Abstract
Why does self-criticism arise and why might we get stuck in it? This chapter explores the physiological, social-cultural, and evolutionary theories that may help us to understand the experience of self-criticism. Experiences of stigma, shame, guilt, and self-criticism are embedded in innate potentials for human experience that are social. Motives for both competition and caring have evolved within humans. Competition motives shape our experiences of shame, humiliation, and self-criticism, while caring motives may shape our experiences of guilt, compassion, and empathy. Understanding these contrasting motivational underpinnings can help to tease apart the different facilitators and inhibitors of self-forgiveness. This chapter also explores self-compassion as a component of self-forgiveness and how this is a key resource for addressing unhelpful or hostile self-criticisms.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Barkow, J. H. (1989). Darwin, sex and status: Biological approaches to mind and culture. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Bergner, R. M. (1995). Pathological self-criticism: Assessment and treatment. New York, NY: Plenum Press.
Bowlby, J. (1980). Attachment and loss (vol. 3). New York, NY: Basic Books.
Buss, A. H., & Plomin, R. (2014). Temperament (PLE: Emotion): Early developing personality traits (vol. 3). New York, NY: Psychology Press.
Byrne, R. (1995). The thinking ape: Evolutionary origins of human intelligence. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Castilho, P., Pinto-Gouveia, J., & Duarte, J. (2015). Exploring self-criticism: Confirmatory factor analysis of the FSCRS in clinical and nonclinical samples. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, 22, 153–164.
Castilho, P., Pinto-Gouveia, J., & Duarte, J. (2017). Two forms of self-criticism mediate differently the shame-psychopathology symptoms link. Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice, 90, 44–54.
Crook, J. (1980). The evolution of consciousness. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Decety, J., Bartalm, I. B. A., Uzefovsky, F., & Knafo-Noam, A. (2016). Empathy as a driver of prosocial behaviour: Highly conserved neurobehavioural mechanisms across species. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 371, 20150077.
Decety, J., & Cowell, J. M. (2014). Friends or foes: Is empathy necessary for moral behavior? Perspectives on Psychological Science, 9, 525–537.
Driscoll, R. (1988). Self-condemnation: A conceptual framework for assessment and treatment. Psychotherapy, 26, 104–111.
Eisenberg, N., VanSchyndel, S. K., & Hofer, C. (2015). The association of maternal socialization in childhood and adolescence with adult offsprings’ sympathy/caring. Developmental Psychology, 51, 7–16.
Ellenberger, H. F. (1970). The discovery of the unconscious: The history and evolution of dynamic psychiatry (vol. 5091). New York, NY: Basic Books.
Forrest, M. S., & Hokanson, J. E. (1975). Depression and autonomic arousal reduction accompanying self-punitive behavior. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 84, 346–357.
Fournier, M. A., Moskowitz, D. S., & Zuroff, D. C. (2002). Social rank strategies in hierarchical relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83, 425–433.
Freud, S. (1917). Trauer und Melancholie–Mourning and Melancholia. InThe complete psychological work of Sigmund Freud (vol. 14). London, UK: Hogarth Press.
Garcia, H. S. (2015). The alpha god: The psychology of religious violence and oppression. New York, NY: Prometheus Books.
Geary, D. C. (2000). Evolution and proximate expression of human paternal investment. Psychological Bulletin, 126, 55–77.
Gilbert, P. (1992). Depression: The evolution of powerlessness. London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Gilbert, P. (1989). Human nature and suffering. Hove, UK: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Gilbert, P. (1998a). What is shame? Some core issues and controversies. In P. Gilbert & B. Andrews (Eds.), Shame: Interpersonal behavior, psychopathology and culture (pp. 3–36). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Gilbert, P. (1998b). Shame and humiliation in the treatment of complex cases. In N. Tarrier, G. Haddock, & A. Wells (Eds.), Treating complex cases: The cognitive behavioural therapy approach (pp. 174–189). Chichester, UK: Wiley.
Gilbert, P. (2000). Varieties of submissive behaviour: Their evolution and role in depression. In L. Sloman & P. Gilbert (Eds.), Subordination and defeat. An evolutionary approach to mood disorders (pp. 3–46). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Gilbert, P., & Miles, J. (2002). Body shame: Conceptualisations, research & treatment. London: Brunner-Routledge.
Gilbert, P. (2007). The evolution of shame as a marker for relationship security. In J. L. Tracy, R. W. Robins, & J. P. Tangney (Eds.), The self-conscious emotions: Theory and research (pp. 283–309). New York: Guilford
Gilbert, P. (2009). The compassionate mind: A new approach to the challenge of life. London, UK: Constable & Robinson.
Gilbert, P. (2010). Compassion focused therapy: The CBT distinctive features series. London, UK: Routledge.
Gilbert, P. & Choden. (2013). Mindful compassion. London: Constable Robinson.
Gilbert, P. (2014a). Evolutionary models. Practical and conceptual utility for the treatment and study of social anxiety disorder. In J. W. Weeks (Ed.), The Wiley Blackwell handbook of social anxiety disorder (pp. 24–52). Chichester, UK: Wiley.
