No full-text available
To read the full-text of this research,
you can request a copy directly from the authors.
Using shame to extend Martin Conway's self-memory system
Memory
Abstract
We extend Conway's self-memory system by adding theory and data from shame, an emotion that disrupts the internalised ideals of society needed for a positive self-concept. The event that caused 273 undergraduates their greatest amount of shame was analyzed; 66% were not very negative except for producing shame. Ratings of post-event effects, including two measure of self (self-perceived weakness, and centrality to identity) and four clinical symptoms (intrusions, avoidance, anxiety, and depression), were attributed separately to the remembered event, behaviour during the event, and shame from the event. The effects of shame were generally as large as the those of the event and larger than those of the behaviour, demonstrating the importance of shame's effects. The Tonic Immobility Scale (TIS), which measures tonic immobility (i.e., freezing), was obtained for the event that produced the most tonic immobility but that was not the event that caused the most shame. The post-event symptoms measured on the event that caused the most shame and the TIS correlated highly, suggesting that shame and tonic immobility may belong to a cluster of phylogenetically conserved submissive defensive mechanisms that could account for effects currently attributed to goals in self-memory systems.
... People may begin avoiding cues that remind them of shame and thus possible new situations that could lead to more shame. They become anxious and show symptoms of depression (Rubin & Bell, 2023b;Yu et al., 2023). Events that cause shame often become a central part of people's life narrative and identity (Gehrt et al., 2018;Matos & Pinto-Gouveia, 2010, 2014Møhl, 2019) and the ones people would most like to erase from their memory (Rasmussen et al., 2022). ...
... To examine how the process of TI and shame interact and affect human behavior, we used a neutral screening design to find participants who have exhibited TI. We had general expectations from the literature, but no quantitative expectations about TI severity in events selected only for having TI or what situations would cause TI in a general population, besides our work (Rubin & Bell, 2023a, 2023b. Therefore, in the main study, we measured the degree of TI for the event that produced the most TI for each participant. ...
... At the behavioral level in people, shame caused by the memory of not responding during TI produces effects that can rival the effects of the assault itself (Bovin et al., 2014;Moor & Farchi, 2011;Rubin & Bell, 2023a, 2023b. In addition, the centrality of events to life narratives and identity, which was first measured for traumas (Berntsen & Rubin, 2006), has a similar role in other stressful events (Gehrt et al., 2018) and specifically those events that are negative because of shame (Matos & Pinto-Gouveia, 2010, 2014. ...
Tonic immobility (TI) and shame are phylogenetically conserved passive defense mechanisms signaling submission. TI causes a loss of intentional motor control including speech. TI is engaged when escape and resistance fail in life-threatening situations, leading TI to be common in highly stressful and traumatic events. Shame is engaged when an individual’s or society’s expectations are violated. Because both engage without conscious awareness, they leave victims blaming themselves for their inaction and emotions. However, unlike shame, TI is absent from most theories of trauma. Amazon Mechanical Turk workers (N = 371, Mage = 40, 137 male), screened to have TI, provided brief narrative descriptions of the event that caused their greatest TI, rated properties of the event, completed individual differences measures, and attributed postevent symptoms to the event itself, to TI from the event, to shame, and to shame from the TI. The most frequently observed categories of events were sexual assaults, other assaults, motor vehicle accidents, medical and deaths, and gun violence. Categories varied widely in their rated properties and the characteristics of their narratives, with sexual assaults often being an outlier. Correlations among the measures, differences in their means, and narrative analyses were combined to demonstrate the importance of TI and shame for trauma. We introduce a theoretical framework for TI, shame, and their interaction based on evolution, biology, behavior, and clinical symptoms that clarifies how both increase symptoms and why both are so prevalent in sexual assaults.
The authors describe a model of autobiographical memory in which memories are transitory mental constructions within a self-memory system (SMS). The SMS contains an autobiographical knowledge base and current goals of the working self. Within the SMS, control processes modulate access to the knowledge base by successively shaping cues used to activate autobiographical memory knowledge structures and, in this way, form specific memories. The relation of the knowledge base to active goals is reciprocal, and the knowledge base “grounds” the goals of the working self. It is shown how this model can be used to draw together a wide range of diverse data from cognitive, social, developmental, personality, clinical, and neuropsychological autobiographical memory research.
Self-conscious emotions, such as shame and guilt, play a fundamental role in regulating moral behaviour and in promoting the welfare of society. Despite their relevance, the neural bases of these emotions are uncertain. In the present meta-analysis, we performed a systematic literature review in order to single out functional neuroimaging studies on healthy individuals specifically investigating the neural substrates of shame, embarrassment, and guilt. Seventeen studies investigating the neural correlates of shame/embarrassment and seventeen studies investigating guilt brain representation met our inclusion criteria. The analyses revealed that both guilt and shame/em-barrassment were associated with the activation of the left anterior insula, involved in emotional awareness processing and arousal. Guilt-specific areas were located within the left temporo-parietal junction, which is thought to be involved in social cognitive processes. Moreover, specific activations for shame/embarrassment involved areas related to social pain (dorsal anterior cingulate and thalamus) and behavioural inhibition (premotor cortex) networks. This pattern of results might reflect the distinct action tendencies associated with the two emotions.
The shame system appears to be natural selection's solution to the adaptive problem of information-triggered reputational damage. Over evolutionary time, this problem would have led to a coordinated set of adaptations—the shame system—designed to minimize the spread of negative information about the self and the likelihood and costs of being socially devalued by others. This information threat theory of shame can account for much of what we know about shame and generate precise predictions. Here, we analyze the behavioral configuration that people adopt stereotypically when ashamed—slumped posture, downward head tilt, gaze avoidance, inhibition of speech—in light of shame's hypothesized function. This behavioral configuration may have differentially favored its own replication by ( i ) hampering the transfer of information (e.g., diminishing audiences’ tendency to attend to or encode identifying information: shame camouflage ) and/or ( ii ) evoking less severe devaluative responses from audiences (shame display ). The shame display hypothesis has received considerable attention and empirical support, whereas the shame camouflage hypothesis has to our knowledge not been advanced or tested. We elaborate on this hypothesis and suggest directions for future research on the shame pose.
