On-line presentation (research presentation) (30 Minutes) Cultural Constructions of Shame more

Sun, Nov 28, 15:10-15:40 Asia/Tokyo

Leadership in intercultural contexts requires an understanding of how psychological mechanisms differ across cultures. Particularly mechanisms which can motivate or de-motivate people. Understanding cultural differences in shame producing and shame reparation is essential for understanding how to effectively manage and lead intercultural and multicultural groups. Shame is a primary emotional trigger which modulates the human socialization process: shame injury is produced and repaired through relational interactions which lead to developing the targeted “cultural competencies”. However, left unrepaired, defenses against shame create various maladaptive, aggressive and/or self-sabotaging behaviors, none of which lead to optimal outcomes. As shame is essentially a relational structure; understanding the cultural mechanisms of shame requires an understanding of the operation of self-self and self-other mechanisms. This presentation will look at cultural differences in self-self and self-other psychological structures to understand mechanisms of shame injury and repair. A framework for understanding cultural variations of shame injury and repair is introduced by integrating theoretical models for self-structure with this researcher’s empirical data on shame trauma and repair. Models for Japanese self-structure (proposed by anthropologist Lebra, psychotherapist Kitayama and philosopher Nishida) will be juxtaposed against Western models of self (proposed by Lacan, Kohut and Freud) and discussed in terms of the presenter’s empirical research results. The findings suggest that there are both personal and socialized levels of self-self and self-other structuring, which can manifest in various configurations of inter-relational shaming dynamics. From the researcher’s empirical data, a model for understanding cultural factors for inter-relational shame triggers will be proposed.