Characteristics of shame and guilt

During the past decade, shame and guilt have increasingly captured the attention of many social scientists. One sign of this growing interest is the proliferation of instruments available to measure the two constructs (see table 12.1 for a brief overview of the instruments most widely used to measure adults' self-reports of guilt and shame). Although the instruments differ greatly, they reflect a growing consensus regarding fundamental differences between the two emotions in terms of their situational antecedents, appraisals, experiential aspects, and action tendencies. Shame involves a focus on one's global self – who I am and who I do not want to be – with its source being an unwanted identity. Because of the focus on one's own or others' (imagined) evaluation of the self as inferior or deficient, the ashamed person feels exposed, small, passive, and unable. We frequently hide or privately manage shame, because of its painful nature. At the same time, “being” ashamed communicates an awareness that we are somehow inadequate and need to defer or change lest someone launch further attacks on our identity and bases for our mutual relationships.

While shame involves the global self, some construe guilt as a reaction to a specific act of omission or commission that violates moral standards. We prefer to view guilt as arising from people's belief that their behavior somehow disadvantages a valued other. Immoral deeds (e.g., infidelity) can provoke guilt in some people, some of the time. But many guilt-inducing events do not necessarily involve unethical behaviors (e.g., outperforming your best friend on an exam; getting invited to a party when your friend did not).