Editing Shame (section)

== Comparison with other emotions ==
Distinguishing between shame, [[guilt (emotion)|guilt]], and [[embarrassment]] can be challenging. <ref>{{Citation | title = Are shame, guilt, and embarrassment distinct emotions? | last = Tangney | first = JP |author2=Miller Flicker Barlow | year = 1996 | journal = Journal of Personality and Social Psychology | doi = 10.1037/0022-3514.70.6.1256 | volume = 70 | pages = 1256–69 | pmid=8667166 | issue = 6| s2cid = 17024587 }}</ref> They are all similar reactions or emotions in the fact that they are self-conscious, "implying self-reflection and self-evaluation."<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Tracy |first1=Jessica L. |last2=Robins |first2=Richard W. |date=October 2006 |title=Appraisal antecedents of shame and guilt: support for a theoretical model |url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16963605/ |journal=Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin |volume=32 |issue=10 |pages=1339–1351 |doi=10.1177/0146167206290212 |issn=0146-1672 |pmid=16963605 |s2cid=10444300 |via=PubMed}}</ref>

=== Comparison with guilt ===
{{Further|Guilt (emotion)|Guilt–shame–fear spectrum of cultures}}
[[File:Goya9.jpg|thumb|right|Person hiding face and showing posture of shame (while wearing a [[Sanbenito]] and coroza hat) in [[Francisco Goya|Goya]]'s sketch "For being born somewhere else".  The person has been shamed by the [[Spanish Inquisition]].]]
According to cultural anthropologist [[Ruth Benedict]], shame arises from a violation of cultural or social values while guilt feelings arise from violations of one's internal values.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Benedict |first1=Ruth |last2=Rutland |first2=VT |year=1946 |title=The Chrysanthemum and the Sword: Patterns of Japanese Culture |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3032420 |journal=RAIN |issue=24 |pages=14 |doi=10.2307/3032420 |jstor=3032420 |issn=0307-6776}}</ref> Thus shame arises when one's 'defects' are exposed to others, and results from the negative evaluation (whether real or imagined) of others; guilt, on the other hand, comes from one's own negative evaluation of oneself, for instance, when one acts contrary to one's values or idea of one's self.<ref>[http://psych.stanford.edu/~tsailab/PDF/yw07sce.pdf "Cultural Models of Shame and Guilt"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160418071015/http://psych.stanford.edu/~tsailab/PDF/yw07sce.pdf |date=April 18, 2016 }}</ref> Shame is more attributed to internal characteristics and guilt is more attributed to behavioral characteristics.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last1=Bastin |first1=Coralie |last2=Harrison |first2=Ben J. |last3=Davey |first3=Christopher G. |last4=Moll |first4=Jorge |last5=Whittle |first5=Sarah |date=2016-12-01 |title=Feelings of shame, embarrassment and guilt and their neural correlates: A systematic review |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0149763415302876 |journal=Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews |language=en |volume=71 |pages=455–471 |doi=10.1016/j.neubiorev.2016.09.019 |pmid=27687818 |s2cid=5954229 |issn=0149-7634}}</ref> Thus, it might be possible to feel ashamed of thought or behavior that no one actually knows about (because one is afraid of what they find), and conversely, feeling guilty about the act of gaining approval from others.

Psychoanalyst Helen B. Lewis argued that, "The experience of shame is directly about the self, which is the focus of evaluation. In guilt, the self is not the central object of negative evaluation, but rather the thing done is the focus."<ref>{{Citation |last= Lewis |first= Helen B. |title=Shame and guilt in neurosis |journal= Psychoanalytic Review |publisher=International University Press, New York |year= 1971 |volume= 58 |issue= 3 |pages= 419–38 |pmid= 5150685 |isbn= 978-0-8236-8307-9}}</ref> Similarly, Fossum and Mason say in their book ''Facing Shame'' that "While guilt is a painful feeling of regret and responsibility for one's actions, shame is a painful feeling about oneself as a person."<ref>{{Citation |last1= Fossum |first1= Merle A. |last2= Mason |first2= Marilyn J. |title= Facing Shame: Families in Recovery |publisher= [[W.W. Norton]] |year= 1986 |isbn= 978-0-393-30581-4 |page= [https://archive.org/details/facingshamefamil00merl/page/5 5] |url= https://archive.org/details/facingshamefamil00merl/page/5 }}</ref>

Following this line of reasoning, Psychiatrist Judith Lewis Herman concludes that "Shame is an acutely self-conscious state in which the self is 'split,' imagining the self in the eyes of the other; by contrast, in guilt the self is unified."<ref>{{Citation|title=Shattered Shame States and their Repair |last=Herman |first=Judith Lewis |author-link=Judith Lewis Herman |journal=The John Bowlby Memorial Lecture |year=2007 |url=http://www.cha.harvard.edu/vov/publications/Shattered%20Shame-JHerman.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100705095700/http://www.cha.harvard.edu/vov/publications/Shattered%20Shame-JHerman.pdf |archive-date=July 5, 2010 }}</ref>

Clinical psychologist Gershen Kaufman's view of shame is derived from that of [[affect theory]], namely that shame is one of a set of instinctual, short-duration physiological reactions to stimulation.<ref name=Kauf92>{{Citation |last= Kaufman |first= Gershen |title=Shame: The Power of Caring |edition=3rd |publisher=Schenkman Books, Rochester, VT |year= 1992 |isbn= 978-0-87047-052-3}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last= Nathanson |first= Donald |title=Shame and Pride: Affect, Sex, and the Birth of the Self |publisher=W.W. Norton, NY |year= 1992 |isbn= 978-0-393-03097-6}}{{page needed|date=June 2021}}</ref> In this view, guilt is seen as a learned behavior consisting primarily of self-directed [[blame]] or [[contempt]], and the shame that results from this behavior, making up a part of the overall experience of guilt. Here, [[self-blame]] and [[self-contempt]] mean the application, towards (a part of) one's self, of exactly the same dynamic that blaming of, and contempt for, others represents when it is applied interpersonally.