Autobiographical remembering is a dynamic process in which narrators construct their life story from single memories. What is included in or deleted from the life story depends on many factors. Here, we examined the functions, emotions and correspondence with the life script for the memories that people desire to save or erase from their past. We asked people to generate either the two memories they were most likely to save and erase or the two memories they regarded as their most positive and negative memories. Then everyone rated those memories on function, emotion and correspondence with the life script. Overall, we found save and erase memories corresponded less with the life script relative to most positive and most negative memories though they were similarly emotionally intense. Additionally, erase memories were more associated with shame and less with social functions than most negative memories, whereas most negative memories to a higher degree involved the death of significant others, albeit being similarly traumatic. These findings have important implications for theory about autobiographical memory, and possible clinical relevance.
Objective:
A substantial number of sexual assault victims report experiencing some form of peritraumatic tonic immobility (TI). A self-report questionnaire that is widely used to assess TI retrospectively is the Tonic Immobility Scale (TIS). This study explored the factor structure of the TIS in a clinical sample of adolescent and young adults.
Method:
The sample comprised 131 female rape victims, aged 13-25, who were referred for specialized trauma-focused treatment. An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was performed.
Results:
The EFA showed support for a three-factor model, with factors TI, Fear, and Detachment. Item correlations ranged from .32 to .57 for TI, from .14 to .35 for Fear, and .29 for the two Detachment items.
Conclusions:
We found support for a three-factor solution distinguishing TI, fear, and detachment, suggesting the need to further develop the TIS with different subscales in varying age groups and clinical samples. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).
Shame plays a central role in psychosocial functioning, being a transdiagnostic emotion associated with several mental health conditions. According to the evolutionary biopsychosocial model, shame is a painful and difficult emotion that may be categorized into two distinct focal components: external and internal shame. External shame is focused on the experience of the self as seen in a judgemental way by others, whereas internal shame is conceptualized as self-focused negative evaluations and feelings about the self. The current study aimed to develop the External and Internal Shame Scale (EISS) to assess in a single measure these two dimensions. The study was conducted in a community sample comprising 665 participants (18 to 61 years old). Three models were tested through confirmatory factor analysis. One higher order factor (global shame) with two lower order factors (external and internal shame) revealed a good fit to the data. The scale reliability and its association with other related constructs measures were also addressed. Additionally, gender differences on shame were explored. Results showed that EISS subscales and global score presented good internal consistency, concurrent validity and were associated with depressive symptoms. Regarding gender differences, results revealed that women presented significantly higher scores both in external and internal shame. The EISS showed to be a short, robust and reliable measure. The EISS allows the assessment of the specific dimensions of external and internal shame as well as a global sense of shame experience and may therefore be an important contribution for clinical work and research in human psychological functioning.
The practice of ethics in social science research is a reflexive process of self-review to define a profession’s collective responsibility in the face of changing norms and expectations. In recent years, we have seen transformative changes in how society thinks about supporting sexual assault survivors, and how the scientific community thinks about our obligations to society. Decades of research on trauma and its impact has raised awareness about the needs of victimized individuals, giving rise to the trauma-informed practice movement, which emphasizes that service providers must center survivors’ well-being in all interactions, decisions, and program practices. The field of sexual assault research helped give rise to this movement and provides empirical support for its guiding tenets, and in this article, we explore how to bring these ideas full circle to begin articulating trauma-informed principles for research. A trauma-informed perspective on research challenges scientists to go beyond the requirements of the Belmont Report (1979) and institutional review boards' (IRB) regulations to develop research procedures that fully support survivors’ choice, control, and empowerment. Such reflection on participants’ rights is particularly important given the open science movement sweeping academia, which calls on scientists to share their data publicly to promote transparency, replication, and new discoveries. Disseminating data could pose significant safety, privacy, and confidentiality risks for victims of sexual assault, so we need to evaluate what open science means within a trauma-informed framework. In this article, we examine three key stages of the research process—participant recruitment, data collection, and dissemination—and consider how trauma-informed principles could help, but also could complicate, research practices. We explore these tensions and offer potential solutions so that research on sexual trauma embodies trauma-informed practice.
Significance
This set of experiments shows that in 15 traditional small-scale societies there is an extraordinarily close correspondence between ( i ) the intensity of shame felt if one exhibited specific acts or traits and ( ii ) the magnitude of devaluation expressed in response to those acts or traits by local audiences, and even foreign audiences. Three important and widely acknowledged sources of cultural variation between communities—geographic proximity, linguistic similarity, and religious similarity—all failed to account for the strength of between-community correlations in the shame–devaluation link. This supplies a parallel line of evidence that shame is a universal system, part of our species’ cooperative biology, rather than a product of cultural evolution.
Sexual assault is a widespread problem on college campuses. In response, many institutions are developing policies mandating that certain employees report any student disclosure of sexual assault to university officials (and, in some cases, to police), with or without the survivor’s consent. These policies, conceptualized here as compelled disclosure, have been prompted and shaped by federal law and guidance, including Title IX and The Clery Act. Proponents of compelled disclosure assert that it will increase reports—enabling universities to investigate and remedy more cases of sexual assault—and will benefit sexual assault survivors, university employees, and the institution. However, many questions remain unanswered. How broad (or narrowly tailored) are contemporary compelled disclosure mandates in higher education? Do any empirical data support assumptions about the benefits of these policies? Are there alternative approaches that should be considered, to provide rapid and appropriate responses to sexual violence while minimizing harm to students? The current article begins with an overview of federal law and guidance around compelled disclosure. Next, a content analysis of a stratified random sample of 150 university policies provides evidence that the great majority require most, if not all, employees to report student sexual assault disclosures. A review of the literature then suggests that these policies have been implemented despite limited evidence to support assumptions regarding their benefits and effectiveness. In fact, some findings suggest negative consequences for survivors, employees, and institutions. The article concludes with a call for survivor-centered reforms in institutional policies and practices surrounding sexual assault.
