The Revelation of the Scarlet Letter

Hawthorne, Nathaniel

doi:10.1093/owc/9780199537808.003.0025

Cited by 5 publications

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“…Despite this universality, it has a bewildering constellation of causes. People feel ashamed for exhibiting poor skills (Lewis, Alessandri, and Sullivan, 1992; Modigliani, 1971), for being diseased (Bishop, Alva, Cantu, and Rittiman, 1991; Ginsburg and Link, 1993), for having their adultery exposed (Hawthorne, 1994), and for being caught cheating on a social exchange (Sznycer, 2010). Though seemingly diverse, these sources of shame have an underlying commonality: They all reveal information that could reduce a person's value in the minds of others (Gilbert and McGuire, 1998; see Kurzban and Neuberg, 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cross-Cultural Differences and Similarities in Proneness to Shame: An Adaptationist and Ecological Approach

et al. 2012

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People vary in how easily they feel ashamed, that is, in their shame proneness. According to the information threat theory of shame, variation in shame proneness should, in part, be regulated by features of a person's social ecology. On this view, shame is an emotion program that evolved to mitigate the likelihood or costs of reputation-damaging information spreading to others. In social environments where there are fewer possibilities to form new relationships (i.e., low relational mobility), there are higher costs to damaging or losing existing ones. Therefore, shame proneness toward current relationship partners should increase as perceived relational mobility decreases. In contrast, individuals with whom one has little or no relationship history are easy to replace, and so shame-proneness towards them should not be modulated by relational mobility. We tested these predictions cross-culturally by measuring relational mobility and shame proneness towards friends and strangers in Japan, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Japanese subjects were more shame-prone than their British and American counterparts. Critically, lower relational mobility was associated with greater shame proneness towards friends (but not strangers), and this relationship partially mediated the cultural differences in shame proneness. Shame proneness appears tailored to respond to relevant features of one's social ecology.Cross-cultural differences and similarities in proneness to shame

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cross-Cultural Differences and Similarities in Proneness to Shame: An Adaptationist and Ecological Approach

et al. 2012

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“…Burgess's account assigns a central role to the blush's visibility to others, and he argues, as his thesis obliges him to do, that it must be discernible even in people with dark pigmentation. An analogy to the dread of shame appears in Hawthorne's novel, The Scarlet Letter , first published in 1850, where Hester Prynne, a woman convicted of adultery, is sentenced to wear a badge displaying the letter “A.” The badge stigmatizes her in the eyes of the Puritan community and fear of the stigma serves as a deterrent to the community to committing shameful acts (Hawthorne, 1850/1920). The badge is analogous to the visible blush, an unwanted sign to others that one has fallen short.…”

Section: Blushing With Shamementioning

confidence: 99%

Skin Complexion and the Blush

Crozier

2023

Emotion Review

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The implications of variation in skin pigmentation for the blush have attracted discussion for centuries. Two long-standing positions are identified. First, the blush has been identified with shame, giving rise to claims that because people with dark skin do not blush they do not have the capacity to experience shame. Second, the meaning of a visible blush can be ambiguous. A review of more recent theorizing and empirical research suggests that people blush whatever their level of pigmentation; the blush tends to be associated with embarrassment rather than shame; it serves both intraindividual and communicative functions. Nevertheless, there has been little systematic investigation into the impact of the relative discernibility of the blush on emotional experience or its functions.

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“…Mine burns in secret….The letter was the symbol of her calling." 1 Why are we so reluctant or hesitant to say the A word out loud? Abortion is a highly prevalent procedure, with the Guttmacher Institute's estimates of 1 in 4 US women reporting having had one by age 45 years.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…“Happy are you, Hester, that wear the scarlet letter openly upon your bosom! Mine burns in secret….The letter was the symbol of her calling.”…”

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confidence: 99%

The A Word—Our Collective Scarlet Letter

Simon

2023

JAMA Surg

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Happy are you, Hester, that wear the scarlet letter openly upon your bosom! Mine burns in secret….The letter was the symbol of her calling." 1 Why are we so reluctant or hesitant to say the A word out loud? Abortion is a highly prevalent procedure, with the Guttmacher Institute's estimates of 1 in 4 US women reporting having had one by age 45 years. 2 Abortion is an evidence-based, standard-of-care option, supported by numerous, respected professional societies for all persons who are pregnant. Abortion is a part of my own specialty's board certification requirement that all obstetrics and gynecology physicians have the "knowledge, skills, and judgment relative to reproductive health rights, including access to contraception as well as to safe and legal pregnancy termination." 3 Indeed, abortion is part of comprehensive care to which every pregnant person should have access, as it is essential to routine pregnancy care. The American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology states, "our commitment to these principles is firm and unwavering in support of OBGYNs [obstetrics and gynecology physicians] who wish to provide comprehensive reproductive health care to the patients and families they serve. Patients place their trust in the sanctity of the patient-physician relationship, and they must have confidence that their OBGYNs can provide the evidence-based counseling and care that they need without intimidation, retribution, or litigation."The June 24, 2022, Supreme Court decision regarding Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organization overturning Roe v Wade 4 was not based on standard-of-care medical practice, science, nor empathy related to 50% of the US population that can experience pregnancy up to 30 to 35 years each.So, why don't we, as health care professionals and leaders in our fields, enunciate the word abortion loudly and repeatedly? The World Health Organization estimates that more than 73 million induced abortions take place worldwide annually, 6 of 10 pregnancies globally end in induced abortion, 97% take place in developing countries, and unsafe abortion is a leading global cause of maternal mortality. 5 Abortion is a safe procedure, regardless of the method, medication, or surgical procedure. [6][7][8] Abortion is one of the most performed surgeries next to cesarean delivery (through which one-third of all births occur) and is safer than childbirth; pregnant persons are almost 14 times more likely to die during childbirth than from complications due to abortion. 9 When over half the US population can potentially become pregnant for about one-third to 40% of each of their lifetimes, why is the full spectrum of safe, well-studied effective

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The Revelation of the Scarlet Letter

Abstract: The eloquent voice, on which the souls of the listening audience had been borne aloft, as on the swelling waves of the sea, at length came to a pause. There was a momentary silence, profound as what should follow the utterance of oracles. Then...

Cited by 5 publications

References 0 publications

Cross-Cultural Differences and Similarities in Proneness to Shame: An Adaptationist and Ecological Approach

Cross-Cultural Differences and Similarities in Proneness to Shame: An Adaptationist and Ecological Approach

Skin Complexion and the Blush

The A Word—Our Collective Scarlet Letter

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