Research

PSYCHOLOGY & COUNSELLING Research

SiMPLY Counselling can attract clients who are stuck and unable to move on with their lives. Not everyone who gets stuck in a rut needs professional assistance but if time is important meeting with a therapist who can provide additional insight may be important.

Although we provide counselling or psychotherapy there are times when a structured psychological investigation into your life journey is required.  The principal therapist at SiMPLY Counselling, Greg Gardiner, has a significant amount of experience over 25 years working with Australias most damaged and broken lives and he continues to model and conceptualise his work within current research. Listed below are a few conceptual models Greg has found useful when conceptualising why someone may have emotional or psychological struggles.

TRAUMA RESEARCH

John Briere is a leading US researcher in the topic area of early childhood trauma. Briere’s work has found a strong link between early childhood neglect, abuse, trauma and difficulties in adult development and dysfunctional behaviour. Click here to learn more about how many people suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) from childhood experiences.

SHAME RESEARCH

Greg Gardiner is a leading researcher in the topic area of shame.  Please note the following paper that contains a portion of his findings in “The Aetiology and Manifestions of Shame” (2004).  Greg has found the existence of shame to be a significant contributor to a range of adolecent and adult behavioural dysfunction. When individuals fail to meet parental expectations and never hear or experience that they are GOOD they can automatically assume they are the opposite… BAD. Shame is different to guilt in that shame is a belief about the value of the self concept not a thought about behaviour.

AETIOLOGY & MANIFESTATIONS OF SHAME

Scheff (2003) proposed that shame was the master emotion of every day life. The work of Cooley, Freud, Elias, Lynd, Goffman, Lewis and Tomkins suggest a vital connection exists between shame and social life (Scheff, 2003).

Though terror speaks to life and death and distress makes of the world a veil of tears, yet shame strikes deepest into the heart of man (Tomkins, 1963, p. 183).

Psychologists have demonstrated increasing interest in two separate but related, moral affective processes: guilt and shame (Lutwak, Razzino & Ferrari, 1998). Both processes share similar features that include negative affect and negative attribution (Gramzow & Tangney, 1992). Historically, in psychological research and literature, the terms guilt and shame, have been used interchangeably and treated as similar affective states.

Theoretical and empirical research now indicate significant distinction between the moral affects of guilt and shame, and that they are in fact different emotions (Fee, & Tangney, 2000; Gramzow & Tangney, 1992; Tangney, 1991).

Although guilt is not the focus of this paper, understanding the distinction between the moral constructs of guilt and shame is important, and will be included in the introduction to this material to minimise pervasive historical confusions.

Guilt has been defined as regret over a particular act, and unlike shame, is associated with reparative action such as confession or apology (Lewis, 1971; Tangney, 1998). Lewis (1971) found feelings of guilt are experienced when an individual acknowledges a personal action as being defective or having a negative affect. Lewis (1971) also found that feelings of guilt are often accompanied by feelings of remorse and regret. Tangney (1989) noted that guilt was an adaptive and constructive moral affect often involving the self’s negative evaluation of a specific behaviour when an internalised standard has been violated. Guilt feelings are easy to differentiate from shame (Tangney, 1994), since guilt remains focused on a specific behaviour and the harm it may potentially cause others. Fee & Tangney (2000) found that a person experiencing guilt generally wants to make things right, and will seek out ways to repair a relationship. The guilt prone person may accept events and admit error or a mistake and therefore engages in other-empathy oriented actions (Tangney, 1995).

After reviewing guilt definitions, I have noted that guilt is unanimously referred to as a feeling or emotional reaction to behaviour that produces intra-personal discomfort.

In contrast, shame is defined as involving acutely painful experiences predominantly self-focused and more diffuse than guilt (Lewis, 1971). Negative evaluations can shift from a particular isolated event or behaviour to the entire self (Tangney, 1994). Wells & Jones (2000) found shame, like guilt, arises in response to perceived transgressions, usually interpersonal in nature. However, the experience of shame was found to pervade beyond an evaluation of wrongness of an action, to include a global assessment of the badness of the self. When an individual perceives they have performed badly, shame can influence the individual’s global assessment outcome to conclude, that they must therefore, be bad. These feelings of shame are much more global and seemingly inescapable than are the specific feelings about a behavioural characteristic of guilt (Wells & Jones, 2000). The sense of badness creates a tendency to cause individuals to avoid others’ perceived scrutiny, rather than to attempt to repair the relationship. Fee & Tangney (2000) described the experience of shame as feeling bad, inadequate, small, and helpless, a feeling which is translated into humiliation about one’s self.

