The expression of shame and hostility in females as a function of perceptual orientation and alienation.
Item
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Title
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The expression of shame and hostility in females as a function of perceptual orientation and alienation.
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Identifier
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AAI9959165
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identifier
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9959165
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Creator
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Bendock, Selina.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Herbert Saltzstein
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Date
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2000
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Psychology, Personality | Women's Studies
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Abstract
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This research examines the effect that alienation and field orientation have upon the overall level and manifestations of expressed shame and hostility in a sample of middle class professional females under warm interpersonal environmental conditions. Based on the theories of Lewis (1971) and of Scheff and Retzinger (1991), a model was proposed which reconciles the disparate findings of previous research (Crouppen, 1976; deGroot, 1968; Witkin, Lewis & Weil, 1968) by incorporating level of alienation as an additional element which influences the manner in which shame and hostility are expressed. This research tests hypotheses generated from that model.;Sixty female volunteers completed a session comprised of a video-taped five minute monologue interview prompted by a standardized statement based on the instructions of Gottschalk, Winget, and Gleser (1969), an alienation questionnaire (Maddi, Kobasa & Hoover; 1979) and the Embedded Figures Test (Witkin et al., 1954/1972). To cultivated a warm interpersonal environment for the sessions, the interviewer used friendly gestural behavior, i.e., having direct eye contact and smiling at the interviewee. Measures of total shame and hostility as well as manner in which shame and hostility were expressed were obtained through content analysis of the verbal and paralinguistic cues captured in the recorded interview.;A 2 x 3 factorial design was used to test the effects of alienation (low versus high) and field orientation level (field dependent, middle orientation, and field independent) on the shame and hostility variables. A significant main effect for alienation on total shame expressed was observed in two separate analyses. Higher shame scores were found within the high alienation group versus the low alienation group. This finding lends support to Scheff and Retzinger's (1991) contention that shame and alienation are positively related.;An auxiliary observation of this research was that this group of women expressed shame in primarily an overt, unidentified manner, i.e., through hiding behaviors such as embarrassed laughter, aversion of the eyes, etc. The lack of expression of shame in either an acknowledged manner, clearly stating shame feelings, or a by-passed manner, distancing oneself, is discussed.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
