The evolution of shame and its display

Abstract

The shame system appears to be natural selection's solution to the adaptive problem of information-triggered reputational damage. Over evolutionary time, this problem would have led to a coordinated set of adaptations—the shame system—designed to minimize the spread of negative information about the self and the likelihood and costs of being socially devalued by others. This information threat theory of shame can account for much of what we know about shame and generate precise predictions. Here, we analyze the behavioral configuration that people adopt stereotypically when ashamed—slumped posture, downward head tilt, gaze avoidance, inhibition of speech—in light of shame's hypothesized function. This behavioral configuration may have differentially favored its own replication by (i) hampering the transfer of information (e.g., diminishing audiences’ tendency to attend to or encode identifying information: shame camouflage) and/or (ii) evoking less severe devaluative responses from audiences (shame display). The shame display hypothesis has received considerable attention and empirical support, whereas the shame camouflage hypothesis has to our knowledge not been advanced or tested. We elaborate on this hypothesis and suggest directions for future research on the shame pose.

The Shame System Operates With High Precision

“…But solving this problem is critical too because a shame response that is of the wrong type is futile or counterproductive even when it precisely matches in intensity the intensity of audience devaluation. For example, although in some contexts appeasing has beneficial effects for the shamed individual ( Keltner et al, 1997 ), in other contexts appeasing may reveal your culpability and cause devaluation—for instance, when you ascertain that, prior to the appeasement, others have not registered the commission of a discrediting act or the identity of the offender ( De Jong et al, 2003 ; Landers & Sznycer, 2022 ). More research is needed to characterize the menu of outputs available to the shame system, the mappings between inputs and outputs, and the decision architecture that tailors fine-grained behavioral decisions to the current situation ( Lukaszewski, 2021 ; Lukaszewski et al, 2020 ).…”

“…When the individual faces the threat of negative personal information spreading into the community, the individual engages in behavior to prevent, limit, or counteract the devaluative threat from others. When feeling shame, people produce a characteristic behavior configuration that includes head tilted down, downward gaze, slumped posture, and reduced linguistic behavior ( Landers & Sznycer, 2022 ; Tracy et al, 2009 ; Weisfeld & Dillon, 2012 ). This behavior configuration is perceived by observers as denoting status loss by the displayer ( Shariff et al, 2012 ; see Price & Sloman, 1987 ).…”

From Envy to Radicalization

“…A common objection to the envy hypothesis questions whether other emotions might serve as prime movers in radicalization. While further research is needed, theoretical analyses suggest that among the social emotions explored in the literature (e.g., anger, hatred, envy, disgust) (e.g., Landers & Sznycer, 2022 ; Sell et al, 2021 ; Sznycer & Lukaszewski, 2019 ; Sznycer et al, 2021 ; Tybur et al, 2013 ), only envy and hatred closely align with radicalization characteristics. For example, anger, associated with conspicuous signals for better future treatment (Sell & Lopez, 2020 ; Sell et al, 2021 , 2022 ), does not match the stealthy tactics of radicalized individuals.…”

Emotional tears: What they are and how they work

“…These social emotions communicate evaluative assessments through articulated language (Sell et al, 2017a) and other vocalizations (Simon-Thomas et al, 2009), facial and full-body behavior (Sell, Cosmides, & Tooby, 2014;Landers & Sznycer, 2022), and changes in peripheral vasculature (e.g., blushing; van Dijk, de Jong, & Peters, 2009). Tears are yet another channel by which evaluative assessments are communicated.…”