Relation of Shame and Guilt to

Constructive Versus Destructive

Responses to Anger Across the
Lifespan

Grupa 9: Chiricheș Florentina,

Tănase Maria, Gînga Ioana
 Introduction
This study explored the relation of shame proneness and guilt proneness to constructive versus destructive
responses to anger among 302 children (Grades 4-6 ), 427 adolescents (Grades 7- l l ), 176 college students,
and 194 adults. Across all ages, shame proneness was clearly related to maladaptive responses to anger,
including malevolent intentions; direct, indirect, and displaced aggression; selfdirected hostility; and negative
long-term consequences. In contrast, guilt proneness was associated with constructive means of handling
anger, including constructive intentions, corrective action and nonhostile discussion with the target of the
anger, cognitive reappraisals of the target's role, and positive long-term consequences. Escapist--diffusing
responses showed some interesting developmental trends. Among children, these dimensions were positively
correlated with guilt and largely unrelated to shame; among older participants, the results were mixed.
What is the difference between shame and guilt?

Shame and guilt are

both negative self
relevant emotions. Shame and guilt differ, however, in the ways in
People typically which such negative self-relevant events are
experience shame, constructed. Moreover, it appears that such
guilt, or both when differences in the "framing" of events are related
they behave in a to quite distinct patterns of affect, cognition, and
manner they view as motivation, as indicated both by qualitative case
morally or socially study analyses and several systematic empirical
unacceptable. studies of the phenomenology of shame and guilt.
 Shame
● Meaning - a painful feeling of humiliation or distress caused by the
consciousness of wrong or foolish behaviour. Ex: "she was hot with
shame“

● Psychological context - When shamed, a person's focal concern

is with the entire self. Some negative behavior or failure is taken as a
reflection of a more global and enduring defect of the self. There is a
painful scrutiny and negative evaluation of the entire self, with
corresponding feelings of shrinking and being small. The shamed person
feels, in the moment of shame, worthless and powerless. The self is
impaired. Furthermore, because shame also involves a sense of exposure
(before a real or imagined "audience"), there is a press to hide, to sink
into the floor and disappear.
 Guilt
Meaning - the fact of having committed a specified or
implied offence or crime. Ex: "it is the duty of the prosecution to
prove the prisoner's guilt"
Psychological context - Guilt, a person's focal concern is with
a specific behavior or failure, somewhat apart from the global self.
There is a clear scrutiny and negative evaluation of the behavior,
with a corresponding sense of tension, remorse, and regret over the
bad act that was done. But the processes involved in guilt stop
short of a generalization to the entire self. When feeling guilt, a
person feels bad (perhaps very bad) about his or her behavior but
not necessarily about him- or herself. That is, the behavior may be
deemed objectionable, even reprehensible, but the self remains
relatively intact and unimpaired. With the tension, remorse, and
regret of guilt comes a press toward reparative action, such as
apologizing, undoing, or in some way repairing the harm that was
done.
 Reappraisal
Meaning - an assessment of something or someone again or in a different way. Ex:
"he called for a fundamental reappraisal of British foreign policy"

Psychological context - Cognitive reappraisal is a specific emotion regulation

strategy. The strategy relies on thinking about an event differently in order to change
one’s emotions in response to the event. For example, one might feel sad about losing a
competition, but then reappraise the situation by telling themselves that this is actually a
positive result because it will motivate them to work harder for the next competition.
This will likely regulate their emotional experience by producing a positive valence
emotion.

1.Cognitive Reappraisals of Target's Role a (reinterpret the motives or actions of the

target; e.g., "He didn't mean it"; "She was just trying to help")
2.Cognitive Reappraisals of Self's Role" (reinterpret one's own role in the situation; e.g.,
"It was partly my fault; Maybe I should have been more careful.")
 Displaced ( aggression)
Displace (verb /dɪˈspleɪs/) meaning- take over the place, position, or role of. "he believes that books may be displaced by the electronic
word"

Psychological context

Displaced aggression- aggression

that is displaced onto someone or
something other than the target of
the anger.
Example: a person may be angry at
his or her boss but then take out the
anger on a spouse.

