Abstract
Do shame and guilt help people avoid doing wrong? Although some research suggests that guilt-proneness is a protective factor while shame-proneness puts individuals at risk, most research is either cross-sectional or short-term. In this longitudinal study, 380 5th graders (ages 10–12) completed measures of proneness to shame and guilt. We re-interviewed 68 % of participants after they turned 18 years old (range 18–21). Guilt-proneness assessed in childhood predicted fewer sexual partners, less use of illegal drugs and alcohol, and less involvement with the criminal justice system. Shame-proneness, in contrast, was a risk factor for later deviant behavior. Shame-prone children were more likely to have unprotected sex and use illegal drugs in young adulthood. These results held when controlling for childhood SES and teachers’ ratings of aggression. Children’s moral emotional styles appear to be well established by at least middle childhood, with distinct downstream implications for risky behavior in early adulthood.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Stuewig J, Tangney JP (2007) Shame and guilt in antisocial and risky behaviors. In: Tracy JL, Robins RW, Tangney JP (eds) The self-conscious emotions: theory and research. Guilford Press, New York, pp 371–388
Abramson PR, Mosher DL, Abramson LM, Woychowski B (1977) Personality correlates of the Mosher Guilt Scales. J Pers Assess 41:373–382
Hoffman ML (1982) Development of prosocial motivation: Empathy and guilt. In: Eisenberg-Berg N (ed) Development of prosocial behavior. Academic Press, New York, pp 281–313
De Hooge IE, Zeelenberg M, Breugelmans SM (2007) Moral sentiments and cooperation: differential influences of shame and guilt. Cogn Emot 21:1025–1042
Ferguson TJ, Stegge H, Damhuis I (1991) Children’s understanding of guilt and shame. Child Dev 62:827–839
Ketelaar T, Au WT (2003) The effects of feelings of guilt on the behavior of uncooperative individuals in repeated social bargaining games: an affect-as-information interpretation of the role of emotion in social interaction. Cogn Emot 17:429–453
Lewis HB (1971) Shame and guilt in neurosis. International Universities Press, New York
Lindsay-Hartz J, de Rivera J, Mascolo M (1995) Differentiating shame and guilt and their effects on motivation. In: Tangney JP, Fischer KW (eds) Self-conscious emotions: shame, guilt, embarrassment, and pride. Guilford, New York, pp 274–300
Niedenthal PM, Tangney JP, Gavanski I (1994) “If only I weren’t” versus “If only I hadn’t”: distinguishing shame and guilt in counterfactual thinking. J Pers Soc Psychol 67:585–595
Sheikh S, Janoff-Bulman R (2010) The “shoulds” and “should nots” of moral emotions: a self-regulatory perspective on shame and guilt. Pers Soc Psychol Bull 36:213–224
Tangney JP (1993) Shame and guilt. In: Costello CG (ed) Symptoms of depression. Wiley, New York, pp 161–180
Tangney JP, Dearing R (2002) Shame and guilt. Guilford, New York
Wicker FW, Payne GC, Morgan RD (1983) Participant descriptions of guilt and shame. Motiv Emot 7:25–39
Tangney JP, Miller RS, Flicker L, Barlow DH (1996) Are shame, guilt, and embarrassment distinct emotions? J Pers Soc Psychol 70:1256–1264
Bear GG, Uribe-Zarain X, Manning MA, Shiomi K (2009) Shame, guilt, blaming, and anger: differences between children in Japan and the US. Motiv Emot 33:229–238
Luyten P, Fontaine JRJ, Corveleyn J (2002) Does the test of self-conscious affect (TOSCA) measure maladaptive aspects of guilt and adaptive aspects of shame? An empirical investigation. Pers Individ Differ 33:1373–1387
Stuewig J, Tangney JP, Heigel C, Harty L, McCloskey L (2010) Shaming, blaming, and maiming: functional links among the moral emotions, externalization of blame, and aggression. J Res Pers 44:91–102
Tangney JP, Wagner PE, Hill-Barlow D, Marschall DE, Gramzow R (1996) Relation of shame and guilt to constructive versus destructive responses to anger across the lifespan. J Pers Soc Psychol 70:797–809
Gino F, Pierce L (2009) Dishonesty in the name of equity. Psychol Sci 20:1153–1160
Tangney JP (1996) Conceptual and methodological issues in the assessment of shame and guilt. Behav Res Ther 34:741–754
