Shame is a complex emotion and often discussed with reluctance; these feelings are usually incapacitating and unbearable. In this thesis, four studies explored aspects of shame vulnerability and shame management. First, a cross-sectional study (n = 240) was carried out to assess factors contributing to the experience of shame. This study demonstrated that negative self-judgment and submissive coping strategies accounted for a significant variance in shame above and beyond the effects of recall of adverse childhood experiences, and that negative self-judgment fully mediated the relationship between recall of childhood experiences and shame. The second study (n = 140 and n = 415) examined the underlying factor structure of a new measure: the Acceptance of Shame and Embarrassment Scale (ASES). Factor analysis in both samples revealed that the ASES had good internal consistency and construct validity. Thirdly, a cross sectional study (n = 159) considered self-compassion and mindfulness as methods of shame management and demonstrated that mindful and self-compassionate were significantly and negatively correlated with the experience of shame. In addition, this study showed that self-compassion fully mediated the mindfulness-shame relationship. The final experimental study (n = 120) assessed the effect of shame on mind wandering. Participants were assigned to shame, pride, or control conditions, and mind wandering during a subsequent reading task was measured using retrospective and behavioural methods. Inducing feelings of shame did not have a significant effect on mind wandering. Overall, these studies suggested that (a) adverse childhood experiences were significantly associated with negative self-judgment and shame, (b) adopting submissive coping strategies is likely to increase the chance of shame vulnerability, (c) the Acceptance of Shame and Embarrassment Scale had promising psychometric properties for assessing acceptance of shame and embarrassment experiences, (d) self-compassion mediated the relationship between mindfulness and shame, and (e) inducing feelings of shame did not have a significant effect on mind wandering.

This study explored honour and shame for South Asian British Muslim men and women. It aimed to offer plausible answers to the definition, concept, impact and gender differences of honour and shame for this sociocultural and faith group of people. This qualitative piece of research encompassed triangulation of individual interviews, focus groups and photo elicitation. Thirty participants who were of South Asian British Muslim identities were recruited via a purposive sampling strategy. This included men and women of diverse demographics and locations with an age range of nineteen - sixty-four. The majority of interviews were conducted in English, with some participant's sporadic dialogue in Arabic, Bangla, Punjabi and Urdu. The methodology was thematic analysis. Seven main themes were identified via thematic analysis of the data. A humanistic stance underpinned the conduct of the study alongside a hermeneutic researcher stance. A social constructivist and interpretive epistemological position in conjunction with a critical realism perspective infused the research process. A predominantly insider researcher position was established which was a major influence in eliciting the rich, deep and meaningful data which emerged regarding the honour and shame phenomena. Researcher reflexivity was a key factor in how the research was approached, conducted, interpreted and understood. This study identified a threefold patriarchal construct; Western, South Asian and Muslim underpinned the honour and shame phenomena. The research illustrated honour appeared to be relational and the nexus which held the family relationships together. Shame seemed to be the substance which fractured this complicated structure. There were narratives of some South Asian British Muslim women being sectioned and admitted into psychiatric institutions due to them being at risk to themselves/and or other persons. The deterioration in their mental health appeared to be closely associated with their experiences of being subjected to abusive honour and shame stipulations. The study also found cultural and traditional mores were very influential components in deleterious honour and shame practices, which at times replaced Islamic principles. One of the more significant findings to emerge from this study was that some British Muslim Bangladeshi communities practised a bride price system. These findings cannot be extrapolated to all South Asian British Muslims as they derived from a small sample size.

Platão constrói sua argumentação filosófica no Górgias sobre um pano de fundo dramático intenso, em que Sócrates discute, ao longo de três \"atos\", questões que versam sobre a natureza da retórica, da justiça, da felicidade e do prazer. Sócrates discute com três interlocutores que defendem a prática da retórica; ao levá-los, pela vergonha, à refutação de suas posições, o protagonista do diálogo deslegitima a prática, relacionando-a ao prazer, em detrimento do bem, e defendendo a filosofia como a única prática política legítima. Esta dissertação tem como objetivo analisar o papel dos elementos dramáticos e literários presentes no Górgias. Defendo a tese de que ao considerar a integração entre os procedimentos literários e dramáticos e os argumentos no texto, notada, por exemplo, a partir da centralidade do tema da vergonha, somos capazes de oferecer uma compreensão mais completa sobre a definição da filosofia enquanto boa retórica alternativa. / Plato constructs his philosphical argument in the Gorgias upon an intense three-act sctructured dramatic backgroud, in which Sorates discusses questions regarding the natures of rhetoric, justice, happiness and pleasure. Throughout the dialogue, Socrates debates with three interlocutors that defend rhetoric as a social practice. He refutes their positions through shame, deslegitimizes rhetoric by showing its intrisic relation with pleasure and argues that philosophy is the only legitimate and true political pratice. This work intends to analyze the role of the dramatic and literary elements found in the Gorgias. I argue that the integration between literary and dramatic devices and the arguments in the text leads us to a better comprehension about the definition of philosophy as an alternative good rhetoric and its power of acting through shame, which is displayed in the dramatic confrontation between Socrates and his opponents.