Recent research has shown that shame traumatic and central memories not only have an impac on feelings of shame in adulthood but also moderate the impact of shame on depression Although the quality of attachment relationships may be important in structuring sham memories, the research on this topic has been scant. This paper explores the moderato effect of shame memories involving attachment figures vs. shame memories involvin other people on the relationship between shame and depression. 230 participants from th general community population completed the Shame Experiences Interview, assessing sham experiences from childhood and adolescence, and a battery of self-report scales measuring shame traumatic memory, centrality of shame memory, external shame, internal sham and depression. Results revealed that shame memories with attachment figures showe higher correlations with internal shame and depressive symptoms whereas shame memorie involving others presented higher correlations with external shame. Moderator analyse showed that only shame traumatic memory and centrality of shame memory involvin attachment figures moderated the impact of external and internal shame on depression. Th current findings shed light on the importance of the quality of attachment relationships i the structuring of shame traumatic memories and on their impact on psychopathologica symptoms, adding to recent neuroscience research and Gilbert's approach on shame an compassion. Our results emphasize the relevance of addressing shame memories, mainl those that involve attachment figures, particularly when working with patients sufferin from depressive symptoms and/or that find compassion difficult or scary.
Evolution has endowed all humans with a continuum of innate, hard-wired, automatically activated defense behaviors, termed the defense cascade. Arousal is the first step in activating the defense cascade; flight or fight is an active defense response for dealing with threat; freezing is a flight-or-fight response put on hold; tonic immobility and collapsed immobility are responses of last resort to inescapable threat, when active defense responses have failed; and quiescent immobility is a state of quiescence that promotes rest and healing. Each of these defense reactions has a distinctive neural pattern mediated by a common neural pathway: activation and inhibition of particular functional components in the amygdala, hypothalamus, periaqueductal gray, and sympathetic and vagal nuclei. Unlike animals, which generally are able to restore their standard mode of functioning once the danger is past, humans often are not, and they may find themselves locked into the same, recurring pattern of response tied in with the original danger or trauma. Understanding the signature patterns of these innate responses-the particular components that combine to yield the given pattern of defense-is important for developing treatment interventions. Effective interventions aim to activate or deactivate one or more components of the signature neural pattern, thereby producing a shift in the neural pattern and, with it, in mind-body state. The process of shifting the neural pattern is the necessary first step in unlocking the patient's trauma response, in breaking the cycle of suffering, and in helping the patient to adapt to, and overcome, past trauma.This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives License 4.0 (CCBY-NC-ND), where it is permissible to download and share the work provided it is properly cited. The work cannot be changed in any way or used commercially.
While tonic immobility (TI) is a phenomenon well known and documented in the animal world, far less is known about its manifestation in humans. Available literature demonstrates that TI is significantly associated with less hopeful prognoses when compared with survivors who did not experience TI (Fiszman et al., 2008; Heidt et al., 2005). If survivors who experience TI are at increased risk for "depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and peritraumatic dissociation" (Heidt et al., 2005, p. 1166) and respond more poorly "to standard pharmacological treatment for PTSD" (Fiszman et al., 2008, p. 196), the implications for treatment are significant, suggesting that TI "should be routinely assessed in traumatized patients" (Fiszman et al., 2008, p. 193). Literature indicates that "TI is thought to be particularly relevant to survivors of rape and other sexual assault" and that "sexual assault is a trauma that appears to entail virtually all of the salient elements associated with the induction of TI in nonhuman animals, namely, fear, contact, and restraint" (Marx et al., 2008, p. 79). Describing the phenomenon as it is experienced by survivors is especially important because the ability to accurately understand and describe the nature of the phenomenon is the first step toward accurately identifying, diagnosing, and treating the sequelae of such a response. This study examines the experience of TI from the perspective of 7 women who survived a sexual assault accompanied by tonic immobility using qualitative phenomenological methodology, and yields a description of the core defining themes of the experience of TI. (PsycINFO Database Record
(c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).
Tonic Immobility is a temporary state of motor inhibition in situations involving extreme fear. The first scale developed for its assessment was the 10-item Tonic Immobility Scale (TIS). However, there are still few studies on its structural (dimensional) validity. The objective of this study was to reassess the factor structure of the TIS applied to representative samples exposed to general trauma of two Brazilian mega-cities.
The sample comprised 3,223 participants reporting at least one traumatic experience. In São Paulo (n = 2,148), a Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) first tested the originally proposed two-dimensional structure. This was followed by sequential Exploratory Structural Equation Models to identify the best fitting model, and subsequently tested in Rio de Janeiro (n = 1,075) via CFA. Alternative reduced versions were further explored using the aggregate sample. Model-based Item Response Theory (IRT) location parameters were also investigated.
An absence of factor-based convergent and discriminant validity rejected the original proposition. However, the one-dimensional structure still held several residual correlations. Further exploration indicated the sustainability of reduced versions with seven (alternative A) and six (alternative B) items. Both presented excellent fit and no relevant residual item correlation. According to the IRT location parameters, items in alternative B covered a wider range of the latent trait. The Loevinger's H scalability coefficients underscored this pattern.
The original model did not hold. A one-factor solution was the most tenable in both large samples, but with significant item residual correlations, indicating that content redundancies persisted. Further reduced and simplified versions of the TIS proved promising. Although studies are yet to be carried out in other settings, it is the authors' impression that the restricted versions of the TIS are already apt for use in epidemiologic studies since the pros tend to outweigh the cons (as outlined in the Discussion section).