Gilbert, P. (2014b). The origins and nature of compassion focused therapy. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 53, 6–41.
Gilbert, P. (2017). Compassion as a social mentality. In P. Gilbert (Ed.), Compassion: Concepts, research and applications (pp. 31–68). London, UK: Routledge.
Gilbert, P., & Irons, C. (2005). Focused therapies and compassionate mind training for shame and self-attacking. In P. Gilbert (Ed.), Compassion: Conceptualisations, research and use in psychotherapy (pp. 263–325). London, UK: Routledge.
Gilbert, P., & McGuire, M. (1998). Shame, status and social roles: The psychobiological continuum from monkeys to humans. In P. Gilbert & B. Andrews (Eds.), Shame: Interpersonal behavior, psychopathology and culture (pp. 99–125). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Goss, K., Gilbert, P., & Allan, S. (1994). An exploration of shame measures—I: The other as Shamer scale. Personality and Individual Differences, 17, 713–717.
Irons, C., Gilbert, P., Baldwin, M. W., Baccus, J., & Palmer, M. (2006). Parental recall, attachment relating and self attacking/self-reassurance: Their relationship with depression. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 45, 297–308.
Kannan, D., & Levitt, H. M. (2013). A review of client self-criticism in psychotherapy. Journal of Psychotherapy Integration, 23, 166–178.
Keltner, D. (2016). The power paradox. New York, NY: Penguin.
Kim, S., Thibodeau, R., & Jorgensen, R. S. (2011). Shame, guilt, and depressive symptoms: A meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin, 137, 68–96.
Kirby, J., & Gilbert, P. (2017). Compassion focused therapies. In P. Gilbert (Ed.), Compassion: Concepts, research and applications (pp. 258–285). London, UK: Routledge.
Kirby, J. N. (2016). Compassion interventions: The programs, the evidence, and implications for research and practice. Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, and Practice. Advanced online publication: DOI:10.1111/papt.12104.
Leaviss, J., & Uttley, L. (2015). Psychotherapeutic benefits of compassion-focused therapy: An early systematic review. Psychological Medicine, 45, 927–945.
Mayseless, O. (2016). The caring motivation: An integrated theory. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
McEwan, K., & Gilbert, P. (2016). A pilot feasibility study exploring the practising of compassionate imagery exercises in a nonclinical population. Psychology and Psychotherapy, 89, 239–243.
Mikulincer, M., & Shaver, P. R. (2007). Attachment in adulthood: Structure, dynamics, and change. New York, NY: Guilford Press.
Plante, G. (2016). The psychology of compassion and cruelty: Understanding the emotional, spiritual and religious influences. Oxford, UK: Praeger.
Sachs, J. (2012). The price of civilization: Economics and ethics after the fall. New York: Vintage.
Sachs-Ericsson, N., Verona, E., Joiner, T., & Preacher, K. J. (2006). Parental verbal abuse and the mediating role of self-criticism in adult internalizing disorders. Journal of Affective Disorders, 93, 71–78.
Scheff, T. J., & Retzinger, S. M. (1991). Emotions and violence: Shame and rage in destructive conflicts. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.
Shahar, G. (2016). Erosion: The psychopathology of self-criticism. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Siegel, D. J. (2016). Mind: A journey to the heart of being human. New York, NY: Norton.
Stram, J. L. (1978). The meaning of humiliation and its relationship to fluctuations in self-esteem. International Review of Psychoanalysis, 5, 425–433.
Strelan, P. (2007). Who forgives others, themselves, and situations? The roles of narcissism, guilt, self-esteem, and agreeableness. Personality and Individual Differences, 42, 259–269.
Suddendorf, T., & Whitten, A. (2001). Mental evolutions and development: Evidence for secondary representation in children, great apes and other animals. Psychological Bulletin, 127, 629–650.
Sznycer, D., Tooby, J., Cosmides, L., Porat, R., Shalvi, S., & Halperin, E. (2016). Shame closely tracks the threat of devaluation by others, even across cultures. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(10), 2625–2630.
Trower, P., Sherling, G., Beech, J., Horrop, C., & Gilbert, P. (1998). The socially anxious perspective in face to face interaction: An experimental comparison. Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy: An International Journal of Theory and Practice, 5, 155–166.
Weeks, J. W. (Ed.). (2014). The Wiley Blackwell handbook of social anxiety disorder. New York, NY: Wiley.
Woodyatt, L., Wenzel, M., & de Vel-Palumbo, M. (2017). Working through psychological needs following transgressions to arrive at self-forgiveness. In L. Woodyatt, E. L. Worthington Jr., M. Wenzel, & B. J. Griffin (Eds.), Handbook of the psychology of self-forgiveness (Chapter 4). New York, NY: Springer.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Gilbert, P., Woodyatt, L. (2017). An Evolutionary Approach to Shame-Based Self-Criticism, Self-Forgiveness, and Compassion. In: Woodyatt, L., Worthington, Jr., E., Wenzel, M., Griffin, B. (eds) Handbook of the Psychology of Self-Forgiveness. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60573-9_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60573-9_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-60572-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-60573-9
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)