Cowman and Ferrari (2002) concluded that shame is a maladaptive response and is global in its affect on the individual. Persons experiencing shame turn inward with negative reflections and ruminations such as; I am bad or, I am a horrible person (Tangney, Wagner, & Gramzow, (1992). Shame involves a focus on the self as being defective or unworthy and results in self-oriented distress (Fee & Tangney, 2000).

Lewis (1971) suggests that shame is a less differentiated emotion compared to guilt that contributes to negative, global evaluations during shame experiences. Repeated shame experiences have been associated with a number of negative cognitive behaviours including depression, self-derogation, shyness, interpersonal anxiety, perfectionism and diffuse oriented identity (Lutwak & Ferrari, 1996; Tangney & Fischer, 1995). Guilt experiences, in contrast to shame, do not implicate the entire self (Lutwak, Razzino & Ferrari, 1998), but remain focused on specific regrettable behavioural transgressions.

Although there is some discussion regarding the definition of shame, there is agreement that Shame is a particularly intense and often incapacitating, negative emotion involving feelings of inferiority; powerlessness and self-consciousness coexisting with desire to conceal deficiencies (Tangney, Miller, Flicker, & Barlow, 1996; Wicker, Payne, & Morgan, 1983).

Aetiology

While considerable research regarding shame and psychopathology has occurred, there is an apparent research deficit regarding the various manifestations of shame implicated in clinical disorders (Andrews, Qian, & Valentine, 2002). While the construct of shame is an accepted phenomenon there appears within current literature to be a focus on shame as a central feature in mental disorders and research into the aetiology, contributing factors leading to onset and pervasiveness of shame are largely neglected.

Although thorough, the various affects and possible explanations of shame included in this paper are not exhaustive. There are several additional theoretical positions that relate to shame that are not included due to purposeful succinctness. For example, attribution theory has a similar frame work to locus of control but unfortunately locus of control will not be outlined within this paper. Another example is Seligman (1990) who studied how people explained negative events, set backs and disappointments finding that an individual’s optimistic or pessimistic perception of events affected their explanatory styles and subsequently their health. However, although not complete, the range of factors, manifestation and theoretical possibilities included in this paper will provide adequate insight into the pervasiveness of shame affect on human function.

Andrews, Qian, & Valentine, (2002) conducted a study to determine the extent to which shame influences pathological onset and found significant correlating evidence linking shame and clinically diagnosed disorders. Within this paper; attribution, ego idealisation, parentification, attachment styles and developmental stages provide some insight into aetiology and cognitions that support shame affect.

Attributions

In the light of the shame definitions already provided, I suggest that it is reasonable to conclude that an understanding of personal attribution styles may assist in the explanation and exploration of individual self awareness and shame affect.

Fritz Heider (1958) claimed that people make attributions about the cause of behaviour. An attribution is an idea or belief about the etiology of certain behaviour. Attribution theory argues that people look for explanation of behaviour, associating behaviour to either internal dispositional attributes or to external environmental attributes (Weiten, 2001). Internal attribution relates cause of behaviour to personal dispositions, traits, abilities and feelings, where as external attribution contributes cause of behaviour to situational demands and environmental restraints (Kelly, 1967).

Research conducted with US College students and clinical populations reveal fearful, self-aware people attributed blame to themselves and experienced shame for events they perceived to have negative outcomes (Henderson, & Zimbardo, 1996). In social situations self-reported shy individuals blame themselves for failure while also externalizing success. Furthermore, when individuals fail, the failure was perceived in stable, global, or uncontrollable terms. This attribution style engenders state-shame, a painful affective state that interferes with both cognition and behaviour (Seligman, 1981).

Therefore, many shy or shame prone individuals report self-abusive cognitions and the incapacitation of freezing behaviour in social encounters, which deflates self-esteem and interferes with motivation and pro activity, frequently leading to avoidant and passive interaction style (Henderson, & Zimbardo, 1996). Those who engage in self-blaming attributions are also higher in trait-shame. While self-blame can be confined to specific social contexts, life time shyness and self-blame can lead to loneliness, isolation, and depression. Fearful or shy adolescents may be at significant risk for the development of shame-based self-concepts, and belief in personal inadequacy (Henderson, & Zimbardo, 1996).