Orientador: Francisco Hashimoto / Banca: Thassia Emídio de Castro / Banca: Ana Maria Rodrigues de Carvalho / Resumo: Neste trabalho visou-se identificar se há presença do sentimento da vergonha em "trecheiros" (nômades) no mundo contemporâneo e quais significados são construídos na vida dessas pessoas. Tal compreensão foi efetuada a partir do questionamento sobre o sujeito, a sua história, sua relação com o grupo e com a sociedade. Em tal perspectiva visou realizar uma análise, considerando as articulações entre o social e o psiquismo, a questão dos sujeitos nas ciências humanas e sociais. Assim, definiu-se como objetivo geral: compreender as múltiplas facetas da vergonha na vivência de "trecheiros" e os significados dessa condição no mundo contemporâneo. Isso levou a estudos sobre as características da vergonha e os diferentes tipos desse sentimento que aparecem nos trecheiros. A pesquisa se fundamentou na abordagem psicossociológica e o material de estudo foi constituído por relatos de oitos "trecheiros" que fazem uso dos serviços do C.A.M. (Centro Atendimento ao Migrante) de Assis - SP. Os dados foram obtidos por meio de entrevistas semi-dirigidas, com duração variável. Com o desenvolvimento desse trabalho, buscou-se contribuir para a compreensão do sentimento da vergonha e de como ela interfere na vida das pessoas, tentando compreender o sujeito sobre si mesmo e no meio social em que faz parte, e deste modo, colaborar com estudos e reflexões acerca da vivência do indivíduo no contexto atual / Abstract: On this research it was intended to identify the feeling of shame among "trecheiros" (nomads) in the contemporary world and which meanings are built on those people's lives. Such comprehension was achieved by questioning the subjects, their histories, their relationship with groups and society. In this perspective an analysis was made, considering the articulations between the social sphere and psychism, the query of subjects in social sciences. Therefore, a general objective was outlined: to understand the multiple facets of shame in the lives of the "trecheiros", and also the meanings of this condition in the contemporary world. This understanding led the study to the characteristics of shame and the different types of this feeling, which appear on the "trecheiros". The research was based on a psychosociological approach and the material was composed of narration of eight "trecheiros" who use the services of the C.A.M. (Centro Atendimento ao Migrante - Migrant Care Center), in Assis, state of São Paulo. Data was obtained through semi-structured qualitative interviews, which had unfixed length of time. This research has sought contribution to the understanding of the feeling of shame and how it interferes on people's lives, trying to comprehend the subjects over themselves and the milieu to which they belong, and by doing so, the contribution to the studies and reflection over the experience of life of individuals in the current context / Mestre

In the #metoo movement some men were named in accusations of sexual harassment or sexual abuse. Some people compared the naming to a mob society and that was the inspiration behind this essay. The aim of this essay is to compare the namings linked to #metoo with shame punishment when it was used as a punishment method by the Swedish judicial system. The theoretical perspectives used in this study are Chantal Mouffe and Ernesto Laclau’s discourse theory and Michel Foucault’s theories about punishment and discipline. The methods used to collect the empirical material are netnography, where some discussion threads have been studied, archive studies and a survey. The intention was that there should have been more material from archives used, but since it turned out to be difficult within this time frame, the information was instead mostly found in previous studies and other literature. The material showed that there are some similarities between the naming and shame punishment, but there are also aspects that make them differ. The similarities are that they both can be seen as punishment, the shame punishment was also much about sexual offenses, shame is an aim and they have both received critic by those who think it is a cruel thing to do to someone. The differences are that the body is not a part of the namings, the shame punishments were practiced by the juridical system and that it was easier to get out of a shame punishment if a person was rich. In addition men who broke the law against any sexual intercourse outside of marriage had it easier to avoid getting caught since they were not the ones getting pregnant. In #metoo money or gender was/is not a guarantee to escape being named and/or identified as a sex-offender.