Allan S, Gilbert P, Goss K (1994) An exploration of shame measures II: psychopathology. Pers Individ Differ 17:719–722
Andrews B, Qian M, Valentine JD (2002) The role of shame in the prediction of depressive symptoms. Br J Clin Psychol
Gramzow R, Tangney JP (1992) Proneness to shame and the narcissistic personality. Pers Soc Psychol Bull 18:369–376
Harder DW (1995) Shame and guilt assessment, and relationships of shame- and guilt-proneness to psychopathology. In: Tangney JP, Fischer KW (eds) Self-conscious emotions: the psychology of shame, guilt, embarrassment, and pride. Guilford Press, New York, pp 368–392
Hoblitzelle W (1987) Attempts to measure and differentiate shame and guilt: the relation between shame and depression. In: Lewis HB (ed) The role of shame in symptom formation. Erlbaum, Hillsdale, pp 207–235
Jones WH, Kugler K (1993) Interpersonal correlates of the guilt inventory. J Pers Assess 61:246–258
Kim S, Thibodeau R, Jorgensen RS (2011) Shame, guilt, and depressive symptoms: a meta-analytic review. Psychol Bull 137:68–96
Leskela J, Dieperink M, Thuras P (2002) Shame and posttraumatic stress disorder. J Trauma Stress 15:223–226
Tangney JP, Wagner PE, Gramzow R (1992) Proneness to shame, proneness to guilt, and psychopathology. J Pers Soc Psychol 62:669–675
Bennett DS, Sullivan MW, Lewis M (2010) Neglected children, shame-proneness, and depressive symptoms. Child Maltreatment 15:305–314
Feiring C, Taska L, Lewis M (2002) Adjustment following sexual abuse discovery: the role of shame and attributional style. Dev Psychol 38:79–92
Ferguson TJ, Stegge H, Miller ER, Olsen ME (1999) Guilt, shame and symptoms in children. Dev Psychol 35:347–357
Muris P, Meesters C (2013) Small or big in the eyes of the other: on the developmental psychopathology of self-conscious emotions as shame, guilt, and pride. Clin Child Fam Psychol Rev
Tilghman-Osborne C, Cole DA, Felton JW, Ciesla JA (2008) Relation of guilt, shame, behavioral and characterological self-blame to depressive symptoms in adolescents over time. J Soc Clin Psychol 27:809–842
Bybee J, Zigler E, Berliner D, Merisca R (1996) Guilt, guilt-evoking events, depression, and eating disorders. Curr Psychol Dev Learn Pers Soc 15:113–127
Quiles ZN, Bybee J (1997) Chronic and predispositional guilt: relations to mental health, prosocial behavior and religiosity. J Pers Assess 69:104–126
Stuewig J, McCloskey LA (2005) The relation of child maltreatment to shame and guilt among adolescents: psychological routes to depression and delinquency. Child Maltreatment 10:324–336
Tangney JP, Burggraf SA, Wagner PE (1995) Shame-proneness, guilt-proneness, and psychological symptoms. In: Tangney JP, Fischer KW (eds) Self-conscious emotions: the psychology of shame, guilt, embarrassment, and pride. Guilford, New York, pp 343–367
Tibbetts SG (1997) Shame and rational choice in offending decisions. Crim Just Behav 24:234–255
Tibbetts SG (2003) Self-conscious emotions and criminal offending. Psychol Rep 93:101–126
Robinson R, Roberts WL, Strayer J, Koopman R (2007) Empathy and emotional responsiveness in delinquent and non-delinquent adolescents. Soc Dev 16:555–579
Tangney JP, Stuewig J, Martinez AG (2014) Two faces of shame: the roles of shame and guilt in predicting recidivism. Psychol Sci
Hosser Daniela, Windzio Michael, Greve Werner (2008) Guilt and shame as predictors of recidivism: a longitudinal study with young prisoners. Crim Just Behav 35(1):138–152
Bradshaw J (1988) Healing the shame that binds you. Health Communications, Deerfield Beach
Fossum MA, Mason M (1986) Facing shame: families in recovery. W.W. Norton & Co, New York
Potter-Efron RT (1989) Shame, guilt, and alcoholism: treatment issues in clinical practice. Haworth Press, New York
Potter-Efron R (2002) Shame, guilt, and alcoholism, 2nd edn. Haworth Press, New York
Wiechelt SA (2007) The specter of shame in substance misuse. Subst Use Misuse 42:399–409
Meehan MA, O’Connor LE, Berry JW, Weiss J, Morrison A, Acampora A (1996) Guilt, shame, and depression in clients in recovery from addiction. J Psychoact Drugs 28:125–134
O’Connor LE, Berry JW, Inaba D, Weiss J (1994) Shame, guilt, and depression in men and women in recovery from addiction. J Subst Abuse Treat 11:503–510