Ego Ideals

Goldberg (1988) describes psychoanalytic theory’s description of the origins of shame and guilt. He proposes that guilt is experienced through an internalised, admired parental figure from childhood, disapproving of our specific conduct. In contrast, shame involves failing to live up to an internalised ego ideal. Thus, shame involves an experience of judgment of the whole self, based on what is believed to be an ideal way of being (Goldberg, 1988). This ego ideal is projected onto a child by parental or authority figures during childhood and after repeated failed attempts to meet that ideal, the child to can interpret their failure to result from their personal inadequacy and evokes feelings of a ‘lack of legitimate entitlement’ as a person.

From this perspective, shame is most likely to be experienced when the ego ideals that a child internalises are unrealistic. This would occur when a parents expectations of a child are developmentally inappropriate or do not match the talents and skills of a child. Goldberg (1988) describes shame as a natural opposite to autonomy in relation to Erikson’s (1963) developmental model.

Parentification

Shame, low self-esteem and co-dependency have been associated to extreme caretaking in relationships (Wells, Glickauf-Hughes, Bruss, 1998). Olson and Gariti (1993) proposed that co-dependency represents a parentified or caretaking style of relating to others, learned in childhood. Miller (1981;1984) described how parents in shame-based families have been individuals who did not have their own dependency needs met in their families of origin. These needy parents, according to Miller, may attempt to get their needs met in their families of procreation, by enlisting their children to take care of them.

This intergenerational process of unrealistic expectations is referred to as parentification, or the reversal of the parent-child role (Boszormenyi-Nagy & Spark, 1973). Parentification occurs as a result of extreme role reversal in a family (Wells &

Jones, 2000). According to Wells & Jones (2000) the parentified child becomes invested in the parentified role as it provides the only identity the child can discover that is supported within the family.

In parentified families, in order to maintain connection to the parent, the child adapts to the parent’s needs, thus sacrificing true self, to the creation of an adapted, co dependent self that has been described as other-oriented and over-conforming (Jurkovic, Goglia, & Jesse, 1991).

Attachment style

Bowlby (1977) describes attachment as a bonding process that occurs in the early stages of human development that establishes the working relational model we apply to self and others. Secure, avoidant, anxious and ambivalent patterns of attachment develop dependant on a child’s experience and perception of early care giving. The attachment style developed or adopted by an individual is pervasive impacting sense of security, well being and also later romantic relationships (Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, & Wall, 1978; Hazan & Shaver, 1987). Humans construct a view of self, based on early interactions with the primary caretaker (Bowlby, 1969). Attachment style theory depicts the child as integrating a particular view of the self in relation to the type of bonding the child experiences with their primary caregiver. A primary caregiver is a person who nurtures the child and becomes the principle attachment figure (Beyer & Hester, 1996). Empirical studies (Cook, 1991) assessing shame and attachment style relationships found that securely attached individuals reported less loneliness and less shame than avoidant or anxious or ambivalent groups (Beyer, & Hester, 1996).

Shame affect arises in response to discouragement or humiliation during early childhood stages (Tomkins, 1987), and can produce ongoing inhibition to interest in enjoyment. Garnett (1991) found that securely attached individuals reported less loneliness and shame than avoidant and anxiously ambivalent individuals. An attachment style between child and carer is known as anxious when anxious child behaviour occurs whether the carer is present or absent (Weiten, 2001). Cook (1991) found that empirical studies supported a relationship between attachment styles, shame and addictions. Wagner & Tangney (1989) using the Test of Self Conscious Affect (TOSCA) (Appendix A) found that shame is experienced in relation to discouragement and feelings of inferiority, and therefore concluded that insecure anxious attachment can be conceptually associated with higher levels of shame (Wagner & Tangney, 1989).

Since shame is experienced in relation to discouragement and feelings of inferiority, insecure attachment, in terms of avoidant and anxious ambivalence, can be conceptually associated with higher levels of shame (Beyer, & Hester, 1996).

