Chapter 38 :The meaning of Dutch “schaamte” as a single term for shame and embarrassment

Authors : Y. M. J. van Osch, S. M. Breugelmans & M. Zeelenberg

Abstract : In the Dutch language a single term (schaamte) can refer to both feelings of shame and of embarrassment. In this chapter we explore the consequences of this difference between the Dutch and English emotion vocabularies for differences in the emotional meaning of the terms shame and schaamte. We found schaamte to be less unpleasant and less potent than shame. In addition, we found a number of emotion components where schaamte was associated more strongly with features that in English would be associated with embarrassment, and that schaamte was more different from the Dutch equivalent of guilt (schuld) than shame would be in the US sample. 

Keywords : shame embarrassment schaamte