ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on domain of social and moral emotions: shame and guilt. Therefore, both shame and guilt draw on a more basic developmental attainment: self-consciousness. Infants’ long-term memory for such behavioural contingencies is particularly relevant for the development of self-conscious emotions, because to experience either shame or pride, children must become aware that certain outcomes are contingent on their own actions. Distinct facial expressions associated with shame in adults include a lowered head and eye gaze directed toward the ground. Using a different paradigm to explore the developmental origins of shame and guilt, K. C. Barrett and her colleagues conducted a study in which they staged a mishap that apparently had been caused by the 2-year-olds themselves. In contrast to shame, guilt is less likely to be associated with a distinct pattern of facial expression. Links between a child’s capacity to feel guilt and later conduct problems can still be detected in adolescence.
