ABSTRACT
The behavioural manifestations of shame typically include averted gaze, slumped posture, and downward head movement. The fact that shame is also characterized by a heightened feeling of exposure and vulnerability, by a wish to hide, to become invisible, and to sink into the ground, should alert us to the fact that the body plays a significant role in the emotion. Sartre highlights the impact of the gaze. The case of vicarious shame provides further reason to question the proposal that others are accidental to shame, and play no significant role in its structure. It is no coincidence that the Oxford English Dictionary in its definition of shame includes a reference to situations, where shame arises from the consciousness of something dishonouring, ridiculous, or indecorous in the conduct of those whose honour or disgrace one regards as one’s own.
