The Psychology Of Shame

This volume reports on the growing body of knowledge on shame and guilt, integrating findings from the authors' original research program with other data emerging from social, clinical, personality, and developmental psychology. Evidence is presented to demonstrate that these universally experienced affective phenomena have significant implications for many aspects of human functioning, with particular relevance for interpersonal relationships. --From publisher's description.

In this classic volume, Kaufman synthesizes object relations theory, interpersonal theory, and, in particular, Silvan Tompkins's affect theory, to provide a powerful and multidimensional view of shame. Using his own clinical experience, he illustrates the application of affect theory to general classes of shame-based syndromes including compulsive; schizoid, depressive, and paranoid; sexual dysfunction; splitting; and sociopathic. This second edition includes two new chapters in which Dr. Kaufman presents shame as a societal dynamic and shows its impact on culture. He examines the role of shame in shaping the evolving identity of racial, ethnic, and religious minorities, and expands his theory of governing scenes. This new edition will continue to be of keen interest to clinical psychiatrists as well as graduate students.

To "feel ashamed" is perhaps one of the most studied human emotional experiences. Ironically, there is no agreement yet on what people mean when they say that they "feel ashamed". This can be reflected not only in the numerous definitions of the feeling but also in the numerous subjective understandings of it. In psychology, there are multiple definitions of shame. For example, Freud argued that shame was a reaction formation against sexual desires. In his eyes, the expression; "I feel ashamed" should be understood as being in the midst of an internal fight against pleasurable desires. In the later, psychodynamic tradition, the expression "I feel ashamed" should be understood as a scorning feeling that disable the client. This book discusses the psychology of shame. It explains the connection between shame and eating disorders; the role of shame in intimate and sexual violence; the psychological distress shame may cause in performing artists and athletes; positive interpersonal consequences of shame; the path to gelotophobia; the true meaning of feeling ashamed; and shame and masculinity in early China.

This volume combines empirical research-based and theoretical perspectives on shame in cultural contexts and from socio-culturally different perspectives, providing new insights and a more comprehensive cultural base for contemporary research and practice in the context of shame. It examines shame from a positive psychology perspective, from the angle of defining the concept as a psychological and cultural construct, and with regard to practical perspectives on shame across cultures. The volume provides sound foundations for researchers and practitioners to develop new models, therapies and counseling practices to redefine and re-frame shame in a way that leads to strength, resilience and empowerment of the individual.

With the first unified theory of guilt, shame, and anxiety, this pioneering psychiatrist and critic of psychiatric diagnoses and drugs examines the causes and effects of psychological and emotional suffering from the perspective of biological evolution, child development, and mature adult decision-making. Drawing on evolution, neuroscience, and decades of clinical experience, Dr. Breggin analyzes what he calls our negative legacy emotions—the painful emotional heritage that encumbers all human beings. The author marshals evidence that we evolved as the most violent and yet most empathic creatures on Earth. Evolution dealt with this species-threatening conflict between our violence and our close-knit social life by building guilt, shame, and anxiety into our genes. These inhibiting emotions were needed prehistorically to control our self-assertiveness and aggression within intimate family and clan relationships. Dr. Breggin shows how guilt, shame, and anxiety eventually became self-defeating and demoralizing legacies from our primitive past that no longer play any useful or positive role in mature adult life. He then guides the reader through the Three Steps to Emotional Freedom, starting with how to identify negative legacy emotions and then how to reject their control over us. Finally, he describes how to triumph over and transcend guilt, shame, and anxiety on the way to greater emotional freedom and a more rational, loving, and productive life.

Shame is one of our most central feelings and a universal human characteristic. Why do we experience it? For what purpose? How can we cope with excessive feelings of shame? In this elegant exposition informed by many years of helping people to understand feelings of shame, leading Jungian analyst Mario Jacoby provided a comprehensive exploration of the many aspects of shame and showed how it occupies a central place in our emotional experience. Jacoby demonstrated that a lack of self-esteem is often at the root of excessive shame, and as well as providing practical examples of how therapy can help, he drew upon a wealth of historical and cultural scholarship to show how important shame is for us in both its individual and social aspects. This Classic Edition includes a new foreword by Marco Della Chiesa.

Given their strong theoretical relevance to both individual and interpersonal adjustment and functioning, it is ironic that the "self-conscious" emotions have been among the most neglected in the research literature. In recent years, however, the study of affect has come into its own as a vigorous, respectable, and productive branch of scientific psychology, and with this shift has come a new interest in emotions such as shame, guilt, embarrassment, and pride. This volume provides a comprehensive, in-depth review of the current theoretical and empirical literature on these emotions. It brings together contributions from leading researchers and theoreticians from the fields of developmental psychology, clinical psychology, psychiatry, and sociology, reflecting the emerging coherence in this area of study. The introduction provides a general framework for conceptualization and research on the self-conscious emotions. The book then addresses developmental issues, including the nature of these affective experiences among children, from late infancy to middle childhood, and implications for children's psychosocial functioning. Detailed explorations of the relationship of self-conscious emotions to aspects of social behavior and the social environment and to various types of psychopathology are also presented. Chapters demonstrate how an understanding of self-conscious emotions can greatly enhance the treatment of a wide range of maladaptive patterns of behavior, including marital conflict, depression, anxiety, and antisocial behavior. The final section discusses cross-cultural continuities and discontinuities in self-conscious affect. Throughout, the book highlights the need for innovative and diverse methodologies to systematically study the nature and functions of these feelings. The unique focus on empirical approaches makes this work an invaluable resource for the growing number of researchers interested in the study of self-conscious affect and social behavior. Demonstrating the wide-ranging implications of this research for clinical practice, the book will interest practitioners in clinical psychology, psychiatry, and developmental psychology. In addition, Self-Conscious Emotions will benefit professionals in social psychology, sociology, and anthropology, and will serve as useful text for courses in the psychology of emotion, personality and emotion, and cultural psychology.