Social Shame Sensitivity

What it measures

Twelve seven-point items measure the intensity of shame and embarrassment a person anticipates in response to described socially awkward or norm-violating scenarios. The scenarios span public mistakes, social faux pas, and situations of social exposure. Respondents rate how badly they would feel in each situation. The scale was developed for use in an Asian cultural context and emphasises situationally-triggered rather than dispositional shame.

Response format

7-point rating scale (1=not bad at all, 7=as bad as I could possibly feel)

Scale items

• Strongly defending an idea or point of view in a discussion only to learn later that it was incorrect.
• Your home is very messy and you get unexpected guests.
• Finding that your clothes have become disarranged, exposing part of you that usually is covered.
• Giving a talk on a topic which you're supposed to know, and having persons in your audience demonstrate that you are factually wrong.
• Making a scene at the corner of a busy business street.
• Unwittingly making a remark disparaging to a minority group in front of the member of that group.
• Unconsciously resorting to eating with your fingers at a formal restaurant as the rest of the diners stare.
• Getting so bored listening to someone that you tell the person to shut up.
• Stumbling and stuttering in an oral presentation, having the instructor use yours as an example of a poor presentation.
• Upon making new acquaintances at a party, you tell a risqué or dirty joke and many are offended by it.
• Going to a party in casual clothes and finding that everyone is dressed up.
• Spilling a plate full of food at the buffet dinner.

Full scale items shown. Always cite the original source when using this scale in research.

Usage notes & scoring

A revised version of Johnson and Noel's (1970) Dimensions of Conscience Questionnaire. Twenty-eight items from the original 121-item pool were selected for Asian cultural relevance; 12 remained after psychometric refinement. No validity testing was reported. Most suitable for contexts involving potential social embarrassment or norm-violating consumer behavior.

Citation

Wirtz, J., & Kum, D. (2004). Consumers cheating on service guarantees. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 32(2), 159–175.

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