Shame aversion and shame-proneness in Cluster C personality disorders.
The associations between shame and Cluster C personality disorders (PDs) were examined in 237 undergraduates, 35 of whom met at least subthreshold criteria for Cluster C PDs assessed using the Personality Disorder Interview-IV. Shame-proneness (the propensity to experience shame across many situations) was measured using the Test of Self-Conscious Affect-3, and shame aversion (the tendency to perceive shame as especially painful and undesirable) was measured using the Shame-Aversive Reactions Questionnaire. A go/no-go association task was used to assess the strength of implicit mental representations of the association between shame and pain, relative to that between shame and pleasure. Shame-proneness and shame aversion were associated with Cluster C PD symptoms over and above trait positive and negative affect. Further, shame-proneness was found to be associated with Cluster C PDs among individuals with high but not low levels of shame aversion. Finally, shame-pain associations were uniquely associated with dependent personality disorder.
Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL 61820, USA. mschoen2@illinois.edu
Michelle
M
Schoenleber
Howard
H
Berenbaum
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003859:Dependent Personality Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D008297:Male; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D012752:Shame; D055815:Young Adult