Developmental stage

According to the second stage of Erikson’s theory, between years one and three, children acquire a sense of autonomy as they explore and interact with their environments (Peterson, 2004). During this time parents begin toilet training and other regulatory efforts and the child is encouraged to begin to take some personal responsibilities. If the parent is never satisfied with the child’s efforts, the child may develop a deep sense of shame and self doubt (Weiten, 2001). Autonomy can be minimised as a sense of shame and doubt emerge due to carer disapproval and discouragement received during early exploratory activities. Satisfactory resolution of the conflict between shame and self assertion can create a sensation of maturity where behavioural balance between free choice, societal limitations of law and custom is found. Peterson (2004) asserts that excesses of shame can produce an overly inhibited child who is reticent and compulsively conformist.

Manifestations & Affect

Research has identified several manifestations of shame that pervade normal life function. The particular manifestations to be addressed here are Shame proneness, Co-dependency, Social Phobia, Shyness, Perfectionism, Procrastination, Impostor Syndrome, Narcissism and Masochism,

Shame proneness

Goldberg (1988) considered shame-proneness as a result of having a persons autonomous functioning prematurely exposed to expectations beyond their natural capacity and personal adequacy. The earliest experiences of shame are a consequence of the experienced failure to satisfy ego ideals in the eyes of admired others (Goldberg, 1988). The experience of shame proneness is described as feeling bad, inadequate, small, helpless and a feeling of humiliation about self (Wells & Jones, 2000). Shame proneness arises in response to perceived transgressions that are predominantly interpersonal in nature. Jones and Wells (2000) found that the experience of shame proneness extends beyond an assessment of wrongness of an act, to include assessments of badness of self. The pervasive sense of badness may result in avoidant behaviour to minimise the scrutiny of others. Proneness to shame has been found to be positively correlated with arousal of anger, resentment, externalisation of blame and impaired ability to trust others and has conceptualised links to psychopathology (Tangney, et al., 1992).

Co-dependency

Co-dependency has been described by therapists as self-defeating dependence on outside approval for one’s self-worth. Schaef (1986) believed that co-dependence, like alcoholism, is an outgrowth of a basic disease process that she called the addictive process. Beattie (1987) described co-dependence as other-centeredness that results in abandonment of self. Kritsberg (1989) described it as the dependence on sources outside oneself for feelings of self-esteem.

The first US national conference to focus on co-dependency (1989) agreed on one single definition:

“Co-dependency is a pattern of painful dependence on compulsive behaviours and on approval from others in an attempt to find safety, self-worth, and identity” (Laing, 1990).

Brown (1988) claimed that co-dependence was common to all human development and not inherently negative or dysfunctional. Brown found the dysfunctional family of the co-dependent to be largely devoid of opportunities and assistance to develop balance between autonomy of self, and dependence and interdependence with others” (Brown, 1988, p. 59). A dysfunctional family seems consistently unable to provide a safe, nurturing environment for the child. With a set of restrictive rules, this family inhibits each of its members, particularly the children, from developing emotionally and socially (Kritsberg, 1989). Out of a need to survive, family members learn to discount their inner reality.

Whitfield (1987) related co-dependency directly to internalized shame. He explained co-dependency as the development of a “false self,” which he described as other-oriented, over conforming, and shame-based. He described shame as feeling bad about the “true” self as a sense of “being” defective or intrinsically inadequate.

Social phobia

Lewis (1987) claimed that shame plays a significant role in social phobia, suggesting that shame prone people expecting severely negative evaluations, project their own self condemnation on others (Lutwak, et al., 1998). According to the DSM IV (APA, 2000), individuals with social phobia, fear a number of social performance situations due to a pervasive concern of being negatively judged or evaluated by others and therefore fear behaving in a manner that may embarrass or humiliate them in public. This definition of social phobia has similarities with shame related behaviour but appears to be an extreme form and manifestation of shame. Little is known about the aetiology of social phobia but numerous studies have examined various factorial possibilities, such as; Behavioural inhibition, genetics, biological mechanisms, developmental factors, conditioning, and cognitive models (Nathan & Gorman, 2002).

Although similar clinical distinctions exist between social phobia and shyness, studies by Zimbardo (1995) have indicated that the diagnostic criteria for social phobia is met by only 2% of the community, where as the prevalence of shyness is present in 40% of the populations tested (Turner, Calhoun, Adams, 1992).

A study by Schneier (1992) found that social phobia disorder is accompanied and preceded by other significant comorbid psychiatric disorders such as alcohol abuse and independence, in 70% of cases (Schneier, 1992). Behavioural inhibition and autonomic arousal elicited by exposure to new experience starting in infancy and shyness and introversion as a toddler, are strongly associated with later development of anxiety related disorders (Rosenbaum, 1991).

