This thesis comprises three main sections: a literature review, research report and a critical appraisal of the research process. The literature reviewed is the current scientific literature relating to shame and guilt. The review attempts to clarify the conceptual confusion regarding shame and guilt and in particular attempts to delineate the distinctions between the two constructs whilst acknowleding the intricate and entwined relationship. The review also attempts to clarify the confusion regarding the role of guilt and its capacity to elicit both adaptive and maladaptive responses according to the way in which it is operationalised and conceptualised. The importance of the relationship between shame, guilt and mental health problems is presented with supporting empirical evidence. It is concluded that a new shame and guilt measure is required to show how shame and the maladaptive and adaptive aspects of guilt can be operationalised. It is hoped that this will enable future researchers to consider incorporating a profile approach to guilt in particular and that clinicians will consider the multiple and complex roles of shame and guilt in relation to psychological symptoms. The research report (Section 2) comprises two studies. Study 1 is the design, development and piloting of the new questionnaire assessing dispositional shame and guilt. The new measure is constructed and validity tested using an inductive approach. Study 2 is the use of the new measure with a forensic clinical sample and the relationship between guilt, shame and psychological symptoms is examined. It is hoped that this study will encourage researchers to locate future investigations within the clinical population. The final section is the researcher's critical appraisal of the research process based on her personal diary. This section is reflective and considers the impact of the research process on the researcher, the highs and lows of the research process and what changes the researcher might make.

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In this thesis the researcher uses a multidisciplinary method to develop a clearer understanding of shame as it is experienced by Christians with moderate intellectual disabilities. He uses this analysis to develop a Trinitarian, limits-based theology of shame. He then identifies practical ecclesiastical responses. The researcher’s starting position is that Christians with moderate intellectual disabilities experience debilitating forms of shame. This position is justified in chapter 3, with reference to medical disability literature. In chapter 4 through 6, the researcher uses psychoanalytical and sociological shame theories in conjunction with disability theory to develop a biopsychosocial model of the causes, effects and means of alleviating debilitating forms of shame in persons with moderate intellectual disabilities. In chapter 7 through 9, he uses Christian shame and disability theories together with analysis of Faith and Light and L’Arche to extend this schema. The Trinitarian, limits-based theology of shame draws upon disability theory, introduces the concepts of the shame dilemma and transpersonal shame, and promotes pneumatological reflection as an appropriate ecclesiastical response to debilitating shame. The practical ecclesiastical responses centre upon the need to promote a sense of communal ‘belonging-unity’ and personal ‘growth-towards-ideals’ in Christians with moderate intellectual disabilities.

George Eliot's early novels Scenes of Clerical Life, Adam Bede, The Mill on the Floss, and Silas Marner, resist or rewrite English cultural myths that embody shame as a method of social control, especially myths from the Bible related to the doctrine of election. Eliot employs a two-level structure suggested by her reading of Feuerbach, Spinoza, and R.W. Mackay, in which the novels follow biblical plotlines, while she presents a positivist understanding of moral motivation derived from Spinoza, in which repressed shame must be acknowledged in order to attain moral freedom. In Chapter One, I argue that her favorite book as a child--The Linnet's Life--forecasts the psychic work of Eliot's protagonists. I also read Rousseau's Confessions--a book that she claimed had great influence on her--and demonstrate how Rousseau's understanding of shame as a corrupting influence shaped her treatment of shame in her novels. In Chapter Two, I discuss Scenes of Clerical Life in the context of English mythologies of the French Revolution. Deploying the gothic mode, Eliot rewrites characters from Carlyle's History of the French Revolution, and Dickens's Little Dorrit, to interrogate the tendency of the English to view all people like themselves as the elect, and to vilify and shame those who differ. In Chapters Three and Four, I argue that Eliot structures the plots of Adam Bede and The Mill on the Floss from the Genesis story of Cain and Abel, which is the type of election. Eliot uses this mythological structure to interrogate the power of shame to produce the very evil behavior it condemns, in Hetty, Maggie, and Mr. Tulliver. I discuss Romantic and Victorian versions of the Cain and Abel story, such as Byron's closet drama Cain compared to Eliot's own extension of the story in her poem The Legend of Jubal. I also discuss the treatment of the story of Cain and Abel in various theological treatises, by Bede, Augustine and Calvin. In Chapter Five, I argue Silas Marner's history parallels the history of the Hebrews from the flood, to the Babylonian exile and return. Eliot's treatment suggests that whether Silas is wicked or elect, the narrative is about the vindication of God, not Silas. In contrast, Silas himself is vindicated in the plot with Godfrey because of his choice to care for Eppie. Eppie represents the positive development of Christianity from the ancient Hebrew religion, as it was influenced and purified by Babylonian monotheistic religion. For Eliot (following Feuerbach and Mackay), the "Essence of Christianity" was not the shaming doctrine of election, but rather the doctrine of Christ, who offered forgiveness rather than blame and shame.