The serotonin system and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis play important roles in modulating fear and stress-coping characteristics. Tonic immobility (TI) is a fear-related phenotype and previously we have shown that broiler chickens showing short TI duration demonstrate better growth performance and higher adaptability to stress. Here we sought to further elucidate the central mechanisms underlying the phenotypic differences between chickens showing short and long TI duration (STI and LTI), by comparing the hypothalamic expression of genes in the serotonergic system and the HPA axis under basal and corticosterone (CORT)-exposed situations. The STI broilers demonstrated significantly lower (P < 0.01) hypothalamic expression of serotonin reuptake transporter and serotonin receptor 1A. Moreover, 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2 (HSD2) was expressed significantly lower in STI chickens at the level of both mRNA (P < 0.01) and protein (P < 0.05). Hypothalamic expression of glucocorticoid receptor (GR) mRNA tended to be higher (P < 0.059) in LTI chickens, but the protein content was approximately 2 times higher (P < 0.01) in STI chickens. The uncoupled expression of GR mRNA and protein was associated with significantly lower (P < 0.05) expression of gga-miR-181a, gga-miR-211 and gga-miR-22, which are predicted to target GR, in STI chickens. Corticosterone administration reduced the mRNA expression of postsynaptic serotonin receptors, 5HT1B (P = 0.059) and 5HT7 (P < 0.05), yet significantly increased the protein content of HSD2 (P < 0.05). These results suggest that broilers of different TI phenotypes demonstrate distinct pattern of hypothalamic expression of fear- and stress-related genes.
A modified version of Conway and Pleydell-Pearce's Self Memory System (SMS) account of autobiographical memory and the self is introduced. Modifications include discussion of a fundamental tension between adaptive correspondence (experience-near sensory-perceptual records of goal activity) and self-coherence (a more abstracted and conceptually-rich long-term store of conceptual and remembered knowledge). This tension is examined in relation to each SMS component - the episodic memory system, long-term self, and the working self. The long-term self, a new aspect of the model, consists of the interaction of the autobiographical knowledge base and the conceptual self. The working self, depending on goal activity status, mediates between episodic memory and the long-term self. Applications of the SMS to personality and clinical psychology are provided through analysis of self-defining memories and adult attachment categories, as well as case histories of traumatic memory. The SMS's role in imagination is examined through a brief discussion of Wordsworth's poetry.
Self-conscious emotions (e.g., shame, pride) are fundamentally important to a wide range of psychological processes, yet they have received relatively little attention compared to other, more "basic" emotions (e.g., sadness, joy). This article outlines the unique features that distinguish self-conscious from basic emotions and then explains why generally accepted models of basic emotions do not adequately capture the self-conscious emotion process. The authors present a new model of self-conscious emotions, specify a set of predictions derived from the model, and apply the model to narcissistic self-esteem regulation. Finally, the authors discuss the model's broader implications for future research on self and emotion.
In this study, a functional magnetic resonance imaging paradigm originally employed by Takahashi et al. was adapted to look for emotion-specific differences in functional brain activity within a healthy German sample (N = 14), using shame- and guilt-related stimuli and neutral stimuli. Activations were found for both of these emotions in the
temporal lobe (shame condition: anterior cingulate cortex, parahippocampal gyrus; guilt condition: fusiform gyrus, middle
temporal gyrus). Specific activations were found for shame in the frontal lobe (medial and inferior frontal gyrus), and for
guilt in the amygdala and insula. This is consistent with Takahashi et al.’s results obtained for a Japanese sample (using Japanese stimuli), which showed activations in the fusiform gyrus, hippocampus,
middle occipital gyrus and parahippocampal gyrus. During the imagination of shame, frontal and temporal areas (e.g. middle
frontal gyrus and parahippocampal gyrus) were responsive regardless of gender. In the guilt condition, women only activate
temporal regions, whereas men showed additional frontal and occipital activation as well as a responsive amygdala. The results
suggest that shame and guilt share some neural networks, as well as having individual areas of activation. It can be concluded
that frontal, temporal and limbic areas play a prominent role in the generation of moral feelings.
Unlabelled:
The present study explores how emotional memories, shame and submissive behaviour in adulthood are differently related to depression and paranoia, in a sample of 255 subjects from the general community population. Results show that emotional memories (especially, shame traumatic memory) are significantly correlated with external and internal shame. Emotional memories are significantly associated with submissive behaviour. Both types of shame are correlated with submissive behaviour, particularly internal shame. Emotional memories, external and internal shame are linked to depressive symptoms. Emotional memories, external and internal shame, and submissive behaviour are significantly related to paranoia. Path analysis results suggested that (1) shame traumatic memory and recall of threat and submissiveness in childhood predicted depressive symptoms through external and internal shame; (2) early emotional memories of shame, threat and submissiveness predicted paranoid ideation both directly and indirectly, through external shame; and (3) emotional memories impact on paranoid ideation both through their effect upon external shame and also through their indirect effect upon submission, which in turn fully mediates the effect of internal shame upon paranoid ideation. These findings highlight the differences between depression and paranoia. In depression, it is the internalization of early experiences of shame, threat and submissiveness that heighten the vulnerability to depressive states. In paranoia, not only shame traumas and recollections of threat and submissiveness directly influence paranoid beliefs but also these memories promote external and internal shame thoughts and feelings and submissive defenses, which in turn increase paranoid ideation.
Key practitioner message:
Individuals with shame traumas, threat and submissiveness experiences in childhood and high levels of external and internal shame report more depressive symptoms. High levels of paranoid beliefs are associated with high negative emotional memories, external and internal shame thoughts and feelings, and submissive behaviour defenses. Therapy for depression needs to incorporate strategies that help individuals develop skills to deal with shame experiences and its outputs. Treatment for paranoid ideation must address external and internal shame, as well as emotional memories of shame, threat and submissiveness in childhood and development of assertive skills.
