Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

A Retrospective Look at Emotions

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Book cover Handbook of the Sociology of Emotions: Volume II

Part of the book series: Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research ((HSSR))

Abstract

This chapter is a summary and reconsideration of three of my study areas that focus on or at least involve emotions. The first concerns labeling theory. I didn’t realize then that the emotion of shame was an important component. The second area is my version of the theory of catharsis, an approach that has been mistakenly cast aside. The last aspect considers the pride-shame axis as a key part of a major social system, my current work. Theories by C. H. Cooley and Erving Goffman imply that shame, particularly, is all but ubiquitous in modern societies, yet usually invisible. My current ideas suggest that this conjecture may be somewhat overstated, if only slightly. However, empirical studies by Norbert Elias and by Helen Lewis imply support for both ubiquity and invisibility. Both the Elias/Lewis conjecture on hiding shame and Billig’s theory of repression are supported by my Ngram study of historical changes in frequency of shame terms in five languages. Like other emotions, such as fear, shame can be recursive, acting back on itself (shame about shame). Limitless recursion of shame may explain extreme cases of silence, and of shame/anger, violence. These propositions need further testing. For one thing, they may have implications not only for social science, but for society as a whole.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 99.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    For an example from California, at Stockton State, the hospital laundry system was run entirely by Chinese immigrants who spoke no English. Their putative mental illness didn’t seem to interfere with the great efficacy they showed both as administrators and as workers in. the huge laundry.

References

  • Bardach, E. (1972). The skill factor in politics: Reforming the California mental health l aw. Berkeley: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Belifiore, E. S. (1992). Tragic pleasures: Aristotle on plot and emotion. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bemak, F., & Young, M. (1998). Role of Catharsis in group psychotherapy. International Journal of Action Methods: Psychodrama, Skill Training, and Role Playing, 50, 166–184.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berkowitz, L. (1962). Aggression: A social psychological analysis. New York: McGraw-Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Billig, M. (1999). Freudian repression: Conversation creating the unconscious. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Billig, M. (2005). Laughter and ridicule: Towards a social critique of humor. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bourdieu, P. (1983). Forms of capital. In J. C. Richards (Ed.), Handbook of theory and research for the sociology of education (pp. 2–31). New York: Greenwood Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bullough, E. (1912). 'Physical distance' as a factor in art and aesthetic principle. British Journal of Psychiatry, 5, 87–118.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooley, C. H. (1922). Human nature and conduct. New York: Scribners.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crown, R. (1966). The dilemma of mental commitments in California. Sacramento California Legislature.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dewey, J. (1894). The theory of emotion. Psychological Review, 1, 553–569.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Di Pellegrino, G., Fadiga, L., Fogassi, L., Gallese, V., & Rizzolatti, G. (1992). Understanding motor events a neurophysiological study. Experimental Brain Research, 91, 176–180.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elias, N. (1978). The history of manners: The civilizing process, Vol. 1. New York: Pantheon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eliot, G. (1900). Middlemarch. New York: Sully and Kleinteich.

    Google Scholar 

  • Erikson, E. (1950). Childhood and society. New York: Norton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Evans, B. (1960). Shakespeare’s comedies. London: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fadiga, L., Fogassi, L., Pavesi, G., & Rizzolatti, G. (1995). Motor facilitation during action observation: A magnetic stimulation study. Journal of Neurophysiology, 73, 2608–2611.

    Google Scholar 

  • Feshbach, S., & Singer, R. D. (1971). Television and aggression. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Freud S., & Breuer, J. (1955). Studies on Hysteria. 1895. London: Standard Edition 2.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fuller, R. W. (2006). All rise: Somebodies, nobodies, and the politics of dignity. San Francisco, CA: Barrett-Koehler.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fuller R. W., & Gerloff, P. A. (2008). Dignity for all: How to create a world without rankism. San Francisco, CA: Barrett-Koehler.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilbert, P., & Andrews, B. (1998). Shame: Interpersonal behavior, psychopathology, and culture. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilligan, J. (1997). Violence: Reflections on a national epidemic. New York: Vintage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goffman, E. (1959). The presentation of self in everyday life. Garden City: Doubleday/Anchor Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goffman, E. (1963). Stigma. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goleman, D. (2006). Emotional intelligence. New York: Random House.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gottschalk L. A., & Glaser, G. C. (1969). The measurement of psychological states through the content analysis of verbal behavior. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heller, D., & Heller, L. (2004). Somatic experiencing in the treatment of automobile accident trauma. US Association for Body Psychotherapy Journal, 5, 42–52.

    Google Scholar 

  • Koestler, A. (1967). The act of creation. New York: Dell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kosmicki, F. X., & Glickauf-Hughes, C. (1997). Catharsis in psychotherapy. Psychotherapy Theory, Research, Practice, Training, 34, 154–159.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Levine, P. A. (1997). Waking the tiger. Berkeley: North Atlantic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewis, H. B. (1971). Shame and guilt in neurosis. New York: International Universities Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lindner, E. (2006). Making enemies: Humiliation and international conflict. New York: Praeger.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lindner, E. (2010). Gender, humiliation, and global security: Dignifying relationships from love, sex, and parenthood to world affairs. New York: Praeger.

