title: Defend or repair? Explaining responses to in-group moral failure by disentangling feelings of shame, rejection, and inferiority.
abstract: Research on shame about in-group moral failure has yielded paradoxical results. In some studies, shame predicts self-defensive motivations to withdraw. In other studies, shame predicts pro-social motivations, such as restitution. We think that this paradox can be explained by disentangling the numerous appraisals and feelings subsumed under the label "shame." In 2 studies, we asked community samples of Norwegians about their in-group's discrimination against the Tater minority. Confirmatory factor analysis validated the measures of the appraisals and feelings used in Study 1 (N = 206) and Study 2 (N = 173). In both studies, an appraisal of the in-group as suffering a moral defect best predicted felt shame, whereas an appraisal of concern for condemnation of the in-group best predicted felt rejection. In both studies, felt rejection best predicted self-defensive motivation, whereas felt shame best predicted pro-social motivation. Implications for conceptualizing and studying shame are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, Centre for Emotion Research, Østfold University College, Norway. nicolay.gausel@hiof.no
authors.forename: Nicolay
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Gausel
authors.forename: Colin Wayne
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Leach
authors.forename: Vivian L
authors.initials: VL
authors.lastname: Vignoles
authors.forename: Rupert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Brown
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D035881:Compensation and Redress; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008913:Minority Groups; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009014:Morals; D009042:Motivation; D009664:Norway; D011287:Prejudice; D012929:Psychological Distance; D011593:Psychology, Social; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012649:Self Concept; D012752:Shame; D012933:Social Identification