COGNITION AND EMOTION 2008, 22 (8), 1471-1498 Y Psychology Press Taylor & Francis Group Attack, disapproval, or withdrawal? The role of honour in anger and shame responses to being insulted Patricia M. Rodriguez Mosquera Brunel University, Uxbridge, Middlesex, UK Agneta H. Fischer University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Antony S. R. Manstead Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK Ruud Zaalberg Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven The Netherlands Insults elicit intense emotion. This study tests the hypothesis that one's social image, which is especially salient in honour cultures, influences the way in which one reacts to an insult. Seventy-seven honour-oriented and 72 non-honour oriented participants answered questions about a recent insult episode. Partici- pants experienced both anger and shame in reaction to the insult. However, these emotions resulted in different behaviours. Anger led to verbal attack (i.e., criticising, insulting in return) among all participants. This relationship was explained by participants' motivation to punish the wrongdoer. Shame, on the other hand, was moderated by honour. Shame led to verbal disapproval of the wrongdoers behaviour, but only among the honour-oriented participants. This relationship was explained by these participants' motivation to protect their social image. By contrast, shame led to withdrawal among non-honour-oriented participants. Correspondence should be addressed to: Patricia M. Rodriguez Mosquera, Psychology, School of Social Sciences, Brunel University, Uxbridge, Middlesex UB8 3PH, UK. E-mail: patricia.mosquera@brunel.ac.uk The research presented in this paper was supported by a post-doctoral grant awarded to the first author by the Dutch Science Foundation. Sincere thanks are due to Connor V. Dolan for his invaluable advice on how to carry out the multi-group structural equation modelling. Our thinking about data analysis greatly benefited from conversations with Colin W. Leach and Jelte M. Wicherts. We also thank Roos Knap for her assistance with the content analysis of the insult narratives. C 2008 Psychology Press, an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business www.psypress.com/cogemotion DOI: 10.1080/02699930701822272
1472 RODRIGUEZ MOSQUERA ET AL. We all have experienced the pain of insult. An insult is a negative, derogatory comment or gesture about who we are, what we think, or what we do (Bond & Venus, 1991). Because an insult implies that another person does not value us, being the target of an insult often elicits intense feelings of anger and shame (see, e.g., Averill, 1982, 1983; Cohen, Nisbett, Bowdle, & Schwartz, 1996; Mesquita, 2001; Ortony, Clore, & Collins, 1988; Rodriguez Mosquera, Manstead, & Fischer, 2002a). Earlier research on insult and emotion has mostly focused on the intensity of anger and shame feelings in response to insults (Rodriguez Mosquera et al., 2002a). In the present paper we examine what people are motivated to do and actually do when they feel anger and shame about an insult. Furthermore, research has shown that insults elicit anger and shame across cultural groups that differ in their cultural value orientation. People who endorse individualistic values (e.g., independence, autonomy, mastery) feel as angry and ashamed about an insult as people who endorse collectivistic values (e.g., honour; Rodriguez Mosquera et