This article reviews research concerning the possible relationship between tonic immobility (TI) and human reactions to sexual assault. This review includes a description of the characteristic features of TI and a discussion of the most widely accepted theoretical explanation for TI. The possibility that humans may exhibit TI is explored and conditions that might elicit TI in humans are identified. In particular, we focus on TI in the context of sexual assault, because this form of trauma often involves elements that are necessary for the induction of TI in nonhuman animals, namely, fear and perceived physical restraint. The important similarities and differences in how TI manifests in humans and nonhuman animals are highlighted, future research directions are offered, and clinical implications are suggested.
This paper explores whether shame memories have a distinct impact on emotional difficulties and psychopathology that goes beyond their negative emotional valence. Study 1 (N=292) investigates the contribution of centrality of shame memory, in comparison to the centrality of fear and sadness memories, to explain the memory's traumatic impact, shame, depression, anxiety, stress, paranoid, and dissociative symptoms. Study 2 (N=192) explores the impact of shame traumatic memory on shame and depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms, in comparison to fear and sadness traumatic memories. Both studies used undergraduate student samples. Results show that shame memories' centrality and traumatic features made an independent contribution to current external and internal shame and distinct psychopathological symptoms, after controlling for the effect of fear and sadness, centrality, and traumatic qualities. Moreover, shame memories' centrality and traumatic features were the best global predictors of external and internal shame and depressive symptoms. Centrality of shame memories was also the only significant predictor of paranoid ideation and dissociation. These results offer novel perspectives on the nature of shame and its relation to psychopathology, emphasising the distinct role of shame memories in human functioning and suffering, which goes above and beyond its negative emotional valence.
The ability to develop the catatonic-like state (reflex immobility reaction - RIR) due to stimulation of the skin at the scruff was investigated in mice of two strains — C57BL/6J and CBA/Lac. The total time of immobility and number of paroxysms during test were measured. It has been shown that the number of paroxysms was significantly fewer and the total time of immobility was significantly longer in CBA/Lac strain than in C57BL/6J. In each strain group housed animals as well as submissive ones with successive experience of defeats demonstrated a more expressed immobility than individually housed or aggressive males with successive experience of victories, respectively. Changing the social status in aggressive animals as a consequence of confrontation with aggressive males resulted in the increased immobility in CBA/Lac but not in C57BL/6J mice. The results suggest that the experience of defeat in submissive males is connected with increased ability to develop RIR.
This study explores the premise that shame episodes can have the properties of traumatic memories, involving intrusions, flashbacks, strong emotional avoidance, hyper arousal, fragmented states of mind and dissociation.
A battery of self-report questionnaires was used to assess shame, shame traumatic memory and depression in 811 participants from general population (481 undergraduate students and 330 subjects from normal population).
Results show that early shame experiences do indeed reveal traumatic memory characteristics. Moreover, these experiences are associated with current feelings of internal and external shame in adulthood. We also found that current shame and depression are significantly related. Key to our findings is that those individuals whose shame memories display more traumatic characteristics show more depressive symptoms. A moderator analysis suggested an effect of shame traumatic memory on the relationship between shame and depression.
The transversal nature of our study design, the use of self-reports questionnaires, the possibility of selective memories in participants' retrospective reports and the use of a general community sample, are some methodological limitations that should be considered in our investigation.
Our study presents novel perspectives on the nature of shame and its relation to psychopathology, empirically supporting the proposal that shame memories have traumatic memory characteristics, that not only affect shame in adulthood but also seem to moderate the impact of shame on depression. Therefore, these considerations emphasize the importance of assessing and intervening on shame memories in a therapeutic context.
This paper explores the various literatures concerned with shame and guilt. Lewis' (1987) model of shame is outlined. The phenomena she suggested to be part of shame (feelings of helplessness, anger at others, anger at self, self-consciousness and feelings of inferiority) were investigated as to their relationship with shame. Strong support for these phenomena being related to shame, but not guilt, was found. Although located in separate literatures, shame and fear of negative evaluation have considerable overlap and this study set out to explore this relationship. The study further considered the role of submissive behaviour in shame and depression. Evidence was found to support the view that submissive behaviour is involved in both shame and depression.
One of the most commonly reported emotions in people seeking psychotherapy is shame, and this emotion has become the subject of intense research and theory over the last 20 years. In Shame: Interpersonal Behavior, Psychopathology, and Culture, Paul Gilbert and Bernice Andrews, together with some of the most eminent figures in the field, examine the effect of shame on social behaviour, social values, and mental states. The text utilizes a multidisciplinary approach, including perspectives from evolutionary and clinical psychology, neurobiology, sociology, and anthropology. In Part I, the authors cover some of the core issues and current controversies concerning shame. Part II explores the role of shame on the development of the infant brain, its evolution, and the relationship between shame as a personal and interpersonal construct and stigma. Part III examines the connection between shame and psychopathology. Here, authors are concerned with outlining how shame can significantly influence the formation, manifestation, and treatment of psychopathology. Finally, Part IV discusses the notion that shame is not only related to internal experiences but also conveys socially shared information about one's status and standing in the community. Shame will be essential reading for clinicians, clinical researchers, and social psychologists. With a focus on shame in the context of social behaviour, the book will also appeal to a wide range of researchers in the fields of sociology, anthropology, and evolutionary psychology.
