Phenomenological Research of Shame among College Students / 中国心理卫生杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective: To study shame of college student through phenomenological method. Method: 147 college students (male 53, female 94, average age 20.2) were involved. Each subject was asked to describe his/her personal shame experience, which was rate on phenomenological dimensions. Experience of Shame Scales (ESS) was used either. Result: The finding from phenomenological rating was in accord with the theory of “self orientation". Students with stronger shame proneness showed tendency to attribute negative events to him/herself. Conclusion: Shame is an acutely painful experience that involves a marked self-focus (self oriented) emotion. Shame proneness tended to have stronger sense of worthlessness and powerlessness and have much more strategies of denying and escaping in hard situations.