The Experiment Study Of College Students' Coping Strategies Of Shame In Different Self-construal Priming Conditions

Cross-cultural studies show that the individuals in individualism culture tend to defense when coping of shame and the individuals in collectivism culture tend to repair when coping of shame.This paper suggests that this difference is affected by different self-construals.The self-construal theory proposed by Markus and Kitayama suggests that the culture builds self-construal and self-construal influences cognition,behaviors and emotions.This three forms a Cycle of Mutual Constitution.On the basis of this theory,within the same cultural background,this paper explores the relationship between self-construal and the choice of strategies of shame copping through the study 1 and study 2.In Study 1,in self-construal priming conditions,we firstly explores the self-construal's influence on shames of moral and shames of ability.The results of Study 1 showed that:(1)in the situations on shame of ability,subjects in the independent priming condition feel the relatively higher shame of ability;(2)in the situations on shame of moral,subjects in the interdependent priming condition feel the relatively higher shame of moral.In Study 2,in self-construal priming conditions,we evoked shames of moral and shames of ability,then presented the strategies of shame copping for the subjects to express their preference of choice.The results of Study 2 showed that:(1)The repaired strategy "Seeking Support" in the interdependent priming condition got a higher rank than in the independent priming condition,and the defended strategy "Denial" got a lower rank.(2)In the independent priming condition,the defended strategy got a lower rank in the situations on shame of ability than in the situations on shame of moral.(3)In the interdependent priming condition,the defended strategy got a lower rank in the situations on shame of moral than in the situations on shame of ability(4)In the independent or interdependent priming condition,the defended strategy got a higher rank in the situations on high-shame than in the situations on low-shame.Conclusion:(1)The interdependent self-construal has more advantages in cognitive processing of shame of moral than the independent self-construal;and the independent self-construal has more advantages in cognitive processing of shame of ability than the interdependent self-construal.(2)The individuals put more emphasis on repaired strategies and less emphasis on defended strategies in the interdependent priming condition than in the independent priming condition.(3)In the independent priming condition,the individuals put less emphasis on defended strategies in the situations on shame of ability than in the situations on shame of moral.(4)In the interdependent priming condition,the individuals put less emphasis on defended strategies in the situations on shame of moral than in the situations on shame of ability.(5)In the independent and interdependent priming conditions,the individuals put more emphasis on defended strategies in the situations on high-shame than in the situations on low-shame.