One of the most commonly reported emotions in people seeking psychotherapy is shame, and this emotion has become the subject of intense research and theory over the last 20 years. In Shame: Interpersonal Behavior, Psychopathology, and Culture, Paul Gilbert and Bernice Andrews, together with some of the most eminent figures in the field, examine the effect of shame on social behaviour, social values, and mental states. The text utilizes a multidisciplinary approach, including perspectives from evolutionary and clinical psychology, neurobiology, sociology, and anthropology. In Part I, the authors cover some of the core issues and current controversies concerning shame. Part II explores the role of shame on the development of the infant brain, its evolution, and the relationship between shame as a personal and interpersonal construct and stigma. Part III examines the connection between shame and psychopathology. Here, authors are concerned with outlining how shame can significantly influence the formation, manifestation, and treatment of psychopathology. Finally, Part IV discusses the notion that shame is not only related to internal experiences but also conveys socially shared information about one's status and standing in the community. Shame will be essential reading for clinicians, clinical researchers, and social psychologists. With a focus on shame in the context of social behaviour, the book will also appeal to a wide range of researchers in the fields of sociology, anthropology, and evolutionary psychology.
Tonic immobility (TI) is a phylogenetically conserved, passive, obligatory defense mechanism commonly engaged during sexual and physical assaults. During TI, people become immobile while remaining conscious and later reexperience intrusive memories of both their assault and of its accompanying immobility. Here we show that this well-studied biological process has powerful effects on memory and other processes. Participants had experienced either a serious sexual (n = 234) or physical (n = 137) assault. For both the assault and its accompanying immobility, the standard measure of the peritraumatic severity of TI correlated between .40 and .65 with post-assault effects on memory, including memory of the assault and memory of the immobility, the two memory-based self-concept measures of self-blame and event centrality, and post-assault anxiety and depression. The correlations with TI were much higher than other peritraumatic characteristics commonly used to predict and describe posttraumatic effects in assaults and other traumas. The results suggest that TI should be considered for a broader, more biologically based and ecologically valid understanding of the effects of trauma on memory and memory-based reactions.
The field of autobiographical memory has made dramatic advances since the first collection of papers in the area was published in 1986. Now, over 25 years on, this book reviews and integrates the many theories, perspectives, and approaches that have evolved over the last decades. A truly eminent collection of editors and contributors appraise the basic neural systems of autobiographical memory; its underlying cognitive structures and retrieval processes; how it develops in infancy and childhood, and then breaks down in aging; its social and cultural aspects; and its relation to personality and the self. Autobiographical memory has demonstrated a strong ability to establish clear empirical generalizations, and has shown its practical relevance by deepening our understanding of several clinical disorders - as well as the induction of false memories in the legal system. It has also become an important topic for brain studies, and helped to enlarge our general understanding of the brain.
This chapter summarizes the main neurophysiological characteristics of tonic immobility (TI), in many susceptible species of mammals and birds.
During TI, cortical EEG shows high voltage slow waves whose amount is affected by events preceding TI induction and is positively correlated with TI duration. The pattern of hippocampal activity helps to predict TI onset and TI termination. Both polysynaptic flexor and monosynaptic heteronymous reflexes are depressed independently from the EEG activity. Brain metabolism, signaled by glycogen mobilization and glucose utilization, indicates a reduced neuronal activity during TI.
Learned avoidance responses to shock can be extinguished during TI and recover after TI. Moreover, during TI animals may learn how to avoid the shock by a motor response that may be followed by TI interruption. Decortication, decerebellation and telencephalic sections do not affect TI characteristics, whereas ponto-mesencephalic sections abolish both righting reflexes and TI.
I propose a model that places episodic, semantic, and other commonly studied forms of memory into the same conceptual space. The space is defined by three dimensions required for Tulving’s episodic and semantic memory. An implicit–explicit dimension contrasts both episodic and semantic memory with common forms of implicit memory. A self-reference dimension contrasts episodes that occurred to one person with semantic knowledge. A scene dimension contrasts episodes that occurred in specific contexts with context-free semantic information. The three dimensions are evaluated against existing behavioral and neural evidence to evaluate both the model and the concepts underlying the study of human memory. Unlike a hierarchy, which has properties specific to each category, the dimensions have properties that extend throughout the conceptual space. Thus, the properties apply to all forms of existing and yet-to-be-discovered memory within the space. Empty locations in the proposed space are filled with existing phenomena that lack a clear place in current theories of memory, including reports of episodic-like memories for events reported to but not witnessed by a person, fictional narrative accounts, déjà vu, and implicit components contributing to personality, the self, and autobiographical memory.
Autobiographical memory research typically focuses on individual memories with variability in individual participants' responses serving as error variance. Integrating individual-difference and experimental approaches demonstrated that properties of autobiographical memories are stable individual differences with stable patterns of correlations. In two sessions approximately one week apart, different cues were used to prompt seven autobiographical memories. Each memory was rated on 12 properties including visual imagery, emotional intensity, narrative coherence, reliving, and past rehearsals. In two studies with samples from different populations (Ns of 200 and 160), each property had a high reliability in both sessions (median α = .90), and the mean of each property averaged over seven memories correlated highly with itself over sessions (median r = .72). Multiple regressions predicting three properties from Session 1 with the remaining nine properties of Session 2 and exploratory factor analyses yielded solutions consistent with expectations from studies of individual memories. Moreover, the correlation matrices of the 12 properties across studies and sessions were extremely similar. Thus, separate sessions, cues, samples, and properties provided generalizable data about individual differences in autobiographical memory. Practical, theoretical, and methodological implications include that individual differences in memory affect: life stories and narrative structure internal to events, stable clinical syndromes and symptoms, experimental results previously attributed to the properties of individual memories, and the confidence people have in the accuracy of their autobiographical and episodic memories.
The Centrality of Event Scale (CES) was introduced to examine the extent to which a traumatic or stressful event is perceived as central to an individual's identity and life story, and how this relates to Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms. In addition, the CES has been examined in relation to a range of other conditions and dispositions. We present a systematic review of the correlates of the CES. Results from 92 publications resulted in 25 measurement categories in the six theoretical domains of trauma, negative affect and distress, autobiographical memory, personality, positive affect, and gender. The mean weighted correlations of the 25 measurement categories ranged from -.17 to .55, with standard errors from .01 to .02, allowing us to distinguish empirically among effects. Consistent with the theoretical motivation for the CES and predictions predating the review, the CES correlated positively with a range of measures, correlating most highly with measures related to trauma, PTSD, grief, and autobiographical memory. The findings show that the CES probes aspects of autobiographical memory of broad relevance to clinical disorders, and with specific implications for theories of PTSD.
