Two faces of shame: The roles of shame and guilt in predicting recidivism
Tangney and colleagues tested the assumption that shame deters immoral or illegal behaviour. They measured shame proneness, guilt proneness and externalisation of blame in 476 jail inmates shortly after incarceration, then followed up about a year after release with interviews (332 people) and official arrest records (446 people). Guilt proneness predicted less reoffending in the first year, and shame proneness did not. Shame predicted more reoffending through its strong link to blaming others, and had a direct inhibiting effect only when defensive blame was not involved. The authors conclude that shame may have two faces, one destructive and one constructive.
Tangney and colleagues tested the assumption that shame deters immoral or illegal behaviour. They measured shame proneness, guilt proneness and externalisation of blame in 476 jail inmates shortly after incarceration, then followed up about a year after release with interviews (332 people) and official arrest records (446 people). Guilt proneness predicted less reoffending in the first year, and shame proneness did not. Shame predicted more reoffending through its strong link to blaming others, and had a direct inhibiting effect only when defensive blame was not involved. The authors conclude that shame may have two faces, one destructive and one constructive.
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Tangney, J. P., Stuewig, J., & Martinez, A. G. (2014). Two faces of shame: The roles of shame and guilt in predicting recidivism. Psychological Science, 25(3), 799-805. doi:10.1177/0956797613508790