My goal in the present work is to add to our understanding of Socratic protreptic. I do so by focussing on psychological traits and qualities of character in Socrates’ young associates. There are a number of candidates throughout the dialogues whose colourful depiction and careful psychological rendering offer us ample material for study. In this study, I focus on two characters in particular. First, I look at the presentation of Alcibiades in the final scene of Symposium. Here I explore how Plato uses hubris and shame to explain the failure of protreptic in this gifted Socratic associate. Next, I look at Theaetetus as presented in the eponymously named dialogue. His characterization as an able, intelligent and model candidate for philosophy gives us a penetrating insight into the Socratic ideal. Finally, I offer a reading of Eros in Phaedrus that examines the psychological dynamic between the lover and his beloved. While a number of types of lovers are envisioned in this dialogue, I argue that if a beloved is to succeed in turning toward philosophy his lover must be a philosophical lover motivated by other-regarding care for his beloved’s soul. / Thesis (Ph.D, Philosophy) -- Queen's University, 2012-04-02 11:04:07.292

The current study investigated the relationships between state shame, guilt, and disease knowledge in women recently diagnosed with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV). Recent research has indicated that diagnosis of HPV can elicit negative self-directed affect, including persistent experiences of shame. Studies have also shown that knowledge of HPV is low in the general population, even though it is the most common sexually transmitted infection. It is important to understand how shame affects those with HPV because shame is related to a decline in important immune parameters that may be essential in HPV clearance. A sample of young women (ages 18-28) recently diagnosed with HPV were given measures of shame and guilt-proneness, state shame and guilt, depression, impact of diagnosis, and HPV knowledge. A comparison group of women diagnosed with infectious mononucleosis caused by the Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) were also given these measures. It was predicted that women diagnosed with HPV would have higher levels of shame and guilt than women diagnosed with EBV. It was also predicted that disease knowledge would moderate negative affect in women with HPV, where increases in HPV knowledge would neutralize feelings of shame and guilt. The results of this study supported the first hypothesis: women with HPV experienced more shame and guilt than women with EBV. Shame largely mediated the relationship between diagnosis of HPV and depression, as well as HPV and distress, but these relationships were not significant for guilt. The hypothesis that disease knowledge would moderate feelings of shame was not supported in this study. Because of the biological and psychological consequences of shameful experiences, research should continue to measure factors that may predict shame after diagnosis of HPV.

