Sana Sheikh

Knowledge and the Prediction of Behavior: The Role of Information Accuracy in the Theory of Planned Behavior

The results of the present research question the common assumption that being well informed is a prerequisite for effective action to produce desired outcomes. In Study 1 (N = 79), environmental knowledge had no effect on energy conservation, and in Study 2 (N = 79), alcohol knowledge was unrelated to drinking behavior. Such disappointing correlations may result from an inappropriate focus on accuracy of information at the expense of its relevance to and support for the behavior. Study 3 (N = 85) obtained a positive correlation between knowledge and pro-Muslim behavior, but Study 4 (N = 89) confirmed the proposition that this correlation arose because responses on the knowledge test reflected underlying attitudes. Study 4 also showed that the correlation could become positive or negative by appropriate selection of questions for the knowledge test. The theory of planned behavior (Ajzen, 1991), with its focus on specific actions, predicted intentions and behavior in all four studies.

The “Shoulds” and “Should Nots” of Moral Emotions: A Self-Regulatory Perspective on Shame and Guilt

A self-regulatory framework for distinguishing between shame and guilt was tested in three studies. Recently, two forms of moral regulation based on approach versus avoidance motivation have been proposed in the literature. Proscriptive regulation is sensitive to negative outcomes, inhibition based, and focused on what we should not do. Prescriptive regulation is sensitive to positive outcomes, activation based, and focused on what we should do. In the current research, consistent support was found for shame’s proscriptive and guilt’s prescriptive moral underpinnings. Study 1 found a positive association between avoidance orientation and shame proneness and between approach orientation and guilt proneness. In Study 2, priming a proscriptive orientation increased shame and priming a prescriptive orientation increased guilt. In Study 3, transgressions most apt to represent proscriptive and prescriptive violations predicted subsequent judgments of shame and guilt, respectively. This self-regulatory perspective provides a broad interpretive framework for understanding and extending past research findings.

Tracing the Self-Regulatory Bases of Moral Emotions

In this article we explore a self-regulatory perspective on the self-evaluative moral emotions, shame and guilt. Broadly conceived, self-regulation distinguishes between two types of motivation: approach/activation and avoidance/inhibition. We use this distinction to conceptually understand the socialization dimensions (parental restrictiveness versus nurturance), associated emotions (anxiety versus empathy), and forms of morality (proscriptive versus prescriptive) that serve as precursors to each self-evaluative moral emotion. We then examine the components of shame and guilt experiences in greater detail and conclude with more general implications of a self-regulatory perspective on moral emotions.

Cultural Variations in Shame’s Responses A Dynamic Perspective

The diverse literature on shame has led to disparate and often contradictory conclusions regarding the emotion’s nature and consequences. The article proposes a motivational theory of shame that accounts for these discrepant findings. The first part of the article uses the concept of active avoidance to outline a dynamic motivational perspective in which shame is based initially in behavioral inhibition that then incorporates subsequent behavioral activation. The motivational shift is guided by shame’s relational phenomenology and the normative beliefs associated with shame. In the second part, the motivational perspective is used to account for variations in shame’s consequences. Externalizing and restorative tendencies of shame are culturally variable and due to differences in behavioral activation associated with the emotion. However, withdrawal tendencies occur across cultural contexts because of shame’s basis in inhibition. Issues in conducting cross-cultural studies on emotion and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Unintended Consequences of Moral “Over-Regulation”

A proscriptive moral orientation, involving a focus on “should nots,” is used to resolve a contradiction in the moral socialization literature made evident by findings related to shame. The traditionally accepted view that underregulation of morality (i.e., absence of internalized moral standards) accounts for increased moral transgressions by children of highly restrictive parents is reconceptualized as a problem of overregulation of proscriptive morality, reflected in the internalized focus on prohibitions. Implications of a strong proscriptive orientation for hypocritical punitive responses towards others and for the ironic role of sin emphasized in some religions are briefly discussed.

Insights from Self-Blame and Victim Blaming

The act of blaming comes in many forms. Although Malle, Guglielmo, and Monroe’s (this issue) proposed Path Model of Blame attempts to provide a comprehensive understanding of the antecedents of blame, the authors largely refer to evidence in which blamers are third-person parties rendering judgments of criminal responsibility. Do the criteria outlined in the Path Model of Blame provide a comprehensive framework for other forms of blame? Our aim is to first discuss key findings from the self-blame and the related victim blaming literature to address criteria absent from the target article and then highlight the insights from the Path Model of Blame for these two literatures.