What is Shame? Some Core Issues and Controversies

Abstract

Abstract Much has changed since Helen Lewis (1987a) wrote of shame as the “hidden emotion” and the “sleeper in psychopathology.” Indeed, over the last 10 to 15 years shame has been subject to much research and theory, as Tangney and Fischer’s (1995) landmark volume shows. Recently, S. Miller argued that shame is now so commonly seen as “the bedrock of psychopathology” and “the gold to be mined psychotherapeutically” that there has been neglect of other emotions and their interaction with shame (1996, p. 151). But while some researchers believe there is a growing consensus about shame-what it is and how it works-this chapter voices caution. There are still many differences of view, and as Andrews (this volume, chapter 2) points out, we do not yet have the methodologies to explore these differences empirically.