According to Cybernetic Control theories, negative emotions result when goal progress is thwarted and these emotions facilitate behavioural regulation (Carver & Scheier, 1998). Self-conscious emotions are recognized for their self-regulatory functions with guilt and shame being especially central to governing unhealthy behavior change (Dijkstra & Buunk, 2008). However limited research has explored the role of self-conscious emotions and exercise. In light of the concern about low physical activity rates among Canadians (Canadian Community Health Measures Survey, 2011) examining the role of guilt and shame in the self-regulation of exercise is warranted. Purpose. To examine the nature of guilt and shame related to recent exercise behavior. Procedures. In this online, observational study, 128 women and 47 men aged 18-64 (mean age 36, SD = 12.74) completed measures of recent physical activity, trait shame and guilt, exercise identity and demographics at baseline. On both a day when they did and did not engage in intended exercise, participants completed measures of recent exercise quantity and quality, exercise-related state shame and guilt, attributions (on the missed exercise day) and exercise intentions. Results. T-tests revealed that participants experienced more guilt and shame after a missed as opposed to an engaged-in intended exercise session, and that of these two emotions guilt was felt more intensely. Regression analyses determined that perceptions of exercise quality were negatively related to both guilt and shame, however these emotions were not related to exercise intentions. Guilt was associated with the attribution dimension of internal locus of casualty and shame with stability, but no relationships were found between the two emotions and exercise identity. Lastly, logistic regressions showed that shame, but not guilt, was associated with exercise behaviour with shame showing a negative relationship with behaviour. Findings add to the extant literature on the role of shame and guilt in exercise self-regulation.

The purpose of the study was to test for theoretic trends of guilt' shame (quadratic) and defensiveness (linear) across treatment for alcoholic patients. The study sample consisted of91 participants. These included adult males who were in either outpatient or inpatient treatment for alcoholism.All participants were administered a questionnaire comprised of guilt, shame, and defensiveness measures. The questionnaires also asked self rating questions as a measure of progress and had a therapist section for progress ratings. Three null hypotheses were tested using trend analysis. Two way analyses of variances were also used to examine progress variables.ResultsIt was hypothesized that guilt and shame would demonstrate quadratic relationships across treatment and that defensiveness would demonstrate a linear relationship. None of the trend 2analyses demonstrated the expected relationships. The post-hoc two-way analyses of differences in guilt, shame, and defensiveness as a function of both weeks-in-treatment and progress measures yielded few significant results.Conclusions The results of this study do not support some of the major premises concerning treatment of the alcoholic patient. Research needs include operationally defining treatment approaches and refining concepts and measures. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

This thesis is an exploration of the shame that inheres in not being able to self-admire. I call this incapacity to admire oneself ontological shame, and I argue that it is the source of the masquerades, concealments and negative emotions that surround the pursuit and defence of a self-esteem founded on an impoverished form of pride. I argue that there is a radical asymmetry between our admiration and esteem for others and how we evaluate our own sense of self-worth. Where admiration at its highest pitch is the wonderful agape experience of apprehending preciousness in others, our own sense of self-worth is limited to experiences of pride and other forms of self-affirmation; none of which allow us the joy of seeing ourselves as wonders in the world. Because we can admire and want to be admired, not being able to self-admire amounts to a limitation of a sort which carries with it a primordial resentment against life itself. It is largely how we respond to our ontological limitation and to our resentment that determines the positive or negative manner in which we interact with others, and whether or not we are likely to have an envious or humble disposition. In the first three chapters I lay the groundwork for the main argument of the thesis by highlighting the difficulties self-esteem theorists have in agreeing upon the value of ‘high’ self-esteem, introduce the relation between self-esteem and shame, argue for a distinction between self-esteem and public esteem, and provide an account of the gift-exchange nature of admiration which explains why we cannot self-admire. In the central chapters I focus on shame; on acts of concealment that can be either appropriate covering for, or deceitful denial of our ontological limitation; how self-worth is created through a reconciliation to shame, and why the ‘self-act dissociation’ theories of guilt fail to capture the shame attached to ‘being guilty’ of a wrongdoing. In Chapters Seven and Eight I examine envy, first in how it can be disguised as moral resentment; how it differs to admiration in its role in emulation, and finally how as a disposition it stands in stark contrast to humility. It is in humility that we grasp the benefits associated with our own incapacity to self-admire through our need to interact and exchange gifts with others.

Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Western Sydney, 2003. / "Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of PhD" Includes bibliography.