Shyness

Shyness is defined experientially as discomfort and inhibition in interpersonal situations that interferes with pursuing one’s interpersonal or professional goals (Henderson, & Zimbardo, 1996). Shyness is a form of excessive self-focus, a preoccupation with one’s thoughts, feelings and physical reactions. It may vary from mild social awkwardness to totally inhibiting social phobia.

Shy individuals were found to be higher than controls in state-shame in social situations with negative outcomes (Henderson, & Zimbardo, 1996). Henderson and Zimbardo (1996), state that shyness has four domains. Firstly, behaviour is either excessively inhibited or overactive. Secondly, physiological and autonomic arousal manifests in sweating, trembling and increased heart rate. Thirdly, maladaptive thought patterns, and fourthly, negative emotions such as embarrassment, shame and guilt ( Henderson, Zimbardo, 1996).

Shyness may be experienced internally and, or, be expressed verbally. Henderson and Zimbardo’s (1996) research found that the populations surveyed largely take credit for success and externalize failure, and attribute it to unstable, specific and controllable factors. Shyness may be chronic and dispositional, serving as a personality trait that is central in one’s self definition (Carducci, & Zimbardo, 1995). Situational shyness involves experiencing the symptoms of shyness in specific social performance situations but not incorporating it into one’s self-concept.

Shyness reactions can occur at any or all of the following levels: cognitive, affective, physiological and behavioural, and may be triggered by a wide range of arousal cues. Among the most typical are: authorities, one-on-one opposite sex interactions, intimacy, strangers, having to take individuating action in a group setting, and initiating social actions in unstructured, spontaneous behavioural settings. Metaphorically, shyness is a shrinking back or withdrawal from life engagement that can cause bonds of human connection to atrophy (Henderson, & Zimbardo, 1996).

Perfectionism

Perfectionists habitually set high rigid standards for themselves and harshly evaluate themselves when they fail to meet their unrealistic standards. Due to their unrealistically high standards, perfectionist often experience failure. Combined with failure, perfectionists have a tendency for overgeneralisation of their failure (Hewitt & Flett, 1991). The expectation of failure and the perception that all tasks will inevitably fail and lead to feelings of failure, results in perfectionists avoiding tasks. Anticipation of global negative feelings associated with negative self evaluations are particularly pronounced in perfectionists who cope by task avoidance or procrastination (Hewitt & Flett, 1991). Tangney (2000) found a modest but consistent relationship between shame-proneness and perfectionism. The research found specifically that the tendency to experience feelings of shame was positively related to socially prescribed perfectionism.

Hewitt & Flett (1991) identified three distinct dimensions of perfectionism that are often differentially related to other constructs; self oriented, other oriented, and socially prescribed forms of perfectionism. Firstly, self oriented perfectionism measures the tendency to expect perfection from self, whereas other oriented perfectionism measures the degree to which an individual expects others to be perfect. Socially prescribed perfectionism represents the perception that others impose unrealistic expectations of perfection on an individual (Hewitt, & Flett, 1991).

In contrast to the findings that shame proneness is consistently positively associated with socially prescribed perfectionism (Tangney, 2000) shame proneness is generally unrelated to self oriented and other oriented perfectionism. Hewitt & Flett (1991) reported empirical links between socially prescribed perfectionism and depression, anxiety and obsessive compulsive symptomology. Self oriented and other oriented perfectionism are less associated with psychopathology (Hewitt, & Flett, 1991).

Procrastination

Researchers Fee & Tangney (2000) sought to clarify the relationship of chronic procrastination with affective experiences of shame and guilt. In their study, correlational analysis demonstrated that shame-proneness was related to procrastination tendencies and guilt-proneness was not. In addition, using hierarchical regression, Fee & Tangney (2000) found shame to be a moderator between chronic procrastination and perfectionism.

Some degree of procrastination may be inevitable, as over 25% of adults identify procrastination as a significant problem (McCown, & Johnson, 1989a). Ferrari (1994) described dysfunctional procrastination as the habitual delay of tasks that is ultimately detrimental to task success (Ferrari, 1994). Ferrari, Johnson, & McCown, (1995) proposed that procrastination is not an exclusively behavioural phenomena. Rather, the act of procrastinating is a complex process that consists of affective behavioural and cognitive components (Fee & Tangney, 2000).

