The relationships between self-conscious emotions, perfectionism, and the forgiveness of the self and others

This study used bivariate correlations and path analyses to examine how guilt, shame, authentic pride, hubristic pride, and self- and other-oriented perfectionism were related to the forgiveness of the self and others. The sample consisted of 105 undergraduate students with an average age of 19.4 years, and was 86.5% European American and 81% female. Guilt and authentic pride, as well as shame and hubristic pride, were positively correlated (r = .21 and .23). It was also found that guilt and authentic pride were positively correlated with the forgiveness of the self ( r = .22 and .46) and others (r = .50 and .37), and that shame and hubristic pride were negatively correlated with the forgiveness of the self (r = -.39 and -.24) and others (r = -.30 and -.42). These findings suggest that the attribution styles associated with guilt and authentic pride (specific and unstable), and shame and hubristic pride (global and stable), better predict forgiveness than the valence of these emotions.;Furthermore, it appears that self-oriented perfectionism and aspects of perfectionism that involve feeling judged by others, such as concern over mistakes and need for approval, have negative correlations with the forgiveness of the self (r = -.19, -.51, and -.47) and others ( r = -.23, -.44, and -.36). These types of perfectionism have attributes in common with shame and hubristic pride—making it likely that these aspects of perfectionism are in part the result of having a global and stable attribution style.;It is proposed that a global and stable attribution style leads people to become prone to shame and hubristic pride, and therefore drives narcissism. If this assertion is correct, narcissism may be paradoxically caused by both shaming and overindulgent parenting as both methods of parenting encourage the development of a global and stable attribution style in children. As such, it is proposed that children, as well as adults with narcissism, should be taught how to make specific and unstable attributions. Doing so may prevent and treat narcissism, decrease self-oriented perfectionism, and increase the extent to which people are able to forgive the self and others.