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Lancet (London, England) Mar 2024
Topics: Humans; Pandemics; Shame; International Cooperation
PubMed: 38431338
DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(24)00410-0 -
Frontiers in Psychology 2023Guilt, shame, and embarrassment represent affective experiences with social implications and diverse self-relevant negative affect. While the distinction between these...
INTRODUCTION
Guilt, shame, and embarrassment represent affective experiences with social implications and diverse self-relevant negative affect. While the distinction between these emotion terms has been extensively investigated, little is known about how they diverge and are related to each other and their crosscultural differences.
METHODS
Here, we used a community sample ( = 163) comprised of Americans and Italians and a scenario-based measure in which we asked participants to report the intensity of emotions that the story's main character would feel. The elements used to build the scenarios were based on a recent theoretical approach that proposes distinguishing cognitive, somatic, interoceptive, and behavioral ingredients to differentiate between these emotions. We hypothesized that these ingredients might effectively elicit the target emotions and that the main differences across these cultures would be associated with the emotion terms of shame/vergogna.
RESULTS
Our findings suggest that these defining elements are effective in evoking experiences of guilt, shame, and embarrassment. Moreover, we found that shame was equally elicited by the Shame and Guilt Scenarios only in the American sample, thus suggesting a proximity between shame and guilt in the American sample compared to the Italian's terms of vergogna and colpa.
DISCUSSION
These results suggest important implications for the psychology of moral emotions and highlight the importance of taking into account some cognitive factors, such as the quality of self-evaluation, the discrepancy between the actual self and the ideal self vs. the sense of perceived responsibility, and the different domains related to self-esteem.
PubMed: 38192392
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1260396 -
American Journal of Obstetrics and... May 2024
PubMed: 38789070
DOI: 10.1016/j.ajog.2024.05.034 -
Culture, Health & Sexuality Jun 2024This paper uses Ambiguous Loss Theory to explore the anticipatory and ambiguous losses and stressors surrounding the decision to come out as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual,...
This paper uses Ambiguous Loss Theory to explore the anticipatory and ambiguous losses and stressors surrounding the decision to come out as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender or Queer. Purposive sampling was used to administer a survey to 429 individuals who identified as LGBTQ+ about their coming out decisions and experiences. Data were coded and three major themes were developed: (1) the need for psychosocial safety (fear of being disowned, shunned or abandoned); (2) experiences of anxiety, depression, emotional stress, and shame; and (3) the pursuit of authenticity, self-discovery and liberation. Findings from the study indicate that coming out for LGBTQ+ individuals in the twenty first century remains accompanied by challenges and fears, both before and after the process, which significantly affects individuals' health and safety. In the longer term, despite the challenges, stressors and losses identified by participants, most reported that disclosing their sexual orientation had greatly improved their health and mental well-being.
PubMed: 38847329
DOI: 10.1080/13691058.2024.2360989 -
PloS One 2023In the present research we tested the differential effects of anger versus shame as emotional predictors of ingroup disidentification in one rather collectivistic...
In the present research we tested the differential effects of anger versus shame as emotional predictors of ingroup disidentification in one rather collectivistic (Japan) and two rather individualistic societies (Germany, Canada). We tested the idea that individuals cope with socially undesired emotions by disidentifying from their group. Specifically, we predicted that after a group conflict, anger, an undesired emotion in Japan, would elicit disidentification in Japan, whereas shame, an undesired emotion in Canada and Germany, would elicit disidentification in Germany and Canada. Study 1 (N = 378) found that anger, but not shame, was related to disidentification in Japan, whereas shame, but not anger, was related to disidentification in Canada and Germany. Study 2 (N = 171) shows that, after group conflict, Japanese disidentified more when imagining to feel angry, whereas Germans disidentified more when imagining to feel ashamed. Implications for these findings are discussed.
Topics: Humans; Anger; Shame; Emotions; Canada; Germany
PubMed: 37672540
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0289918 -
Psychiatric Services (Washington, D.C.) Oct 2023Preliminary empirical evidence suggests that self-stigma may be a significant problem for those with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Although research on...
Preliminary empirical evidence suggests that self-stigma may be a significant problem for those with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Although research on self-stigma for persons with PTSD is limited, some PTSD symptoms, such as negative thoughts about oneself, feelings of shame, and avoidance-particularly of social interactions-may be conceptually related to self-stigma, potentially explaining the co-occurrence and relevance of self-stigma in PTSD. This Open Forum reviews how the social cognitive model may explain the co-occurrence of self-stigma and PTSD, considers how this model may inform treatment approaches for self-stigma in PTSD, and identifies next steps to empirically test the proposed theory.
Topics: Humans; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic; Concept Formation; Social Stigma; Shame
PubMed: 36935625
DOI: 10.1176/appi.ps.20220397 -
Memory (Hove, England) Jul 2023We extend Conway's self-memory system by adding theory and data from shame, an emotion that disrupts the internalised ideals of society needed for a positive...