The predominance of procrastination has produced a range of proposed explanations for this presumably maladaptive behaviour (Fee & Tangney, 2000). The most obvious observation is that people procrastinate to avoid tasks that are viewed as unpleasant. This observation would predict that situational procrastination may simply stem from lack of conscientiousness. Although chronic procrastination may be related to lack of conscientiousness, procrastination literature suggests that more affective issues are involved when people habitually procrastinate on tasks of personal importance (Schouwenburg & Lay, 1995). Individuals delaying the completion of tasks affectively delay the judgement of personal performance. Burka and Yuen (1983) found that an individual’s self worth is significantly related to ability, and self critiqued or judged by performance on completed tasks (Burka, & Yuen, 1983). By delaying performance, one’s ability is not readily evaluated, by self or others, and therefore self esteem is not jeopardised.

Impostor syndrome

Impostors are individuals who do not believe that their successes are due to their own ability (Cowman & Ferrari, 2002). Impostors believe their success results from either luck or that they have worked harder than anyone else and therefore their success remains un-internalised. Cowman and Ferrari (2002), examined the relationship between impostor tendencies and various behavioural and affective variables. Regression analysis in the Cowman and Ferrari (2002), study found that self handicapping and shame proneness were the best indicators of impostor tendencies (R² = 0.43).

Clance and Imes (1978) used the term impostor phenomena to describe female executives who attributed their successes to luck and effort rather than to their own skills and abilities. As a result, the women in their study evaded the internalisation of their success and instead internalised a sense of being fake and fraudulent (Cowman, & Ferrari, 2002). Even in the midst of mounting evidence to the contrary, impostors do not accept their success and outstanding achievement as reflecting their personal skill, and persist to believe the recognition they receive is fraudulent. Impostors believe their success to be random luck (Cowman, & Ferrari, 2002). Individuals displaying impostor cognitions fail to internalise their success.

Berglas and Jones (1978) however, determined that impostors may not actually believe they are frauds, but may engage in impostor behaviours to avoid negative evaluations. Self handicapping was suggested to be a strategy employed by individuals seeking to avoid negative evaluations. Performance inhibiting drugs may allow an individual to either discount their ability in times of failure, or augment their ability in times of success. Individuals, who engage in self sabotaging of performance, avoid negative evaluations because the failure can then be attributed to the particular handicapping, displacing the failure from personal characteristic (Berglas & Jones, 1978).

Impostors are frequently trapped in cyclical behaviour patterns that reinforcing beliefs that their success is not due to their own abilities. Langford and Clance (1993) found that impostors typically start working on projects immediately and continue to work beyond what is necessary. Success in this scenario is attributed to having worked harder than anyone else. Alternatively, impostors may wait until the last minute to finish a task and attribute successful performance to luck (Langford, & Clance, 1993). Unfortunately, impostors become dissatisfied with their frequent successes and allow doubt and anxiety about future tasks to quickly replace any feelings of achievement (Clance, et al., 1978). Langford and Clance (1993) report a positive correlation between global negative affect and impostor behaviour. Being unable to appreciate success and the fear of imminent future failure, impostors frequently engage in interpersonal strategies designed to avoid negative evaluations (Clance, et al., 1995).

Narcissism

Shame-proneness and parentification have both been clinically and empirically related to narcissism (Morrison, 1983; Nathanson, 1987; Gramzow & Tangney, 1992) and masochism (Hibbard, 1992). Individuals with shame based personalities who exhibit narcissistic and masochistic characteristics learn to discredit or deny the true self and develop a false self in response to parental demands and conditional love (Glickauf,-Hughes & Wells, 1997). Feeling invalidated and devalued, individuals feel ashamed of their true self and lose touch with their own needs and desires (Wells & Jones, 2000).

Individuals with narcissistically parentified characteristics defend against feelings of shame about their real self by the activation of a grandiose false self (Wells & Jones, 1999). Clients in this category are only aware of their false sense of greatness and are not connected with underlying feelings of inadequacy, present as arrogant and prideful.

Masochism

However, individuals with masochistically parentified characteristics defend against feelings of shame by over identifying with a childhood role of indispensable caretaker (Jones & Wells, 1996). These clients may present as self depreciating and caretaking only experiencing self appreciation in their abilities to meet another’s need (Wells & Jones, 1999).

