Shame

"When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom." - Proverbs 11:2 (KJV)

A number of theoretical approaches to shame are identified in the Encyclopedia of Human Emotions, including the psychodynamic and cognitive approaches.

"One of the most influential contributions of psychodynamic approaches to current understandings of shame is Freud's (1914) concept of the "ego ideal." According to Freud, the ego ideal is made up of ideal representations, grandiose fantasies, and parental representations. Shame occurs when people perceive they have failed to approximate their ego ideal. Karen Horney (1950) further specified that feelings of inadequacy and shame are associated with unrealistic ideals in a cyclical manner, such that greater feelings of inadequacy lead to more perfectionistic ideals, which, in turn, exacerbate feelings of inadequacy and shame" (pg. 605).

"Appraisal theory and attribution theory are the two most well-known cognitive approaches to understanding shame. Both of these theories suggest that individuals' cognitive assessments are central to the experience of emotions. For instance, Richard Lazarus (1991), a strong proponent of appraisal theory, argues that the way people evaluate themselves and their social environment can elicit shame. Drawing from psychoanalytic approaches, he notes that shame involves the failure of individuals to meet their ego-ideal. When people feel shame, they "feel disgraced or humiliated, especially in the eyes of a parent or parent-substitute, who was the original source of the demanding ego-ideal" (p. 241). The components of an appraisal that evoke shame, according to Lazarus, thus, are twofold. First, people who feel shame must perceive they have failed to live up to a certain set of standards. Second, they must place blame for the failure on themselves" (pg. 606).

Self-Hate

Sigmund Freud ([1914] 1957). "On Narcissism: An Introduction." In The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Vol. 14. Ed. James Strachey. London: Hogarth.

Karen Horney (1950). Neurosis and Human Growth. New York: W. W. Norton.

Richard S. Lazarus (1991). Emotion and Adaptation. New York: Oxford UP.

Anita L. Vangelisti and Stacy L. Young (1999). "Shame." In Encyclopedia of Human Emotions, Vol. 2.. Eds. David Levinson, James J. Ponzetti, Peter F. Jorgensen. New York: Macmillan Reference.

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