In my study I wish to treat the problem as psychologically as possible, and to give a trial how to approach the problem. I have tentatively distinguished the anticipative feeling of shame from the actual. By the former, as I provisionally call it, is meant the anticipative feeling that one may abashed if such and such a situation should happen. So it can be considered as the general tendency to shyness, abstracted from the actual conditions of practical circumstances.
(I) Problems: The present report deals with the following two subjects only.
(1) What general tendencies may be found in the anticipative feeling of shame?
(2) What conditions are necessary for the actual feeling of shame?
(II) Methods:(1) For the first subject the questionnaire method was used. After several trials, I selected about 50 typical situations; e. g. When you take lunch in front of strangers; When you fail in your task in the presence of observers; When some one cast a look at your uncovered body; When you are applauded in public; When you are gazed at by a pretty youth of other sex; when you put on too precious dress; When you are poorly dressed;&so on. About 4000 boys and girls, aged from 12 to 19, were asked what feeling would predominate in each of these situations. Besides, it was asked whether blushing would be felt or not.
(2) Some experiments were attempted for the second problem. The principle of experiment was of the same kind as Verwoerd's.(Amer. Journ. Psy. 37, 1926, p.357-). It was the primary object of the experiment to produce the feeling of shame due to the subject's own failure and punishment, for it. Stripes of colours presented in rapid succession and in different series and combinations to an O who had to perform given reaction-tasks in connection with them. Colours were presented to the OS by means of a kymograph, a stripe at a time every 1/4 sec. The OS had to react to a stripe of appointed arrangement of colours, which followed after definite warning colours. A very similar arrangement was inserted, with the same warning colours, for the purpose to entrap the OS. At every wrong reaction a slight electric shock was given, as a rule, as punishment, but under circumstances it was not given for experimental purpose. The observers consisted of three men and three women, among them two men were psychologists, and the others were quite new to psychological experiment. They were all highly educated. Every observer was imposed three series of experiments which were carried on under respectively different conditions of punishment. The introspective reports during the experiments were demanded, with special respect to feelings.
(III) Results:
(1) The statistical investigation by means of questionnaire has shown that frequency and intensity of anticipative feeling of shame depend, on the one hand, upon the nature of situations, and, on the other, upon the subjective conditions, such as sex, age, temperament etc. I shall here mention some of main results;
a) Situations: Situations. which excite the anticipative feeling of shame most commonly without distinction of subjective conditions are those concerning one's own failure and inferiority. Situations concerning courtesy and sexual medesty are to be considered as characteristic cases in which sexual and developmental differences are the most conspicuous.
b) Sexual and developmental differences: Boys are less bashful than girls, as commonly known, and this sexual difference becomes more remarkable in senior than in junior. The younger are shyer of the pressence of other persons (especially strangers) than the older, while the lattter are more bashful towards being superior.
