Shame in social interaction : Descriptions of experiences of shame by participants with high or low levels of narcissistic traits

Loading...
Thumbnail Image

Access rights

openAccess
publishedVersion

URL

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

A1 Alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä

Date

2024-07

Major/Subject

Mcode

Degree programme

Language

en

Pages

21

Series

British Journal of Social Psychology, Volume 63, issue 3, pp. 1429-1449

Abstract

In this study, we investigate how personal experiences about shameful events are described in face-to-face social interaction, and how these stories differ between participants who have either high or low levels of narcissistic personality traits. The dataset consists of 22 dyadic conversations where the participants describe events where they felt ashamed of themselves. We found the narratives to vary in terms of five dimensions. With narcissistic individuals, the default narrative tended to exhibit a cluster of characteristics that gather at one end of these dimensions: (1) weak expressions of shame; (2) located in the story-world; (3) low level of reflexivity as well as; (4) responsibility of the described event; and (5) a general level of description. We discuss the findings in relation to sociological and psychological theories of shame and suggest that individuals with narcissistic personality traits are more inclined to use suppressive conversational practices in their treatment of shame, thus providing a “window” to these interactional practices.

Description

Publisher Copyright: © 2024 The Authors. British Journal of Social Psychology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Psychological Society.

Keywords

face-work, grandiose narcissism, narcissistic traits, narrative, shame, storytelling

Other note

Citation

Koskinen, E, Henttonen, P, Kettunen, S K, Pesonen, S, Piispanen, M, Voutilainen, L, Wuolio, M & Peräkylä, A 2024, ' Shame in social interaction : Descriptions of experiences of shame by participants with high or low levels of narcissistic traits ', British Journal of Social Psychology, vol. 63, no. 3, pp. 1429-1449 . https://doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12734