Not so ugly after all: When shame acts as a commitment device.

Ilona E. de Hooge · Seger M. Breugelmans · Marcel Zeelenberg

306 citations0/0 files storedJournal of Personality and Social Psychology

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Emotions and Moral Behavior Experimental Behavioral Economics Studies Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment

Abstract

Most psychological theories and research on shame focus on the ugly aspects and negative consequences of this emotion. Theories on moral emotions, however, assume that shame acts as a commitment device motivating prosocial behavior. To solve this apparent paradox, the authors studied the effects of shame on prosocial behavior. Shame was hypothesized to motivate prosocial behavior when it was relevant for the decision at hand (endogenous). In contrast, shame that was not relevant for the decision at hand (exogenous) was hypothesized to have no such effects. Four experiments with three different shame inductions and two different measures of prosocial behavior confirmed that endogenous shame motivated prosocial behavior for proselfs but that exogenous shame did not. Shame is shown to have a clear interpersonal function in the sense that it acts as a commitment device.

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References

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2016Shame closely tracks the threat of devaluation by others, even across cultures 2011Concern for self‐image and social image in the management of moral failure: Rethinking shame 2009Restore and protect motivations following shame 2015Forgiving the self and physical and mental health correlates: A meta-analytic review.2014Two Faces of Shame 2009The “Shoulds” and “Should Nots” of Moral Emotions: A Self-Regulatory Perspective on Shame and Guilt

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