Shame and the Origins of Self-Esteem

Healing Internalized Racism: The Role of a Within‐Group Sanctuary Among People of African Descent

“…A great deal has been written about the shame that is induced in children in the course of parenting (Bradshaw, 1988;Miller, 1983;Jacoby, 1991, Kaufman, 1996, and the shame experienced by victims of trauma such as sexual abuse, domestic violence, torture, and war (Bass & Davis, 1993;Courtois, 1988;Herman, 1992). Coining the term "posttraumatic slavery syndrome," to refer to the physiological a n d psychological toll of slavery and racism, Pouissant and Alexander (ZOOO), expand the realm of trauma to include these experiences.…”

‘Disgust, disgust beyond description’– shame cues to detect shame in disguise, in interviews with women who were sexually abused during childhood

“…If a person remains on the humiliation end of the continuum often or for a long time, there is a risk that chronic feelings of shame will develop, which may lead to pathologically low self-esteem, social phobia and tendencies towards isolation. Other researchers have exemplified how shame can be activated through criticism, rejection or fear of rejection, devaluation, discrimination, discredit, moral condemnation, inattentiveness and unrequited love (Lewis 1987;Jacoby 1994). Persons who 'suffer' from shame often compare their 'self' with others, where their own 'self' is always negatively evaluated.…”

Enterprise Ritual: A Theory of Entrepreneurial Emotion and Exchange

“…When a given behaviour, such as 'actively taking the initiative', is rewarded by local expressions of deference, the resulting subjective experience of pride is known to act as a positive reinforcement. By the same token, displays of 'undesirable' behaviour (say, passivity), when met with a withdrawal of deference, induce shame, creating a strong emotional backpressure towards conformity with the group norm (Jacoby, 1996;Scheff, 1990Scheff, , 1997Tangney and Dearing, 2002). This type of emotional reward/punishment system has also been linked to the production of self-confidence and self-esteem (Gilbert, 1998;Jacoby, 1996) and seems likely to influence persistence in particular behaviours.…”

“…By the same token, displays of 'undesirable' behaviour (say, passivity), when met with a withdrawal of deference, induce shame, creating a strong emotional backpressure towards conformity with the group norm (Jacoby, 1996;Scheff, 1990Scheff, , 1997Tangney and Dearing, 2002). This type of emotional reward/punishment system has also been linked to the production of self-confidence and self-esteem (Gilbert, 1998;Jacoby, 1996) and seems likely to influence persistence in particular behaviours. For central participants, therefore, 'being active' is likely to become a defining feature of group membership and personal identity and, hence, a key goal of motivated behaviour (Goss, 2005a(Goss, , 2005b.…”

“…Shane, Locke and Collins's (2003) model of entrepreneurial motivation associates high self-efficacy with passionspecifically 'passionate, selfish love of the work' (p. 268) -but leaves this insight unexplored. Markman and Baron's (2003) discussion of person-entrepreneurship fit also focuses on self-efficacy but fails to explore its links to moods such as happiness and sadness, pride and shame (Bower, 1981;Jacoby, 1996;Kavanagh and Bower, 1985); similarly the connection between 'perseverance' (or rather the lack of it) and 'increased anxiety and negative affect' is acknowledged but unexamined. Lastly, Chell and Tracey (2005) speak of the relevance of 'feelings of trust' but do not give this an explicitly emotional focus.…”