Sabag-Cohen,
Shulamit (4/09) Implicit shame and the Emotional Stroop Task: Regulation of
shame in relation to attachment style and interpersonal rejection (Philip Wong,
Ph.D.; Carol Magai, Ph.D.; Howard McGuire, Ph.D.)
This study sought to contribute to the
current understanding of the relation between experiences of shame, attachment
styles and interpersonal rejection, and to address a methodological issue in
shame measurement. To date, very few studies have examined the relation between
shame experiences and attachment styles; further, these studies and have
consistently overlooked interpersonal rejection as a potential antecedent of
shame. Additionally, current self-report measures of shame are limited in their
ability to tap into implicit shame, which highlighted the need for an indirect
measure of shame. The study's sample consisted of 103 adults 18 to 35 years old
that were classified into one of the four attachment categories. A repeated
measures experimental design was used to assess participants' level of shame
pre and post an interpersonal rejection based mood induction procedure (MIP).
In addition to the validated shame self-report measures, an Emotional Stroop
task (ES) was used as an indirect measure of shame. The hypotheses predicted a
higher level of shame among individuals with Fearful and Preoccupied
attachments as compared to individuals with Secure and Dismissive attachment.
It was also predicted that post MIP an overall increase in level of shame would
be observed, with a larger increase in reported level of shame for the
Dismissive attachment category. Results from the self-report measures and the
ES revealed a significantly higher level of shame reported by individuals with
Fearful attachment than was reported by those with a Secure, Preoccupied or
Dismissive attachment style at pre and at post MIP. Additionally, those with a
Fearful attachment showed the largest increase in overall negative mood. Last,
the Stroop effect that was found suggested that shame words produced larger
interference than general threat words. These results suggest that more
sensitive measures of shame could enhance our understanding of the relationship
between shame and attachment style and potentially allow us to tap into
implicit shame. This is of the outmost importance since the experience of shame
has a direct impact on an individual's mental health, interpersonal
relationships, formation of the self and one's ability to cope well in the
world.
