TY - JOUR
T1 - A multidimensional approach to the relationship between individualism-collectivism and guilt and shame.
AU - Young, Isaac F.
AU - Razavi, Pooya
AU - Cohen, Taya R.
AU - Yang, Qian
AU - Alabèrnia-Segura, Miquel
AU - Sullivan, Daniel
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 American Psychological Association
PY - 2021/2
Y1 - 2021/2
N2 - Guilt and shame proneness are commonly thought to be associated with culture, yet research on this relationship is fragmented and often inconsistent. In a review of the existing social scientific literature, we demonstrate that no consistent relationship between guilt and shame, on the one hand, and individualism and collectivism, on the other, has yet been established. To move this research area forward, we apply a new 2-dimensional, quaternary perspective to both guilt/shame and cultural orientation. Specifically, both evaluative and behavioral dimensions of guilt and shame are considered using the Guilt and Shame Proneness Scale (GASP; Cohen, Wolf, Panter, & Insko, 2011), as well as the degree of hierarchy (i.e., horizontality-verticality) in individuals’ cultural orientation (Triandis & Gelfand, 1998). A study of individuals from 5 countries (United States, India, China, Iran, and Spain; total N = 1,466) confirmed our hypotheses that individuals culturally socialized to be more interpersonally oriented (i.e., horizontal collectivism) are more motivated to engage in reparative action following transgressions, whereas those culturally socialized to be more attuned to power, status, and competition (i.e., vertical individualism) are more likely to withdraw from threatening interpersonal situations, and that these relationships are stronger than corresponding relationships with guilt- and shame-related evaluations. In addition to supporting these hypotheses, our data also provide the first cross-cultural evidence regarding the invariance of the GASP.
AB - Guilt and shame proneness are commonly thought to be associated with culture, yet research on this relationship is fragmented and often inconsistent. In a review of the existing social scientific literature, we demonstrate that no consistent relationship between guilt and shame, on the one hand, and individualism and collectivism, on the other, has yet been established. To move this research area forward, we apply a new 2-dimensional, quaternary perspective to both guilt/shame and cultural orientation. Specifically, both evaluative and behavioral dimensions of guilt and shame are considered using the Guilt and Shame Proneness Scale (GASP; Cohen, Wolf, Panter, & Insko, 2011), as well as the degree of hierarchy (i.e., horizontality-verticality) in individuals’ cultural orientation (Triandis & Gelfand, 1998). A study of individuals from 5 countries (United States, India, China, Iran, and Spain; total N = 1,466) confirmed our hypotheses that individuals culturally socialized to be more interpersonally oriented (i.e., horizontal collectivism) are more motivated to engage in reparative action following transgressions, whereas those culturally socialized to be more attuned to power, status, and competition (i.e., vertical individualism) are more likely to withdraw from threatening interpersonal situations, and that these relationships are stronger than corresponding relationships with guilt- and shame-related evaluations. In addition to supporting these hypotheses, our data also provide the first cross-cultural evidence regarding the invariance of the GASP.
KW - collectivism
KW - culture
KW - guilt
KW - individualism
KW - shame
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U2 - 10.1037/emo0000689
DO - 10.1037/emo0000689
M3 - Article
C2 - 31580090
AN - SCOPUS:85073110113
SN - 1528-3542
VL - 21
SP - 108
EP - 122
JO - Emotion
JF - Emotion
IS - 1
ER -