Dearing RL, Stuewig J, Tangney JP (2005) On the importance of distinguishing shame from guilt: relations to problematic alcohol and drug use. Addict Behav 30:1392–1404
Treeby M, Bruno R (2012) Shame and guilt-proneness: divergent implications for problematic alcohol use and drinking to cope with anxiety and depression symptomatology. Pers Individ Differ 53(5):613–617
Dearing RL, Witkiewitz K, Connors GJ, Walitzer KS (2013) Prospective changes in alcohol use among hazardous drinkers in the absence of treatment. Psychol Addict Behav 27:52–61
Ohannessian CM, Hesselbrock VM (2009) A finer examination of the role that negative affect plays in the relationship between paternal alcoholism and the onset of alcohol and marijuana use. J Stud Alcohol Drugs 70(3):400–408
Feiring C, Miller-Johnson S, Cleland CM (2007) Potential pathways from stigmatization and internalizing symptoms to delinquency in sexually abused youth. Child Maltreatment 12:220–232
Regnerus MD, Luchies LB (2006) The parent-child relationship and opportunities for adolescents’ first sex. J Fam Issues 27:159–183
Stuewig J, Tangney JP, Mashek D, Forkner P, Dearing RL (2009) The moral emotions, alcohol dependence, and HIV risk behavior in an incarcerated sample. Subst Use Misuse 44(4):449–471
Tangney JP, Wagner PE, Burggraf SA, Gramzow R, Fletcher C (1990) The test of self-conscious affect for children (TOSCA-C). George Mason University, Fairfax
Lindsay-Hartz J (1984) Contrasting experiences of shame and guilt. Am Behav Sci 27:689–704
Achenbach TM, Edelbrock C (1986) Manual for the teacher’s report form and teacher version of the Child Behavior Profile. University of Vermont Department of Psychiatry, Burlington
Paulhus DL, Robins RW, Trzesniewski KH, Tracy JL (2004) Two replicable suppressor situations in personality research. Multivar Behav Res 39:303–328
Tangney JP (1990) Assessing individual differences in proneness to shame and guilt: development of the self-conscious affect and attribution inventory. J Personal Soc Psychol 59:102–111
Huesmann LR, Eron LD, Lefkowitz MM, Walder LO (1984) Stability of aggression over time and generations. Dev Psychol 20:1120–1134
Dweck CS, Leggett EL (1988) A social-cognitive approach to motivation and personality. Psychol Rev 95:256–273
Baumeister RF (1991) Escaping the self: alcoholism, spirituality, masochism, and other flights from the burden of selfhood. Basic books, New York
Tangney JP (1991) Moral affect: the good, the bad, and the ugly. J Pers Soc Psychol 61:598–607
Covert MV, Tangney JP, Maddux JE, Heleno NM (2003) Shame-proneness, guilt-proneness, and interpersonal problem solving: a social cognitive analysis. J Soc Clin Psychol 22:1–12
Kochanska G, Barry RA, Jimenez NB, Hollatz AL, Woodard J (2009) Guilt and effortful control: two mechanisms that prevent disruptive developmental trajectories. J Pers Soc Psychol 97(2):322–333
Cohen TR, Panter AT, Turan N (2012) Guilt proneness and moral character. Curr Dir Psychol Sci 21:355–359
Joireman J (2004) Empathy and the self-absorption paradox II: self-rumination and self-reflection as mediators between shame, guilt, and empathy. Self Ident. 3:225–238
Stern AE (1999) Cognitive and behavioral aspects of shame among preadolescents. Diss Abstr Int Sect B Sci Eng 59:4487
Acknowledgments
This research was supported by grants to June P. Tangney: Grant #1R15 HD025506-01 from the National Institute on Child Health and Human Development; Grant #BCS-0096950 from the National Science Foundation; and Grant #R01 DA14694 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Many thanks to members of the Human Emotions Research Lab for their invaluable assistance on this project. We are also very grateful for the assistance of the individuals who participated in our study.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Stuewig, J., Tangney, J.P., Kendall, S. et al. Children’s Proneness to Shame and Guilt Predict Risky and Illegal Behaviors in Young Adulthood. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev 46, 217–227 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-014-0467-1
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-014-0467-1