    Google Scholar 

  • Link, B. C., & Phelan, J. C. (2001). Conceptualzing stigma. Annual Review of Sociology, 27, 363–385.

    Google Scholar 

  • Link, B. C., Phelan, J. C., Bresnahan, M., Stueve, S., & Pescosolido, B. A. (1999). Public conceptions of mental illness: Labels, causes, dangerousness, and social distance. American Journal of Public Health, 89, 1328–1333.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lynd, H. M. (1958). On shame, and on shame: The search for identity. Eugene, OR: Harvest House.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mead, G. H. (1934a). Mind, self, and society. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mead, G. H. (1934b). The philosophy of the act. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Michel, J.-B., Shen, Y. K., Aviva Presser Aiden, Veres, A., Gray, M. K., The Google Books Team, Pickett, J. P., Hoiberg, D., Clancy, D., Norvig, P., Orwant, J., Pinker, S., Nowark, M. A., & Aiden, E. L. (2011). Quantitative analysis of culture using millions of digitized books. Science, 331, 176–182.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mitscherlich, A., & Mitscherlich, M. (1975). The inability to mourn: Principles of collective behavior. New York: Grove Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nichols, M. P., & Zax, M. (1977). Catharsis in psychotherapy. New York: Gardiner.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oliver, N. (2007). Lars and the Real Girl Directed by Craig Gillespie. Cast: Ryan Gosling, Patricia Clarkson, Emily Mortimer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parkes, C. (1988). Bereavement: Studies of grief in adult life (3rd ed.). Madison: International Universities Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Quine, W. (1979). A postscript on metaphor. In S. Sacks (Ed.), On metaphor (pp. 127–144). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Raumer, W. (1857). The education of girls. (cited in Elias, Norbert. 1978. The Civilizing Process, p. 127).

    Google Scholar 

  • Retzinger, S. (1995). Identifying shame and anger in discourse. American Behavioral Science, 38, 104–113.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scheff, T. J. (1966). Being mentally Ill. Hawthorne. New York: Aldine-Transaction (1989, 1999).

    Google Scholar 

  • Scheff, T. J. (1979). Catharsis in healing, ritual, and drama. Berkeley: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scheff, T. J. (1990). Microsociology: Emotion, discourse, and social structure. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scheff, T. J. (1994). Bloody revenge: Nationalism, war, and emotion. Boulder: Westview.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scheff, T. J. (1997). Emotions, the social bond, and human reality: Part/whole a nalysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Scheff, T. J. (2001a). Social components in depression. Psychiatry, 64, 212–224.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scheff, T. J. (2001b). Catharsis and other heresies. Journal of Social, Evolutionary and Cultural Psychology, 1, 98–113.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scheff, T. J. (2006). Goffman unbound. Boulder: Paradigm Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scheff, T. J. (2009). A social theory and treatment of depression. Journal of Ethical and Human Psychiatry, 11, 37–49.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scheff, T. J. (2012). A social/emotional theory of ‘Mental Illness.’ International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 12, 26–37.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scheff, T. J., & Retzinger, S. (1991). Emotion and violence: Shame and rage in destructive conflicts. Lexington: Lexington Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scoppetta, M., Gennaro, G. D., & Scoppetta, C. (2005). Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors prevent emotional lability in healthy subjects. European Review of Medical Pharmacology, 9, 343 −3 48.

    Google Scholar 

  • Symonds, P. (1954). A comprehensive theory of psychotherapy. America Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 24, 697–712.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tangney, J., & Dearing, R. (2002). Shame and guilt. New York: Guilford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tomkins, S. (1963). Affect, imagery, consciousness. (Vol. II). New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tracy, J., Cheng, J., Robins, R., & Trzesniewski, K. (2009). Authentic and hubristic pride: The affective core of self-esteem and Narcissism. Self and Identity, 8, 196–213.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trimble, M. (2012). Why humans like to cry: The evolutionary origins of tragedy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vingerhoets, A. (2013). Why only humans weep: Unravelling the mysteries of tears. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Vingerhoets, A. J. J. M., van Bussel, F., & Boelhouwer, J. (1997). The (Non) expression of emotions in health and disease. Tilburg: Tilburg University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Volkan, V. D. (1975). Re-grief therapy. In B. Schoenberg, A. H. Kutscher, & A. C. Carr (Eds.), Bereavement: Its psychosocial aspects (pp. 334–350). New York: Columbia University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Volkan, V. D., & Zintl, E. (1993). Life after loss: Lessons of grief. New York: New York University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • von Raumer, W. Retzinger, S. (1991). Violent emotions. Newbury Park: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Websdale, N. (2010). Familicidal hearts: The emotional styles of 211 killers. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of California, Santa Barbara, USA

    Thomas J. Scheff

Authors
  1. Thomas J. Scheff
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Thomas J. Scheff .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, University of California, Riverside, USA

    Jan E. Stets

  2. Department of Sociology, University of California, Riverside, USA

    Jonathan H. Turner

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Scheff, T. (2014). A Retrospective Look at Emotions. In: Stets, J., Turner, J. (eds) Handbook of the Sociology of Emotions: Volume II. Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9130-4_12

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation