Shame on expressing an opinion, feeling guilty about what you once did, or being proud of a accomplished achievement. . . Any of the examples above correspond to a series of emotions in which there is an assessment of the self and which, in the field of psychology, have been called self-conscious emotions.
These are emotional states that have a number of common characteristics, but also have specific traits, depending on how your behavior and attribution are evaluated.
Does resistance or suppression of an emotion cause pain?-Frederick Dodson-
In recent years emotions have taken on a certain prominence, they are no longer forgotten, quite the opposite, but we still have much to discover of them.
While it is true that there are now many studies on basic emotions and emotional intelligence, the same is not true of those with greater variability and complexity, as is the case with self-conscious emotions.
However, interest in such emotions has been increasing and theoretical models already exist for them, so, according to the various studies carried out, self-conscious emotions share a number of important characteristics:
For example, guilt and shame are able to inhibit behaviors considered immoral or facilitate those classified as highly moral; on the other hand, pride would be associated with good deeds and reinforcement resulting from similar actions in the future.
Another important fact to keep in mind is that, while these kinds of emotions are considered self-aware, the different authors who have studied them argue that the self-assessment performed does not need to be conscious or explicit.
Despite traits that share self-aware emotions, there are also aspects that differentiate them, each of them appears before a specific event, has a particular subjective experience and involves a number of different behaviors.
Michael Lewis has developed a model that explains self-conscious emotions from two variables:
According to the author, we evaluate our thoughts, feelings and actions as successes or failures according to a series of rules, norms and objectives, both cultural and personal, from there we create internal responsibilities, that is, we reflect on their origin and meaning.
If we consider that success and failure are due to our self as a whole, internal attribution will be global, and if we consider that it is due to a certain thought, action or feeling, it will be specific. or another would emerge.
This whole process depends on both cultural influences and personal variables, so the same action can be considered a mistake by one person and a success on the other, and the same goes for assignments, which can be global or specific as the case may be. Person.
Below, we explain the main features of this kind of emotion from Lewis’ point of view.
When we are ashamed, we make a negative assessment of the self in general, we want to hide or disappear because we realize that we have been through something ridiculous and that all we want is to get rid of the discomfort.
In fact, we feel some mental confusion, but getting rid of that emotional state is not as easy as repairing some action, so we resort to mechanisms like forgetting and reinterpreting what happened.
On the other hand, guilt arises from negative self-esteem, but on a specific level, that is, through concrete action, we feel guilty about something we did, thought or felt because we made a mistake.
However, in this case, the action is not interrupted. Guilt leads to behaviors to repair the action and thus get rid of the experienced emotional state, as well as a reflection on how we will act in the future.
Lewis believes that guilt is less destructive and more useful than shame because of the imposition of corrective measures.
Pride arises from a positive assessment of a particular character, when we are proud we are satisfied with our own action, being a pleasant emotional state, it is very likely that our tendency is to try to reproduce it again.
Michael Lewis, in his explanatory model on self-conscious emotions, also referred to a personality disposition, rather than an emotional reaction, to refer to an exaggerated pride: arrogance.
It is an emotion that arises from a positive assessment at the global level, but which is associated with narcissism in extreme cases.
When a person feels superb she is very satisfied with herself, so she will try to maintain that state, even if it is not so easy, it is also often associated with a sense of superiority, so it causes the rejection of others. .
What do we think when we are ashamed, what do we attribute our pride to or why do we feel guilty?
As we have seen, if there is one thing that differentiates self-conscious emotions is the development process that characterizes them, linked to self-assessment, it is something that we can see in our day to day when we experience it.
However, much remains to be studied about this type of emotion, both personally and socially, and the extent to which pride and pride are positive emotions and when they become emotional states with negative consequences.
The emotional universe is exciting, but it is still complicated and sometimes mysterious, because it is influenced by a lot of variables and aspects.
However, it is essential to study it, because it facilitates the understanding and understanding of our essence, one more contribution to complete the answer to one of our greatest doubts: how do we work?