Shame and Guilt: Relationships of Test of Self-Conscious Affect Measures With Psychological Adjustment and Gender Differences in Iran

Abstract

In numerous studies conducted in Western societies, shame as measured by the Test of Self-Conscious Affect (TOSCA) has correlated with maladjustment whereas the TOSCA Guilt Scale has predicted adjustment. The present investigation sought to determine if such linkages would also appear in the Muslim cultural context of Iran. Iranian university students (N = 132) responded to Shame and Guilt Scales from the third version of the TOSCA, along with an array of personality measures. Shame correlated negatively with adjustment and positively with maladjustment. Guilt displayed an opposite pattern of relationships. As in previous Western investigations, women scored higher than men on guilt, but the expected female elevation in shame failed to appear. Shame, nevertheless, interacted with gender to predict relationships with poorer psychological functioning in women, but not in men. These data most importantly confirmed that the TOSCA Shame and Guilt Scales in Iran display implications similar to those observed in the West and that gender differences in Iran may deserve additional research attention.

Moral Affects, Empathy, and Integrative Self-Knowledge in Iran

“…In parallel with Western data (e.g., Davis, 1983;Jonason, Lyons, Bethell, & Ross, 2013), men scored higher on narcissism, and women exhibited higher levels of both other-oriented empathy and empathic distress. While a previous Iranian study found that moral affects sometimes predict psychological functioning only in women (Ghorbani et al, 2013), this investigation failed to observe such outcomes, indicating that the operation of such effects may be limited. In short, attempts to explain why Iranian women failed to score higher on shame should be framed within an awareness that this one cultural difference occurred within the context of the many other similarities.…”

“…In the West, women score higher on both shame and guilt (Tangney & Dearing, 2002), but in this and in a previous Iranian study (Ghorbani et al, 2013), women scored higher only on guilt. This replicated effect, therefore, appeared to point toward a substantive cross-cultural contrast in the gender-related implications of shame.…”

“…Step 2 Dependent variable R 2 b for Shame .37*** -.40*** -.40*** -.39*** -.40*** -.53*** -4.14*** 4.65*** -4.50*** 4.33*** 4.42*** 5.15*** *p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001. previous Iranian analyses of empathy, narcissism, and moral affects in suggesting that the more individualistic Western and the more interdependent Iranian self may display important functional similarities Ghorbani et al,2013).…”

Contributions of Cognitive-Motivational Factors to the Sense of Identity

“…Specifically, it was hypothesized that higher need for cognition would predict increased reflection (H1) and integrative self-knowledge (H2), and that reflection and integrative self-knowledge would be positively related to each other (H3). Positive associations between need for cognition, reflection, and integrative self-knowledge were previously reported by others (Ghorbani et al 2008 , 2013a , b ; Trapnell and Campbell 1999 ). It was also expected that those low in need for cognition would be more likely to be imbalanced in terms of assimilation (H4) and accommodation (H5).…”

“…Proceeding on the assumption that self-knowledge is a process organized in time, Ghorbani et al ( 2008 ) conceptualized integrative self-knowledge “as an adaptive and empowering attempt of the self to understand its experience across time to achieve desired outcomes” (p. 397). Research supports the benefits of integrative self-knowledge in enhancing mood and well-being while decreasing anxiety, depression, and various stress indicators (Ghorbani et al 2008 , 2013a , b ); and relates integrative self-knowledge to broad personality traits such as the Big Five (Tahmasb et al 2008 ).…”