Kaufman saw that mechanisms such as blame or contempt may be used as a defending strategy against the experience of shame and that someone who has a pattern of applying them to himself may well attempt to defend against a shame experience by applying self-blame or self-contempt. This, however, can lead to an internalized, self-reinforcing sequence of shame events for which Kaufman coined the term "shame spiral".<ref name=Kauf92 /> Shame can also be used as a strategy when feeling guilty, especially when the hope is to avoid punishment by inspiring compassion.<ref>{{cite book|title=Shame and the Origins of Self-esteem: A Jungian Approach|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_VA5rfWW3HIC&pg=PR2|year=1996|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=978-0-415-10580-4|pages=2–3}}</ref>

=== Comparison with embarrassment ===

One view of difference between shame and [[embarrassment]] says that shame does not necessarily involve public humiliation while embarrassment does; that is, one can feel shame for an act known only to oneself but to be embarrassed one's actions must be revealed to others. In the field of ethics (moral psychology, in particular), however, there is debate as to whether or not shame is a heteronomous emotion, i.e., whether or not shame does involve recognition on the part of the ashamed that they have been judged negatively by others.

Another view of the dividing line between shame and embarrassment holds that the difference is one of intensity.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Graham|first1=Michael C.|title=Facts of Life: ten issues of contentment|date=2014|publisher=Outskirts Press|pages=75–78|isbn=978-1-4787-2259-5}}</ref> In this view embarrassment is simply a less intense experience of shame. It is adaptive and functional. Extreme or toxic shame is a much more intense experience and one that is not functional. In fact, according to this view, toxic shame can be debilitating. The dividing line then is between functional and dysfunctional shame. This includes the idea that shame has a function or benefit for the organism.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Graham|first1=Michael C.|title=Facts of Life: ten issues of contentment|date=2014|publisher=Outskirts Press|page=62|isbn=978-1-4787-2259-5}}</ref>

[[Immanuel Kant]] and his followers held that shame is heteronomous (comes from others); [[Bernard Williams]] and others have argued that shame can be autonomous (comes from oneself).<ref>Williams, Bernard: Shame and Necessity</ref><ref>Hutchinson, Phil: chapter four of Shame and Philosophy</ref> Shame may carry the connotation of a response to something that is morally wrong whereas embarrassment is the response to something that is morally neutral but socially unacceptable. Another view of shame and guilt is that shame is a focus on self, while guilt is a focus on behavior. Simply put: A person who feels guilt is saying "I did something bad.", while someone who feels shame is saying "I am bad".<ref>{{Cite web|title=Listening to shame |author=Brené Brown |date=16 March 2012 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psN1DORYYV0&ab_channel=TED|access-date=2021-02-20|via=YouTube}}</ref>

Embarrassment has occasionally been viewed as a less severe or intense form of shame, which usually varies on different aspects such as intensity, the physical reaction of the person, or the size of the present social audience, but it is distinct from shame in that it involves a focus on the self-presented to an audience rather than the entire self.<ref name=":3" /> It is experienced as a sense of fluster and slight mortification resulting from a social awkwardness that leads to a loss of esteem in the eyes of others. Embarrassment has been characterized as a sudden-onset sense of fluster and mortification that results when the self is evaluated negatively because one has committed, or anticipates committing, a gaffe or awkward performance before an audience. So, because shame is focused on the entire self, those who become embarrassed apologize for their mistake, and then begin to repair things and this repair involves redressing harm done to the presented self.<ref name="Niedenthal, P. M. 2017">{{cite book | last1=Niedenthal | first1=Paula M. | last2=Ric | first2=François | title=Psychology of Emotion | chapter=Self-Conscious Emotions | publication-place=New York | publisher=Taylor & Francis Group | date=2017 | edition=2nd | isbn=978-1-84872-511-9 | oclc=954038345 | doi=10.4324/9781315276229-6 | chapter-url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/mono/10.4324/9781315276229-6/self-conscious-emotions-paula-niedenthal-fran%C3%A7ois-ric | chapter-url-access=subscription}}</ref>

One view of difference between shame and embarrassment says that shame does not necessarily involve public humiliation while embarrassment does; that is, one can feel shame for an act known only to oneself but to be embarrassed one's actions must be revealed to others. Therefore shame can only be experienced in private and embarrassment can never be experienced in private.<ref name="Niedenthal, P. M. 2017"/> In the field of ethics (moral psychology, in particular), however, there is debate as to whether or not shame is a heteronomous emotion, i.e. whether or not shame does involve recognition on the part of the ashamed that they have been judged negatively by others. This is a mature heteronomous type of shame where the agent does not judge herself negatively, but, due to the negative judgments of others, suspects that she may deserve negative judgment, and feel shame on this basis.<ref>Turnbull, D. J. (2012). "Shame: In Defense of an Essential Moral Emotion". PhD thesis, Birkbeck, University of London.</ref> Therefore, shame may carry the connotation of a response to something that is morally wrong whereas embarrassment is the response to something that is morally neutral but socially unacceptable.