Citation

Berke JH. Br. J. Psychother. 1986; 2(4): 262-270.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1986, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1752-0118.1986.tb01341.x

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

?In this paper I have discussed the nature of shame and its relation to envy. Shame arises from a sudden unwelcome awareness about oneself, while envy is provoked by the painful perception of discrepancies between oneself and another. Both shame and envy aim to eliminate the subsequent tormenting inner tension by rageful, destructive attacks on the real or imagined causes of the torment. However, with shame it is the tension itself which most people recognise as shame, while with envy it is the angry discharge which follows. In fact the model is the same for both which leads to the conclusion that shameful tension is a variation of, as well as a contributor to, envy.