Reactions to Violation of Normative Standards: A Cross‐Cultural Analysis of Shame and Guilt

Abstract

This study investigates the responses from individuals from three culture groups (Germans, Kurds, and Lebanese) following the violation of legal, religious, and traditional norms. The three samples formed two main groups with regard to their cultural orientation; the German sample showed an individualistic orientation whereas the other two samples (Kurds and Lebanese) showed a clear collectivistic orientation. As hypothesized by cross‐cultural researchers, it was expected that individuals from collectivistic cultures would respond to normative violations with more shame and individuals from individualistic orientations with more guilt. The findings show that subjects from collectivistic cultures respond with more shame and guilt than subjects from the individualistic culture. However, there was no distinction with regard to the degree of guilt between the two main culture groups. Since the three culture groups show a similar religious outlook in terms of monotheism (Christianity and Islam), it was suggested that this factor increases the degree of guilt even for subjects with a collectivistic background. Moreover, it was found that the Kurds and Lebanese showed a greater willingness to keep to the norms of religion and tradition, and less willingness to allow state laws to intervene in family and ingroup disputes.

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