Shame, the quintessential human emotion, received little attention during the years in which the central forces believed to be motivating us were identified as primitive instincts like sex and aggression. Now, redressing the balance, there is an explosion of interest in the self-conscious emotion. Much of our psychic lives involve the negotiation of shame, asserts Michael Lewis, internationally known developmental and clinical psychologist. Shame is normal, not pathological, though opposite reactions to shame underlie many conflicts among individuals and groups, and some styles of handling shame are clearly maladaptive. Illustrating his argument with examples from everyday life, Lewis draws on his own pathbreaking studies and the theory and research of many others to construct the first comprehensive and empirically based account of emotional development focused on shame. In this paperback edition, Michael Lewis adds a compelling new chapter on stigma in which he details the process in which stigmatization produces shame.
"I heartily recommend [Shame] to scientists and practitioners alike, for I think with time it will become acknowledged as a pivotal text for how emotion, the self-system, and interpersonal relations are inextricably linked in human development."
Contemporary Psychology
"...a major contribution to the study of emotional development by one of the most creative figures in contemporary psychology...Dr. Lewis sheds light in an engaging and provocative manner on what shame is, how it develops, and why it is so significant for personality development."
Joseph J. Campos, Ph.D. Director of the Institute of Human Development, University of Cali
"Lewis brilliantly illuminates the nature of shame and its impact in our daily life, uniquely combining scholarly research, stories from everyday life, and clinical cases from his own practice. Lucid and insightful, it is must reading for scholars and laymen, researchers in emotion and development, and clinical practitioners."
Paul Ekman, Ph.D. Author of Telling Liesand Why Kids Lie
