Identifying the Bases for Gender Differences in Guilt and Shame

• Main Author: Edmondson, R. Shawn
• Format: Others
• Published: DigitalCommons@USU 2002
• Subjects: gender; guilt; shame; bias; Psychology
• Online Access: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/6175; https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=7245&context=etd

Gender differences are frequently revealed on the popular TOSCA-2 measure of guilt- and shame-proneness. These gender differences could reflect biases in the eliciting conditions that participants evaluate and confounds between them. A new instrument, the Gender Relevant Test of Self-Conscious Affect (GR-TOSCA), was developed to eliminate these confounds, thereby introducing a gender-sensitive, and therefore more valid, measure of guilt and shame proneness. The psychometric integrity of the new instrument, hypotheses regarding condition-specific gender differences in the two emotions, and relationships of guilt- and shame-proneness scores to gender role endorsement were examined in a sample of undergraduate students (93 men and 109 women). Encouraging evidence was produced for the reliability and validity of the GR-TOSCA, but the hypothesized gender differences in guilt and shame proneness were not found. Several possibilities for these results are explored, including the possibility of biases in the research procedure.