Tracking the trajectory of shame, guilt, and pride across the life span.

U Orth, RW Robins, CJ Soto�- Journal of personality and social�…, 2010 - psycnet.apa.org
Journal of personality and social psychology, 2010psycnet.apa.org
The authors examined age differences in shame, guilt, and 2 forms of pride (authentic and
hubristic) from age 13 years to age 89 years, using cross-sectional data from 2,611
individuals. Shame decreased from adolescence into middle adulthood, reaching a nadir
around age 50 years, and then increased in old age. Guilt increased from adolescence into
old age, reaching a plateau at about age 70 years. Authentic pride increased from
adolescence into old age, whereas hubristic pride decreased from adolescence into middle�…
Abstract
The authors examined age differences in shame, guilt, and 2 forms of pride (authentic and hubristic) from age 13 years to age 89 years, using cross-sectional data from 2,611 individuals. Shame decreased from adolescence into middle adulthood, reaching a nadir around age 50 years, and then increased in old age. Guilt increased from adolescence into old age, reaching a plateau at about age 70 years. Authentic pride increased from adolescence into old age, whereas hubristic pride decreased from adolescence into middle adulthood, reaching a minimum around age 65 years, and then increased in old age. On average, women reported experiencing more shame and guilt; Blacks reported experiencing less shame and Asians more hubristic pride than other ethnicities. Across the life span, shame and hubristic pride tended to be negatively related to psychological well-being, and shame-free guilt and authentic pride showed positive relations with well-being. Overall, the findings support the maturity principle of personality development and suggest that as people age they become more prone to experiencing psychologically adaptive self-conscious emotions, such as guilt and authentic pride, and less prone to experiencing psychologically maladaptive ones, such as shame and hubristic pride.(PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)
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