measuring shame and guilt research

Question 1

TOSCA to measure shame and guilt

Answer 1

by Woien et al 2003)

Question 2

intro

Answer 2

-diff between shame and guilt depends on how indiv interpret certain events (totally subjective)
-previous work shows they are distinct (Tangley)
-shame = global emotion, guilt = focus on self
-indiv feels exposed = triggers desire to hide
-when person experiences guilt, neg evaluation attaches to specific action instead of self so there is a distinction between self and action
-regret and remorse accompanies guilt
-empathy pos correlated with guilt NOT shame
-shame is root of many disorders e.g dep, anxiety etc
-shame prone indiv externalise blame on others

Question 3

what evokes the emotions of shame and guilt

Answer 3

gender, parenting, religiosity
-parenting style effects male shame and guilt BUT NOT for women
-religious attitudes increase guilt and sometimes shame

Question 4

aims

Answer 4

-test if shame and guilt are diff emotions using TOSCA
-predicted shame strongly correlated with psychopathology, self esteem and external LOC etc
-hypothesised women would score higher on shame and guilt than men
-parenting practices would affect men and women differently
-predicted association with religiosity and shame

Question 5

methods

Answer 5

-psych undergrads, arizona state uni (338 pp)
-earned research pp credits
-completed questionnaires on personality traits and TOSCA

Question 6

what is TOSCA

Answer 6

test of self conscious affect

Question 7

results

Answer 7

-women have higher guilt and shame than men
-parental over protection = greater shame in males NOT females
-in women parenting is unrelated to shame
-authoritative parenting increased guilt in males and females
-effect between religiosity and shame/guilt was small

Question 8

conclusions

Answer 8

-shame and guilt are distinct affective experiences
-study replicated past findings using diff methods
-strenghtens external validity of TOSCA
-clarifications on association between psychopathy and shame/guilt
-there are gender diff
-inconclusive findings about religiosity

Question 9

limitations/implication s

Answer 9

-correlational
-college student sample
-inform clinicians to pay attention to indiv shame proneness and externalise blame as risk factor of psychological maladjustment

Question 10

future work

Answer 10

TOSCA revised for children and adolescents