A classic example of the defense is displaced aggression.  If a person is angry

but cannot direct their anger toward the source without consequences,
they might "take out" their anger on a person or thing that poses less of a risk.
In displaced aggression, an aggressive behavior is directed at a person or other
target (e.g., a pet) that is not the source of the aggression-arousing provocation
or frustration. Displaced aggression occurs when it is impossible or unwise to
respond aggressively toward the source of the provocation or frustration.
 Ruminative ( anger)
adjective UK   /ˈruː.mɪ.nə.tɪv/ 

thinking deeply and for a long period: a quiet and ruminative temperament

 The process of continuously thinking about the same thoughts, which tend to be

sad or dark, is called rumination. A habit of rumination can be dangerous to your
mental health, as it can prolong or intensify depression as well as impair your ability
to think and process emotions.

Ruminative (adjective) anger ( unexpressed anger)

a ruminative kind of anger that is not expressed directly
Example: "I thought about it over and over, and became more and more
angry“.

 obsessional thinking involving excessive, repetitive thoughts or themes

that interfere with other forms of mental activity. It is a common feature of 
obsessive-compulsive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder.
 Malediction noun

Meaning: a magical word or phrase uttered with the intention of

bringing about evil; a curse. Example: "he muttered maledictions to
himself as he trod the stone passages“.

In our article, malediction means talking maliciously

behind the person's back. ("bad-mouthing“).

Malediction (talking maliciously

behind the person's back) it’s a form
of indirect aggression.
 Malicious
Malicious (adjective) Meaning
described by malice; intending or intended to do harm.
Example:"he was found guilty of malicious damage"

Example: An example of malicious behavior is the sticking of

a sharp object in the road so that a car's tires are
destroyed. Spiteful and deliberately harmful. He was
sent off for a malicious tackle on Jones.

Malicious compliance (also known as malicious

obedience) is the behaviour of intentionally
inflicting harm by strictly following the orders of a
superior while knowing or intending that
compliance with the orders will have an
unintended or negative result.

It is also a form of passive-aggressive behavior

 Removal
Meaning : the action of taking away or abolishing something unwanted.
For exemple: "the removal of the brain tumour“

Psychological context: removal means to walking away,

leaving the situation and simply doing nothing.

Undoing is a defense mechanism in which a person tries to cancel out or remove an

unhealthy, destructive or otherwise threatening thought or action by engaging in
contrary behavior.
 Diffuse anger
Diffuse can be used as a verb meaning "to spread out" or an adjective
meaning "spread out" or "not concentrated.“
Diffuse anger means to make a situation more relaxed by making people
feel less angry or less worried. For example: The government is trying to
defuse tensions over cuts in public spending.
Psychological context: diffuse the anger by engaging in some distracting
activity such as taking a walk, watching TV, etc.);
In articol, most notably,for children these attempts to diffuse or ignore
anger-eliciting situations appear to have fairly positive long-term
consequences.
In other words, it appears that it is fairly adaptive for children to use a
variety of means to "keep a lid" on their anger.
 Game
Definitions
1) A person's focal concern is with a specific behavior or A. Shame
failure, somewhat apart from the global self
2) Engaging in some distracting activity such as taking a B. Ruminative
walk, watching TV
3) A person's focal concern is with the entire self C. Removal
4) thinking about an event differently in order to change D. Diffuse anger
one’s emotions
5) Is the behaviour of intentionally inflicting harm E. Guilt
6) Walking away, leaving the situation and simply doing
F. Malicious
nothing.
7) Bad-mouthing G. Displaced anger
8) Targetting someone or something other than the target of
the anger H. Malediction
I. Reappraisal
 Our team

Tănase Maria

Chiricheș Florentina Gînga Ioana

Thank you!

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