Shame is an evolved emotional response which requires relational evaluation at a prefrontal cortical level but which has the visceral sensation and defence response impulse of a basic affect. We argue that the severe forms of shame, those residual from traumatic interpersonal experiences, have midbrain and diencephalic components mediating experiences of painful withdrawal while anhedonia is derived from a negatively valenced state of the mesolimbic dopamine system. This specific form of separation distress, with a characteristic sense of exclusion and unworthiness, benefits in treatment from the presence of attachment resources which allow secure access to the core distress. We discuss the use of the Comprehensive Resource Model (CRM) in the psychotherapy of post-traumatic states in which shame is prominent.
Introduction:
Active resistance is considered to be the "normal" reaction during rape. However, studies have indicated that similar to animals, humans exposed to extreme threat may react with a state of involuntary, temporary motor inhibition known as tonic immobility. The aim of the present study was to assess the occurrence of tonic immobility during rape and subsequent posttraumatic stress disorder and severe depression MATERIAL AND METHODS: Tonic immobility at the time of the assault was assessed using the Tonic Immobility Scale in 298 women who had visited the Emergency clinic for raped women within 1 month of a sexual assault. Information about the assault and the victim characteristics were taken from the structured clinical data files. After 6 months, 189 women were assessed regarding the development of posttraumatic stress disorder and depression RESULTS: Of the 298 women, 70% reported significant tonic immobility and 48% reported extreme tonic immobility during the assault. Tonic immobility was associated with the development of posttraumatic stress disorder (OR 2.75; 1.50-5.03, p = .001) and severe depression (OR 3.42; 1.51-7.72, p = .003) at 6 months. Further, prior trauma history (OR 2.36; 1.48-3.77, p <.001) and psychiatric treatment history (OR 2.00; 1.26-3.19, p = .003) were associated with the TI response CONCLUSIONS: Tonic immobility during rape is a common reaction associated with subsequent posttraumatic stress disorder and severe depression. Knowledge of this reaction in sexual assault victims is important in legal matters and for health care follow-up. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Background:
Tonic immobility is an involuntary motor and vocal inhibition reaction, considered the last-ditch response of the defensive cascade model. It is elicited in context of inescapable threat and perception of entrapment. Our aim was to investigate the association between different traumatic events and peritraumatic tonic immobility (PTI) in a representative sample of the general population.
Methods:
This is a cross-sectional study of general population from Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo with 3231 victims of traumatic events aged 15-75 years who completed the Tonic Immobility Scale (TIS). We calculated the frequency of the different traumatic events and estimated the mean scores with 95% confidence intervals for each traumatic event, controlling for the potential confounders using multiple linear regression models. Finally, we calculated the proportion of individual scoring zero in TIS for the 16 traumatic events.
Results:
PTI scores in child sexual abuse and adult sexual violence were almost twice as high as in other types of traumatic events, even when controlled for gender and educational level. Torture and war also showed high PTI scores, but these were based on very small number of cases and need to be interpreted with caution. Furthermore, victims of sexual trauma had the lowest proportion of individuals with total absence of PTI symptoms.
Limitations:
This is a cross-sectional study and causal inferences must be drawn with caution.
Conclusions:
Peritraumatic tonic immobility is more strongly associated with sexual trauma, particularly in childhood, than to other types of trauma in the general population.
We devised three measures of the general severity of events, which raters applied to participants’ narrative descriptions: (a) placing events on a standard normed scale of stressful events, (b) placing events into five bins based on their severity relative to all other events in the sample, and (c) an average of ratings of the events’ effects on six distinct areas of the participants’ lives. Protocols of negative events were obtained from two nondiagnosed undergraduate samples (n = 688 and 328), a clinically diagnosed undergraduate sample, all of whom had traumas and half of whom met posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) criteria (n = 30), and a clinically diagnosed community sample who met PTSD criteria (n = 75). The three measures of severity correlated highly in all four samples but failed to correlate with PTSD symptom severity in any sample. Theoretical implications for the role of trauma severity in PTSD are discussed.
The present paper extends the coverage of the "Psychological Record" (1977) devoted to the topic of tonic immobility (also known as "animal hypnosis") by examining the applicability of the designation tonic immobility to special states of behavioral inhibition in humans, particularly the occurrence of rape-induced paralysis commonly reported by rape victims. Since fear, overtones of predation, contact, and restraint are common denominators to rape and the induction of tonic immobility, and because the reactions by rape victims are often isomorphic with behaviors shown by immobilized animals, it is concluded that tonic immobility and rape-induced paralysis represent the same phenomenon. The adaptive value of this reaction to rape is briefly discussed. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The Self-Memory System (SMS) is a conceptual framework that emphasizes the interconnectedness of self and memory. Within this framework memory is viewed as the data base of the self. The self is conceived as a complex set of active goals and associated self-images, collectively referred to as the working self. The relationship between the working self and long-term memory is a reciprocal one in which autobiographical knowledge constrains what the self is, has been, and can be, whereas the working self-modulates access to long-term knowledge. Specific proposals concerning the role of episodic memories and autobiographical knowledge in the SMS, their function in defining the self, the neuroanatomical basis of the system, its development, relation to consciousness, and possible evolutionary history are considered with reference to current and new findings as well as to findings from the study of impaired autobiographical remembering.