With shame and parentification being theoretically and empirically related to narcissism and masochism, it is logical to hypothesis that individuals who experienced childhood parentification will experience pervasive shame as adults (Wells & Jones, 2000). Cleary (1992) went as far as to hypothesize that chronic parentification represented the aetiology of a shame-based syndrome.

Theoretical perspectives of shame

R.E.B.T. view of shame

Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT) recognises and includes shame within its therapeutic procedures. (REBT) has a basic hypothesis that suggests that our emotions stem from beliefs, evaluations, interpretations and reactions to life (Corey, 2002). The underlying assumption of (REBT) developed by Ellis (1994) is that individuals contribute to their own psychological condition by the way they rationally or irrationally, interpret events and situations. The ABC theory of personality is central to REBT theory and practise. A, being the activating event, B, is the belief about the event and C, represents the emotional reaction (Corey, 2002). Ellis (1988) developed shame attacking exercises to help people reduce irrational shame beliefs attached to particular behaviour. REBT practitioners assist clients to realise that feelings of shame are self created by beliefs about events and situations and that less inhibited behaviour is achievable.

Biblical view of shame

During my research into various theoretical perspectives on shame phenomena I came to recognise that there were biblical references to shame. Pivotal to the creation story are the events surrounding the eating of “forbidden fruit” (Genesis, 3; 6). The Genesis account may provide a status report of early human functionality in relation to shame proneness when it states that, although Adam and his wife were naked, neither of them felt shame (Genesis, 2;25). This information would suggest, as a baseline, that Adam and his wife existed in an environment devoid of self consciousness and sensations of inadequacy in relation to physical appearance. The perceptual status of adequacy was inverted to inadequacy at point Adam and his wife engaged in what appears to be known unacceptable behaviour (Genesis, 3; 6). The events schedule of this Garden experience states that at the moment Adam and his wife ate, their eyes were opened, their self perception changed, and suddenly they felt shame at their nakedness (Genesis, 3; 7). Shame affect is immediately observable as their reaction to their new awareness and self consciousness led them to take steps to cover their nakedness from each other.

This scenario is consistent with the manifestations of shame already listed in this paper. Shame has profound impact on interpersonal relationships with shame prone individuals exhibiting inhibited, restrained behaviour fearing embarrassment or being found to be inferior (Tangney, 1994).

Shame affect is also observable as the garden story continues to a scenario where it states (Genesis, 3; that “Adam and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the Garden and hid themselves from Him among the trees”. The isolating affect of shame are documented by Wells & Jones (2000) and Fee & Tangney (2000) establishing withdrawal from interpersonal and significant other contact as debilitating factors correlated to shame proneness. A question could be asked here as to what changed the relationship and perceptual experience of the personalities depicted in the garden story. Was the relational change facilitated by the emergence of self awareness alone, or was it the affect of the belief that a significant other may disapprove of a specific behaviour.

Many shame prone individuals report self-abusive cognitions, incapacitation and freezing behaviour in social encounters that deflates self-esteem and interferes with motivation and pro-activity, frequently leading to avoidant and passive interaction style (Henderson, & Zimbardo, 1996).

The shame affect recorded in this biblical introduction to shame also correlates with current scientific findings regarding shame affect where shame pervades beyond an evaluation of wrongness of an action, to include a global assessment of the badness of the self (Wells & Jones, 2000). Fee & Tangney (2000) described the experience of shame as feeling bad, inadequate, small, fearful and helpless.

Developmental stage view of shame

Erikson attempts to explain the emergence and manifestation of shame in the second stage of his stage theory of personality development in terms of, autonomy verses shame (Wieten, 2001). The stage theory of personality development proposes individuals evolve through eight stages over the life span. In each stage individuals wrestle with two opposing tendencies evoked by the psychosocial crisis of that stage.

During his studies, Erikson found during the time parents are introducing toilet training and other regulatory expectations on child behaviour, children need to begin taking responsibility for their behaviour (Weiten, et. al., 2001). When a child successfully begins taking personal responsibility for feeding, dressing or bathing etc, the child acquires as sense of self sufficiency or autonomy. When parents fail to be satisfied with the child’s performance resulting in frequent parent-child conflicts, Erikson found that the child has a tendency to develop a sense of personal shame and self doubt (Weiten, et. al., 2001). When a child experiences a dominance of self doubt their capacity to act confidently and autonomously is diminished.

