The "shoulds" and "should nots" of moral emotions : A self-regulatory perspective on shame and guilt
Abstract
A self-regulatory framework for distinguishing between shame and guilt was tested in three studies. Recently, two forms of moral regulation based on approach versus avoidance motivation have been proposed in the literature. Proscriptive regulation is sensitive to negative outcomes, inhibition based, and focused on what we should not do. Prescriptive regulation is sensitive to positive outcomes, activation based, and focused on what we should do. In the current research, consistent support was found for shame’s proscriptive and guilt’s prescriptive moral underpinnings. Study 1 found a positive association between avoidance orientation and shame proneness and between approach orientation and guilt proneness. In Study 2, priming a proscriptive orientation increased shame and priming a prescriptive orientation increased guilt. In Study 3, transgressions most apt to represent proscriptive and prescriptive violations predicted subsequent judgments of shame and guilt, respectively. This self-regulatory perspective provides a broad interpretive framework for understanding and extending past research findings.
Citation
Sheikh , S & Janoff-Bulman , R 2010 , ' The "shoulds" and "should nots" of moral emotions : A self-regulatory perspective on shame and guilt ' , Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin , vol. 36 , no. 2 , pp. 213-224 . https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167209356788
Publication
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
0146-1672Type
Journal article
Collections
Items in the St Andrews Research Repository are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.