Self-compassion and self-forgiveness appear to have much in common, as both relate to one’s self-regard during challenging circumstances; however, their empirical relationship is largely yet to be explored. The present study examines theoretical and empirical areas of overlap and proposes a theory of their relationship, including its possible impact on health. Self-compassion and self-forgiveness were proposed to have a direct relationship that may be mediated by reduction in rumination, shame, and experiential avoidance. These factors together were also hypothesized to have a positive impact on health functioning. The current study tested these models in a sample of undergraduate students (n = 199). In parallel mediation analysis, selfcompassion and self-forgiveness were related to one another and this association was partially mediated by shame, only. As such, neither rumination nor experiential avoidance were included in subsequent analyses. In serial mediation analyses, self-compassion, shame, and selfforgiveness were found to affect health outcomes in various ways. For psychological distress, the association of self-compassion was partially mediated by shame and self-forgiveness, in an indistinguishable fashion. For mental health status, self-compassion was found to have a significant direct effect, only. For both somatic symptoms (full mediation) and physical health status (indirect only effect), the association of self-compassion operated through self-forgiveness both alone and linked with shame. As these two emerging areas in the psychological literature continue to mature, researchers should prioritize both integration between and nuances within these constructs in order to develop a more complete understanding of self-compassion, selfforgiveness, and their implications for health.

Hospitality is relational, a system of ethics contending with difference, navigating the mutable boundaries between self and Other. Desire or duty to reflect the gracious inclusivity of God without regard for reciprocation marks Christian hospitality in particular. Given the shortcomings of humankind in comparison to the divine, however, the utopian ideal of hospitality extended to all cannot be had on Earth. Thus, the impulse to reach out to the Other continually comingles with the shameful awareness of human limitation, a paradox the philosopher Emmanuel Levinas calls “infinite responsibility.” Building upon Levinas’s concept and fellow philosopher Jacques Derrida’s assertion that “ethics is hospitality,” I examine how various U.S. writers engender or interrogate the concept of Christian hospitality. Specifically, I investigate how each author develops shame as an affect with regard to Christian hospitality to the racial Other, the impoverished Other, the sexual Other, and the inanimate and animate Other in the natural world. The chapters feature case studies focusing primarily on one historical figure, Christopher Columbus, and three writers—Erskine Caldwell, Richard Rodriguez, and Leslie Marmon Silko—and four key moments in U.S. history: the 1892 celebrations of Christopher Columbus as a figure of belonging vs. later shameful perceptions of him as a figure of oppression; the plight of the rural poor in Depression-era Georgia; the ostracism of AIDS sufferers in San Francisco in the early 1990s; and the conflict between capitalist developers and environmentalists in the Southwest in the early 2000s. I demonstrate 1) how an author interrogates the tenets of Christian hospitality; and 2) how shame can both inspire commitment to social change and cloud a text’s reception due to negative, and even painful, emotions. Ultimately, I examine the authors’ attempts at “mobilizing shame,” a tactic among activist authors to trigger public shame in order to garner support at the grassroots level, ultimately shaming government bodies and average citizens into reform.

Binge eating is a harmful, maladaptive behavior associated with comorbid psychopathology. Theory posits that increases in maladaptive, transdiagnostic emotions following binge eating in individuals with BN may predict the experience of comorbid symptoms. The current study served as a laboratory test of the first part of this theory: whether state increases in maladaptive emotions occur following engagement in binge eating behavior in women with BN compared with healthy controls. Women (n = 51) were recruited from the community if they met DSM-5 criteria for BN or OSFED BN (of low frequency) (n = 21) or were free of lifetime disordered eating and current psychopathology (n = 30). Participants completed questionnaires assessing eating disorder symptoms (preoccupation with weight and shape, urge to vomit), state shame, and state negative affect before and after consuming a test meal in which they were instructed to binge. Women with BN endorsed significantly greater preoccupation with weight and shape and urge to vomit following test meal consumption compared with controls. Women with BN reported significant increases in state shame, but not state negative affect, following test meal consumption, compared with controls. Results are consistent with a model indicating binge eating precipitates increases in state shame among women with BN. Given shame’s status as a transdiagnostic risk factor, future work should clarify whether state shame following binge eating predicts increases in comorbid symptoms.

