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Theorists have posited that people experience behavior metaphorically in "social space" as above versus below others (agency), close versus distant (communion), and morally/spiritually pure or near the heavens versus degrading. Recent research suggests that perceived moral virtue accounts for unique variance in social perceptions, but studies have not examined individuals' state-like experiences of themselves as virtuous or pure independent of agentic or communal states; the types of behavior experienced as pure; and incremental prediction of prosocial tendencies, spirituality, and well-being. Participants completed free response tasks or interviews in Study 1 (174 students, 23 homeless men, and 16 sex-trafficked women), completed cross-sectional surveys (Study 2: N = 533), or recorded daily self-perceptions and outcomes (Study 3a: N = 95 students, 860 diary records; Study 3b: 89 anxious/depressed patients, 429 diary records).In Study 1, students and stigmatized community samples spontaneously associated states of purity and dirtiness with morally valenced social behavior and spiritual practices. In Study 2a/b, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses showed that self-perceptions of virtue represented a unique factor not redundant with agency and communion. Last, perceived virtue explained unique variance in selftranscending prosocial tendencies, spirituality, and well-being in cross-sectional (Study 2c) and daily assessments (Studies 3a/b). These findings attest to perceived states of virtue of the self as a unique social cognitive process with potential relevance to personality, well-being, spirituality, and understanding stigmatized groups commonly perceived as physically and morally unclean.

Introduction: Social support is known to buffer posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, but the stress-buffering properties of striving to help and support others (compassionate goals) have received less attention. Recent research suggests that compassionate goals shape social support processes and dampen stress responses following social threat, but their relevance to trauma have not been examined. The present study tested whether, in the aftermath of a university mass shooting, compassionate goals concurrently and prospectively predicted lower PTSD symptoms indirectly via higher social support, and whether this mediation would be stronger with higher proximity to the trauma. Method: Participants (N = 369) completed measures four months post-shooting (Time 1), and a subset (n = 85) repeated outcome variables at eight months (Time 2). Results: As hypothesized, there was a significant moderated mediation, with trauma proximity moderating the indirect effect of compassionate goals on PTSD symptoms at Time 1 (B = −0.88, SE = 0.28, 95% CI [−1.47, −0.37]) and prospectively at Time 2 (B = −1.12, SE = 0.77, 95% CI [−3.16, −0.03]), although not when controlling for Time 1 symptoms. The indirect effects were greatest for those with higher trauma proximity, suggesting particular relevance for individuals most at risk for trauma-related difficulties. Discussion: These findings suggest the need for further research into compassionate goals and strategies for fostering them, particularly in the context of social or community traumas.

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.

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