The roles of the centrality of shame memory and self-blame in the association between shame and paranoia: an experience sampling study

Shame is a painful emotion that plays a key role in a range of mental disorders, mainly when individuals employ maladaptive emotion regulation strategies to cope with it. Heightened feelings of shame may lead to increased levels of paranoid ideas. We explored the association between daily shame and paranoia by using Experience Sampling Methods (EMS) in a student sample and the potential roles of the moderator (centrality and trauma-like characteristics of shame memories and perceived social rank) and mediator variables (maladaptive emotion regulation strategies) in this association. In total, 198 undergraduate students completed self-report questionnaires (Perceived Social Rank, Centrality of Event Scale, Impact of Event Scale, General Paranoia Scale) and ESM measures (i.e., shame, anxiety, depression, emotion regulation, and paranoia). Data were analysed using a multi-level model to accommodate the multi-level structure of the data. Our results indicated that shame at t-1 predicts paranoia at t even when controlling for the effects of anxiety and sadness. Self-blame was found to mediate the relationship between shame and paranoia. Finally, the centrality of the shame memory moderated the effect of daily shame on paranoia. Thus, these results indicate that daily shame, past shame experiences, and a tendency to blame oneself are predictors of paranoia and should be taken into account when assessing and treating people with paranoia. Limitations include limited generalizability and use of single-item measurements. These results need replications in more representative samples of the general population and clinical samples.