Throughout the empirical psychological literature on emotion, the general consensus is that shame is maladaptive, while guilt is the adaptive moral emotion. Conversely, evolutionary psychology concludes that all emotions serve adaptive functions. Specifically, shame serves an appeasement function in social relationships. In order to investigate the true nature of shame, the current study used an experimental design. Specifically, a 2 (high shame, no shame) X 2 (high guilt, no guilt) design with a no-mistakes control group was implemented, and shame and guilt were operationalized through an evolutionary lens (i.e., shame as a nonverbal display, guilt as verbalizations of apology). Participants (n = 110) were told they would be assisting psychology faculty members with interviewing candidates for a research position. During the interview, the candidate made three mistakes, and showed shame and/or guilt according to the 2 X 2 design. Participants then rated how well the candidate performed. Results were analyzed using a 2-way ANOVA and independent samples t tests, and it was found that participants rated the candidate more favorably in both shame conditions. Importantly, there were no significant differences between those participants who viewed the candidate who made no mistakes (control condition) and those that viewed the candidate showing shame after multiple mistakes. Thus, apparently saying 'sorry' is not quite enough.

Background: Objectification theory considers how gender and culture intersect to position women at a greater risk of developing eating disorders, depression, and sexual dysfunction. Self-objectification is defined as the internalization of a third person perspective to view one’s own body, which then leads to mental health consequences of anxiety, body shame, insensitivity to internal drives, and decreased peak motivational states. Body surveillance, the habitual and constant monitoring of the body, denotes the behavioral manifestation of self-objectification. Altogether, the accumulation of objectifying experiences and mental health consequences heighten women’s risks of developing the aforementioned mental disorders. Rationale: Extant experimental and correlational research supports objectification theory, in particular regarding eating disorders and depression. Research into the effects of social media on mental health is a relatively new frontier, thus gaps exist in the current body of literature. This study endeavored to contribute to the existing research base by employing qualitative methods to impart women’s personal descriptions of the experience of self-objectification and its proposed consequences in relation to social media use. Purpose of the Study: The purpose of the study was to explore how women’s social media consumption contributes to self-objectification, body surveillance, appearance comparison, body shame, and appearance-based self-worth. Also, the study sought to understand if women perceived themselves differently when they were not using social media platforms. Methods: Fifteen women completed the Social Media Use and Activities Questionnaire and the in-depth, semi-structured interview. The questionnaire assessed women’s active social media accounts, frequency of social media use, and social media behaviors. The interview protocol contained questions designed to extract explanations of constructs from objectification theory such as self-objectification, body surveillance, and body shame. A multilevel thematic data analysis was performed. Results: All of the individuals interviewed were heavy social media users based on the frequency of use (66.7% visit platforms several times daily), as well as the number of accounts operated (minimum of 4). Indicative of self-objectification and body surveillance, women emphasized the importance of how their physical appearance and body attributes are portrayed on social media sites. Also consistent with the definition of self-objectification, women expressed concerns about perceptions, reactions, and disapproval from others on social media regarding their physical appearance. Three additional modalities of body surveillance surfaced including: (1) using filters to enhance or modify the appearance of skin in pictures; (2) posing to accentuate facial features, hairstyles, and body attributes; and (3) women’s personal criteria regarding uploading and “tagging” of appearance-based pictures shared on social media. Findings strongly suggest women compare their physical appearances, features, and bodies to other women. Beauty ideals are determined by evaluating the number of individuals associated with other women’s social media accounts, as well as the distribution of ‘likes’ and positive comments written by people on their appearance-focused content. Five women recollected comparing their appearances and bodies to others, engaging in body surveillance, and feeling as if their own body and appearance failed to comply with beauty ideals, which then led to the experience of feeling body shame. Low self-esteem, depression, disordered eating, compulsive exercise, or bulimia nervosa were cited as reasons for deletion, temporary deactivation, or taking breaks from social media. Refraining from using social media was associated with feeling less pressured, engaging in less comparisons overall, being more mindful of the present moment, and relaxing standards for personal appearances. Conclusions: This study generated contextually rich, in-depth descriptions which illustrated women’s experiences with self-objectification, body surveillance, appearance comparisons, body shame, and appearance-based self-worth in the virtual world of social media. Based on results from this study, objectification theory is clearly applicable to women’s social media use and there is definitive need for future research to address the effects of social media consumption on mental health, particularly among younger generations. Meanwhile, primary prevention initiatives should educate people about the process of self-objectification and its associated consequences, as well as teach resistance strategies. Learning how to deconstruct media content, critically analyze others' online portrayals, and build self-esteem and self-worth may impede self-objectification and its negative mental health effects. Furthermore, public health campaigns should build upon the momentum of the body positivity movement. Known to young women as “BoPo,” this movement encourages women to see themselves as more than their bodies, inspires self-acceptance, and empowers them to be unapologetic and celebrate their body in its current form without adhering to societal beauty norms. These messages are instrumental to dismantling beauty ideals, exhibiting inclusivity of all body types, and mitigating the effects of sexual objectification of the female body.