GENDER DIFFERENCES IN THE ORGANIZATION OF GUILT AND SHAME

Lewis [(1971) Shame in Guilt in Neurosis, New York: International Univ ersities Press] argues that guilt and shame represent distinct modes o f perceiving and experiencing information about the self that are cong ruent with gender-linked differences in socialization. We tested predi ctions from Lewis' model that shame-proneness in adult White females ( n = 102), but guilt-proneness in adult White males (n = 99), would acc ount for a substantial proportion of the valiance in measures assessin g their characteristic use of defense mechanisms and endorsement of ge nder roles. Certain results confirmed Lewis' broader claim that guilt for men, but shame for women, were predominant modes of organizing inf ormation about the self: Other results did not support certain specifi c predictions made by Lewis or they provided only equivocal support (e .g., in men, the joint positive relationship of guilt-proneness to com munal orientations but its negative relationship to externalization). Similar discrepant findings emerged for females' construal of guilt, w hich also related positively to internalization. Although shame-pronen ess did emerge as the principal emotion variable for females, it was l inked to both internalization and externalization. Lewis' model is rec onsidered in light of recent empirical findings and the need to conduc t more on-line investigations of transgression-emotion induction-emoti on reduction cycles.