Citation

Tangney JP, Wagner PE, Hill-Barlow D, Marschall DE, Gramzow R. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 1996; 70(4): 797-809.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia 22030, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1996, American Psychological Association)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

8636899

Abstract

This study explored the relation of shame proneness and guilt proneness to constructive versus destructive responses to anger among 302 children (Grades 4-6), adolescents (Grades 7-11), 176 college students, and 194 adults. Across all ages, shame proneness was clearly related to maladaptive response to anger, including malevolent intentions; direct, indirect, and displaced aggression; self-directed hostility; and negative long-term consequences. In contrast, guilt proneness was associated with constructive means of handling anger, including constructive intentions, corrective action and non-hostile 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.

Language: en