We extend Conway's self-memory system by adding theory and data from shame, an emotion that disrupts the internalised ideals of society needed for a positive self-concept. The event that caused 273 undergraduates their greatest amount of shame was analyzed; 66% were not very negative except for producing shame. Ratings of post-event effects, including two measure of self (self-perceived weakness, and centrality to identity) and four clinical symptoms (intrusions, avoidance, anxiety, and depression), were attributed separately to the remembered event, behaviour during the event, and shame from the event. The effects of shame were generally as large as the those of the event and larger than those of the behaviour, demonstrating the importance of shame's effects. The Tonic Immobility Scale (TIS), which measures tonic immobility (i.e., freezing), was obtained for the event that produced the most tonic immobility but that was not the event that caused the most shame. The post-event symptoms measured on the event that caused the most shame and the TIS correlated highly, suggesting that shame and tonic immobility may belong to a cluster of phylogenetically conserved submissive defensive mechanisms that could account for effects currently attributed to goals in self-memory systems.
PubMed: 37525335
DOI: 10.1080/09658211.2023.2241673 -
Drug and Alcohol Dependence May 2024Interpersonal trauma is a risk factor for a wide array of adverse mental health outcomes, including substance use. Research has begun investigating the role of shame in... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND
Interpersonal trauma is a risk factor for a wide array of adverse mental health outcomes, including substance use. Research has begun investigating the role of shame in the intersection between substance use and interpersonal trauma. The current systematic review summarizes the existing literature documenting the relation among shame, substance use, and interpersonal trauma.
METHOD
Articles were collected using a Boolean search strategy of terms related to interpersonal trauma, substance use, and shame across six databases. Independent search and screening by three researchers led to a final review of 27 articles, 15 of which were qualitative studies.
RESULTS
Findings highlight robust associations among shame, interpersonal violence, and substance use across varied samples. Findings emphasize that increased shame is associated with greater substance use among survivors of interpersonal violence and elevated shame and greater interpersonal violence are present among individuals who use substances given the high prevalence rates. Burgeoning research suggests that shame mediates the relationship between interpersonal violence and substance use.
CONCLUSION
Results from our review suggest that shame may be an important treatment target for individuals presenting with substance use and a history of interpersonal violence. Future studies, with longitudinal designs, are needed to parse out the temporal relation among shame, substance use, and interpersonal violence.
Topics: Humans; Shame; Substance-Related Disorders; Interpersonal Relations; Violence; Risk Factors
PubMed: 38552599
DOI: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2024.111253 -
Frontiers in Psychology 2023The self-discrepancy theory proposes that having inconsistent self-representations can trigger feelings of shame and guilt, leading to experiences of depression and...
The self-discrepancy theory proposes that having inconsistent self-representations can trigger feelings of shame and guilt, leading to experiences of depression and anxiety. The aim of this study was to determine the distinct characteristics of each shame and guilt in relation to the connection between actual/ideal self-discrepancy and depression, as well as actual/ought self-discrepancy and anxiety. A total of 403 participants completed an online questionnaire assessing their self-discrepancy, shame, guilt, depression, and anxiety. Correlational analysis and structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis were used to assess the goodness of fit of the proposed model and the structural relationships between the variables. The key findings were as follows: (1) There were positive correlations among actual/ideal self-discrepancy, actual/ought self-discrepancy, shame, guilt, depression, and anxiety; (2) Shame partially mediated the association between actual/ideal self-discrepancy and depression; and (3) Guilt fully mediated the association between actual/ought self-discrepancy and anxiety. These outcomes uphold the self-discrepancy theory by confirming a distinct intra-psychological process involving shame and guilt. Each type of self-discrepancy was related to experiences of depression and anxiety. Our data suggest that researchers and practitioners should prioritize shame and guilt when examining individuals' self-discrepancy and related mental health challenges.
PubMed: 37842708
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1215177 -
Psychodynamic Psychiatry Dec 2023Burdening guilt refers to the belief that one's emotions, needs, and ways of being are a burden to others, and is one type of interpersonal guilt proposed by the...
Burdening guilt refers to the belief that one's emotions, needs, and ways of being are a burden to others, and is one type of interpersonal guilt proposed by the control-mastery theory (CMT). The aim of this article is to validate two new measures of burdening guilt. In the two studies conducted, we examined the psychometric properties of these scales and the relationship between burdening guilt and self-perceived burden (burdensomeness), self-esteem, shame, anxiety, depression, mental health, attachment insecurity, adverse childhood experiences, social desirability, empathy, and suicidal ideation. In Study 1, we presented a newly developed Burdening Guilt Rating Scale (BGRS) and its correlation with measures of the abovementioned dimensions. In Study 2 we verified, through confirmatory factor analysis and correlation techniques, the possibility of expanding the with a shorter, 5-item burdening guilt scale derived from the BGRS, and showed that this shorter scale correlates similarly to the longer one. Findings allowed us to validate these new scales providing empirical measures of burdening guilt-a theoretical concept with important clinical implications.
Topics: Humans; Guilt; Shame; Emotions; Suicidal Ideation; Anxiety
PubMed: 38047672
DOI: 10.1521/pdps.2023.51.4.479