TITLE

The Unexpected Reason It’s Healthy To Feel Shame

DESCRIPTION

In the field of Psychology, the emotion of SHAME is generally viewed as one which is negative wherein the individual experiences the emotion when feeling judged (evaluated) by others as as being “bad” or engaging in “bad” behavior.  Certainly the work by Erikson (not discussed in the article) sets the emotion of shame as developing around the second year of life in contrast to autonomy.  In the area of psychopathology/abnormal behavior, overwhelming shame can be “crippling” to the personality and even lead to addiction.  However, researchers, who are mentioned in this article, view shame as having a positive evolutionary result for society.  “In other words, “the function of shame is to prevent us from damaging our social relationships, or to motivate us to repair them,” … It makes us care what others think of us, and helps to us determine the “social cost” of a particular behavior or action.”  The article briefly discusses cross cultural studies and a brief video interview.
SOURCE

Huffington Post, March 3, 2016, by Carolyn Gregoire

LINK TO RESOURCE

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/shame-psychology-evolution_us_56d4428ce4b0871f60ebf5c9?

(TinyUrl)  http://tinyurl.com/gm62jko

CLASS DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

•What is shame?
•How is shame different than guilt?
•if there is access to Erikson’s stages, how does that theory view shame?
•What is “evolutionary psychology” ?
•According to the researchers of “evolutionary psychology,” how is shame viewed in a positive way?  Or as an advantage for the good of society?