Moral affect: The good, the bad, and the ugly.

Abstract

The relations among 3 moral affective personality characteristics--shame-proneness, guilt-proneness, and empathic responsiveness--were examined in 4 independent studies of undergraduates. Results indicate that shame and guilt are distinct affective experiences that have important and quite different implications in the interpersonal realm. There was a substantial positive correlation between shame-proneness and guilt-proneness. Nonetheless, as predicted, other-oriented empathic responsiveness was negatively related to proneness to shame but positively correlated with proneness to guilt. In contrast, an index of more self-oriented personal distress was positively linked to shame-proneness. Taken together, these results add a new dimension to the ugliness of shame but suggest that guilt may not be that bad after all, at least in the interpersonal domain.

Cites (3)

1. The necessary and sufficient conditions of therapeutic personality change.
   Rogers, Carl R. · 1957 · Journal of Consulting Psychology
2. Frustration-aggression hypothesis: Examination and reformulation.
   Berkowitz, Leonard · 1989 · Psychological Bulletin
3. Shamed into anger? The relation of shame and guilt to anger and self-reported aggression.
   Tangney, June P., Wagner, Patricia, Fletcher, Carey, Gramzow, Richard · 1992 · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

Show all 3 references

Cited by (44)

1. High self-control predicts good adjustment, less pathology, better grades, and interpersonal success
   Tangney, June P., Baumeister, Roy F., Boone, Angie Luzio · 2004 · Journal of Personality
2. Moral Emotions and Moral Behavior
   Tangney, June Price, Stuewig, Jeff, Mashek, Debra J. · 2007 · Annual Review of Psychology
3. Emotion, regulation, and moral development
   Eisenberg, Nancy · 2000 · Annual Review of Psychology
4. Relation of threatened egotism to violence and aggression: The dark side of high self-esteem.
   Baumeister, Roy F., Smart, Laura, Boden, Joseph M. · 1996 · Psychological Review
5. The grateful disposition: A conceptual and empirical topography.
   McCullough, Michael E., Emmons, Robert A., Tsang, Jo-Ann · 2002 · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

See all 802