The formulation and integration of levels of autonomy and shame are linked to the fifth stage of Erikson’s model, identity verses confusion. Identity achievement involves arriving at a sense of self (Marcia, 1993). Identity achievement is associated with higher self esteem and greater security. Erikson and Marcia believe that adequate identity formation is foundational to psychological health. The key challenge of adolescence, according to Erikson, is the progress an individual makes toward a sense of identity. Marcia (1993) identified four patterns of identity formation: foreclosure, moratorium, identity diffusion, and identity achievement.

The Erikson stage theory accounts for the continuity of early childhood experiences and there affect on aspects of adult personality and behaviour. Although Erikson’s work is useful to modern science and continues to generate research, his research was dependent of case studies and may attract varied interpretation (Weiten, et, al., 2001). Also, in the midst of enormous personality differences, Erikson’s model provides an idealised linear description of the developmental sequence with inadequate explanation of individual differences (Thomas, 2000).

(State and Trait shame as per Personality Theory has purposefully not been included in this section due to succinctness and time restraints but is certainly relevant and could be included as an appendix to this work).

Therapeutic interventions

There appears to be paucity of treatments specifically addressing shame although REBT does include shame stopping strategies (Corey, 2002). Carducci and Zimbardo (1995) found that treatments for social phobia and shyness are similar, although there is considerable more systematic treatment outcome research conducted and published for social phobia. Evidence supporting the similarities between social anxiety and shyness and their correlation with shame proneness is that Social phobia is the only adult anxiety disorder that has its onset in adolescence and childhood (Turner, et al., 1991). Behavioural and cognitive behavioural and pharmacological treatments have emerged as social performance phobia type disorders treatments (Otto, 1999). Exposure-based techniques combining anxiety management strategies are producing the strongest therapeutic affect (Carducci, & Zimbardo, 1995). Compiling a fear and avoidance hierarchy outlining representative situations is a key facet to the treatment contracts (Barlow, 2001).

Cognitive Behavioural Group Therapy (CBGT) has been compared to pharmacological therapy in a number of studies where patients were randomly assigned to CBGT, Phenelzine and placebo groups (Gelernter, et al., 1991; Otto et al., 2000). These studies found that for the initial six months the difference in affect between the treatments was insignificant. In the period after the six month follow up 50% of the Phenelzine group relapsed. In summary of their finding it appeared that combining exposure therapy and CBGT represented effective treatment of social phobia and that clients exhibiting social anxiety will realise clinically significantly change after intensive treatment exposure. (Nathan & Gorman, 2002).

Henderson and Zimbardo (1996) found that effective treatments for shyness exist and generally include exposure to feared situations, usually simulated treatment sessions or in-vivo. Visualized feared situations in imaginal desensitization led to extinction. These treatments include anxiety management and coping skills training, such as coping self-statements.

Conclusion

The emotional affect of shame has profound epidemiological significance, and yet has few treatments and received relatively meagre research focus (Seidler, 2002). Shame proneness affect is a pervasive negative self-evaluation that precludes an individual from internalising success and therefore fostering persoanl failure. Fee & Tangney (2000) described the experience of shame as feeling bad, inadequate, small, and helpless, a feeling which is translated into self-humiliation. Negative performance evaluations can escalate from a particular isolated behavioural event to include an individual’s entire global self assessment (Tangney, 1994).

Aetiological characteristics indicate similarities in childhood experiences. A child who fails to meet parental expectations can interpret their inability to their personal defectiveness leading to shameful cognitions and emotional affect (Tangney, 1994). Children of families with co dependent relational styles are also at high risk of experiencing unrealistic parental expectations leading to failure and negative self evaluations (Miller, 1981, 1984).

Evidence suggests that individuals who fail to achieve secure attachment with significant others interpret the relational isolation as the result of personal inadequacy and defectiveness and therefore begin to establish negative self evaluations.

Although shame manifestation in our culture are addressed by a variety of terms, the summary of this paper would suggest that shame proneness, social phobia, shyness, impostor syndrome, perfectionism, procrastination, narcissism, masochism represent similar manifestations common to all human organisms and suggest unavoidability.

In the midst of the common shame related themes and definitions it is of interest that shame proneness requires self reflection as a prerequisite to experience as questioned in the conclusion of the biblical perspective of shame.

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