coaches and teachers may be able to use contextual cues to influence motivation and selfconscious emotions of their athletes and students during competence pursuits.

Guilty, But Not Ashamed: “True” Self-Conceptions Influence Affective Responses to Personal Shortcomings

The current research examined how true self-conceptions (who a person believes he or she truly is) influence negative self-relevant emotions in response to shortcomings. In Study 1 (N = 83), an Internet sample of adults completed a measure of authenticity, reflected on a shortcoming or positive life event, and completed state shame and guilt measures. In Study 2 (N = 49), undergraduates focused on true versus other determined self-attributes, received negative performance feedback, and completed state shame and guilt measures. In Study 3 (N = 138), undergraduates focused on self-determined versus other determined self-aspects, reflected on a shortcoming or neutral event, and completed state shame, guilt, and self-esteem measures. In Study 4 (N = 75), undergraduates thought about true self-attributes, an achievement, or an ordinary event; received positive or negative performance feedback; and completed state shame and guilt measures. In Study 1, differences in true self-expression positively predicted shame-free guilt (but not guilt-free shame) following reminders of a shortcoming. Studies 2-4 found that experimental activation of true self-conceptions increased shame-free guilt and generally decreased guilt-free shame in response to negative evaluative experiences. The findings offer novel insights into true self-conceptions by revealing their impact on negative self-conscious emotions.