The character lens: A person-centered perspective on moral recognition and ethical decision-making

We introduce the character lens perspective to account for stable patterns in the way that individuals make sense of and construct the ethical choices and situations they face. We propose that the way that individuals make sense of their present experience is an enduring feature of their broader moral character, and that differences between people in ethical decision-making are traceable to upstream differences in the way that people disambiguate and give meaning to their present context. In three studies, we found that individuals with higher standing on moral character (operationalized as a combination of Honesty-Humility, Guilt Proneness, and Moral Identity Centrality) tended to construe their present context in more moral or ethical terms, and this difference in moral recognition accounted for differences in the ethical choices they made. Moreover, individuals with higher levels of moral character maintained high levels of moral recognition even as pressure to ignore moral considerations increased. Accordingly, this work unifies research on moral character, moral recognition, sensemaking, and judgment and decision-making into a person-centered account of ethical decision-making, highlighting the way decision-makers actively and directly shape the choice contexts to which they must respond.

Shame-Proneness Predicts Social Psychopathology: Considering the Sociometer Theory of Shame

Introduction: The classic act-person model of shame-proneness defined shame as originating from negative self-appraisals following wrongful actions, conferring broad vulnerability to psychopathology. However, recent developments postulate that shame may originate from real or imagined social evaluation (sociometer view of shame). If so, shame might leave one vulnerable to psychosocial stressors and may manifest in social anxiety specifically, even after accounting for general negative affect. We investigated how shame-proneness predicted concurrent symptoms and prospective responses to interpersonal stressors (social anxiety, feeling evaluated, and other symptoms) over five weeks in a sample including individuals at clinical and subclinical levels of emotional symptoms. Method: We oversampled for individuals meeting criteria for anxiety and depressive disorders based on clinical interviews (n = 58) and also included those not meeting diagnostic criteria (n = 101) to ensure a broad range of symptoms (total N = 159). Participants completed baseline measures of shame- and guilt-proneness, trait negative affect (NA), and symptoms of social anxiety, depression, and generalized anxiety disorders followed by symptom diaries for 5 weeks following their worst psychosocial stressors (1,923 diaries). Results: As expected, even after controlling for NA and guilt-proneness, shame-proneness uniquely predicted concurrent social anxiety (∆R2 = 8%) and prospectively predicted experiences of social evaluation. Shame-proneness demonstrated weaker links to depression, and no unique links to general anxiety and worry. Discussion: Shame-proneness functioned in a manner predicted by sociometer theory, demonstrating specificity for social evaluative symptoms and concerns. Results have implication both for shame theory and clinical practice with shame-prone individuals.

Athlete Experiences of Shame and Guilt: Initial Psychometric Properties of the Athletic Perceptions of Performance Scale Within Junior Elite Cricketers

Guilt and shame are self-conscious emotions with implications for mental health, social and occupational functioning, and the effectiveness of sports practice. To date, the assessment and role of athlete-specific guilt and shame has been under-researched. Reporting data from 174 junior elite cricketers (M = 17.34 years; females n = 85), the present study utilized exploratory factor analysis in validating the Athletic Perceptions of Performance Scale (APPS), assessing three distinct and statistically reliable factors: athletic shame-proneness, guilt-proneness, and no-concern. Conditional process analysis indicated that APPS shame-proneness mediated the relationship between general and athlete-specific distress (p < 0.01), with this pathway non-contingent on sex or past 12-month help-seeking for mental health concerns (p's > 0.05). While APPS domains of guilt-proneness and no-concern were not significant mediators, they exhibited correlations in the expected direction with indices of psychological distress and well-being. The APPS may assist coaches and support staff identify players who may benefit from targeted interventions to reduce the likelihood of experiencing shame-prone states.

The Influence of Negative Feedback and Social Rank on Feelings of Shame and Guilt: A Vignette Study in 8- to 13-Year-Old Non-Clinical Children

This experimental study examined the role of negative feedback and social rank in the experience of self-conscious emotions, shame and guilt, in typically developing children aged 8 to 13 years. Participants were tested by means of a vignette paradigm in which feedback and social rank were systematically manipulated and levels of shame and guilt were assessed after listening to each of the vignettes. In addition, children completed a set of questionnaires for measuring individual differences in shame and guilt proneness, social comparison, submissive behavior, and external shame. The results showed that children presented with negative feedback reported higher ratings of shame and guilt than when presented with positive feedback, implying that the provision of negative feedback has a significant impact on children’s experience of self-conscious emotions. Social rank had less effect on children’s report of these self-conscious emotions. Furthermore, the individual difference variables of guilt proneness, and to a lesser extent shame proneness and submissive behavior, appeared to be positively related to self-conscious emotions as reported during the vignette task.

The Role of Proneness to Guilt and Shame Among People in Custody in Promoting Restorative Justice Processes

This research examined the role of guilt and shame proneness among people in custody in shaping attitudes toward restorative justice (RJ) and in predicting the effectiveness of RJ practices. Study 1 ( n = 110) examined the correlation between participant guilt and shame proneness and willingness to participate in an RJ process. It revealed that proneness to guilt, but not to shame, was correlated with willingness to participate in an RJ process. Mediational modeling showed that guilt proneness predicted willingness to participate in an RJ process via its strong correlation with regret and remorse. Study 2 ( n = 133) examined whether shame and guilt proneness affects the effectiveness of an RJ practice. It revealed that high guilt proneness predicted high willingness to participate in RJ, whereas shame proneness moderated the effectiveness of an RJ practice. These results can help practitioners and researchers develop interventions to promote the effectiveness of RJ programs.

The fish rots from the head down: a test of the trickle-down model of abusive supervision

Purpose A major paradigm shift focusing on the dark side of leadership has generated lots of concern for organizations as leadership has cascading effects on employees’ behaviour. This study aims to understand negative behaviours in the organization as a system of interrelated interaction initiated from the top which trickles down to employees. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on the theories of social exchange and norms of reciprocity, social learning and displaced aggression, this study models how and when abusive supervision relates to employees’ task performance. The model is empirically tested and extended to cover mediation and moderation processes. Drawing data from 218 bank supervisors and employees, this study uses the structural equation modelling to analyse a trickle-down model of abusive supervision. Findings Results from multi-waved, multi-sourced data indicated a mediating effect on the abusive supervision–performance relationships and provided support for employees’ guilt proneness and emotional dissonance as moderators. Overall, the results provided support for a moderated mediation relationship in the trickle-down model. Originality/value This study provides new knowledge into the potential boundary conditions of employees’ guilt proneness and emotional dissonance in affecting the relationship between abusive supervision, counterproductive work behaviour and task performance.