Freezing is a common defensive response in animals threatened by predators. It is characterized by reduced body motion and decreased heart rate (bradycardia). However, despite the relevance of animal defense models in human stress research, studies have not shown whether social threat cues elicit similar freeze-like responses in humans. We investigated body sway and heart rate in 50 female participants while they were standing on a stabilometric force platform and viewing cues that were socially threatening, socially neutral, and socially affiliative (angry, neutral, and happy faces, respectively). Posturographic analyses showed that angry faces (compared with neutral faces and happy faces) induced significant reductions in body sway. In addition, the reduced body sway for angry faces was accompanied by bradycardia and correlated significantly with subjective anxiety. Together, these findings indicate that spontaneous body responses to social threat cues involve freeze-like behavior in humans that mimics animal freeze responses. These findings open avenues for studying human freeze responses in relation to various sociobiological markers and social-affective disorders.
The coping behavior of rape victims can be analyzed in three distinct phases--the threat of attack, the attack itself, and the period immediately thereafter. The authors analyzed the reported coping behavior of 92 women diagnosed as having rape trauma. Most of the women used verbal, physical, or cognitive strategies when threatened, although 34 were physically or psychologically paralyzed. The actual rape prompted coping behaviors in all but 1 victim. Escaping the situation or the assailant is the primary task immediately after the attack. In counseling the rape victim, it is important to understand her individual style of coping, to be supportive of it, and to suggest alternatives for future stressful situations.
A variety of behaviours have been identified as submissive (Buss & Craik, 1986). These are believed to be associated with vulnerability to psychopathology. This paper explores the construct and measurement of submissive behaviours and their association with psychopathology.
Two self-report scales were designed to measure the frequencies of (a) typical submissive behaviours (SBS) and (b) passive/withdrawal and affiliative strategies focused on conflict de-escalation (CDS). The association of these scales with psychopathology was explored in a series of questionnaire studies.
Study 1 assessed the SBS using a student sample (N = 332) and a mixed clinical group (N = 136). Of these, 177 students and 66 patients also completed the SCL-90-R. In Studies 2 and 3, the CDS and its association with depressive symptoms were assessed using a student sample (N = 154) and a depressed patient group (N = 60).
The SBS and CDS appeared reliable. There was a positive relationship between the SBS and the SCL-90-R, including interpersonal sensitivity and unexpressed hostility. The passive/withdrawal subscale of the CDS was associated with depressive symptoms. Evidence was obtained for sex differences with the affiliative subscale.
Some forms of submissive behaviour, especially those associated with passive/withdrawal and inhibition, are associated with a wide range of psychological problems.
[Figure: see text]
▪ Abstract Episodic memory is a neurocognitive (brain/mind) system, uniquely different from other memory systems, that enables human beings to remember past experiences. The notion of episodic memory was first proposed some 30 years ago. At that time it was defined in terms of materials and tasks. It was subsequently refined and elaborated in terms of ideas such as self, subjective time, and autonoetic consciousness. This chapter provides a brief history of the concept of episodic memory, describes how it has changed (indeed greatly changed) since its inception, considers criticisms of it, and then discusses supporting evidence provided by (a) neuropsychological studies of patterns of memory impairment caused by brain damage, and (b) functional neuroimaging studies of patterns of brain activity of normal subjects engaged in various memory tasks. I also suggest that episodic memory is a true, even if as yet generally unappreciated, marvel of nature.
To investigate whether previous findings from interview studies of a prospective relationship between shame and psychopathology (e.g. Andrews, 1995) could be replicated using questionnaires.
A total of 163 university students participated in a longitudinal questionnaire study.
The Experience of Shame Scale (ESS), a questionnaire based on a previous interview measure, and an established shame scale (TOSCA), were considered in their relation to depressive symptoms assessed at two time points 11 weeks apart.
Both scales made significant independent contributions to depressive symptoms at time 1. However, only the ESS predicted additional significant variance in time 2 symptoms when time 1 symptoms were controlled.
It was concluded that the reason for the differential performance of the two scales was that the ESS, like the shame interview, assesses specific areas of shame related to self and performance, whereas the TOSCA assesses general shame and may therefore be more prone to mood-state effects.
Our Social Self Preservation Theory asserts that situations which threaten the "social self" (ie, one's social value or standing) elicit increased feelings of low social worth (eg, shame), decrements in social self-esteem, and increases in cortisol, a hormone released by the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. To test our theoretical premise, cognitive, emotional, and physiological responses to the performance of laboratory stressor tasks were compared in participants who performed these tasks in the presence or absence of social-self threat.
Pre- and poststressor emotion, self-esteem, heart rate, blood pressure, and salivary cortisol were compared in 81 participants randomly assigned to complete speech and mental arithmetic stress tasks with social evaluation present (n = 41) or absent (n = 40).
As hypothesized, participants in the social evaluation condition exhibited greater increases in shame and greater decrements in social self-esteem. Other psychological states (eg, anxiety, performance self-esteem) did not show differential changes as a function of the social context. Salivary cortisol increased in social evaluation condition participants but did not increase in participants who performed the same tasks in the absence of social evaluation. Cortisol increases were greater in participants who experienced greater increases in shame and greater decreases in social self-esteem under social-self threat.
Threat to the social self is an important elicitor of shame experience, decreases in social self-esteem and cortisol increases under demanding performance conditions. Cortisol changes may be specifically tied to the experience of emotions and cognitions reflecting low self-worth in this context.
The present study examined tonic immobility (TI) in victims of childhood sexual abuse (CSA). Female undergraduates (n=39) and female psychiatric inpatients (n=41) who experienced CSA completed a series of questionnaires assessing aspects of their victimization history, psychological functioning, and TI symptoms. Over fifty-two percent of all participants reported TI in response to CSA. Episodes of CSA involving attempted or completed penile/vaginal penetration were more likely to be associated with an increased likelihood of experiencing TI, and report of TI was associated with greater current psychological impairment. The implications of these findings are discussed, and suggestions for future research are offered.