ARE SHAME AND GUILT RELATED TO DISTINCT SELF-DISCREPANCIES - A TEST OF HIGGINS (1987) HYPOTHESES

A study of 229 undergraduates examined whether specific self-discrepan cies are differentially related to shame proneness and guilt proneness . Contrary to E. T. Higgins (1987), but in line with the present autho rs' expectations, the tendency to experience shame, but not guilt, was positively related to all types of self-discrepancies. An attempt was also made to replicate E. T. Higgins, Klein, and Strauman's (1985) fi ndings that specific self-discrepancies are associated with distinct e motion syndromes. No support was found for the central hypotheses of s elf-discrepancy theory. Finally, the authors evaluated the utility of two methods for assessing self-discrepancies: Higgins's qualitative me thod and quantitative adjective ratings. The two methods yielded essen tially identical relationships to other variables. The very high corre lations among different types of self-discrepancies within each method , however, raise discriminant validity concerns.