Guilt and Shame in Chinese Culture: A Cross‐cultural Framework from the Perspective of Morality and Identity

TLDR

The article examines guilt and shame within Chinese culture through a cross‑cultural lens. The study aims to formulate a cross‑cultural framework for understanding guilt and shame based on identity and morality in Western and Confucian cultures. The authors first analyze identity in each culture, then explore its relationship with morality, and finally discuss how guilt and shame maintain identity boundaries and moral constraints, applying the framework to Chinese culture using prior field research. The article discusses implications for future research. Pages 127–144.

Abstract

Olwen Bedford and Kwang‐Kuo Hwang, Guilt and Shame in Chinese Culture: A Cross‐cultural Framework from the Perspective of Morality and Identity, pp. 127–144. This article formulates a cross‐cultural framework for understanding guilt and shame based on a conceptualization of identity and morality in Western and Confucian cultures. First, identity is examined in each culture, and then the relation between identity and morality illuminated. The role of guilt and shame in upholding the boundaries of identity and enforcing the constraints of morality is then discussed from the perspective of each culture. The developed framework is then applied the emotions of guilt and shame in Chinese culture drawing on previous field research. Implications for future research are discussed.