Gender Differences in Shame Among Individuals with Social Anxiety Disorder

Background Shame is an important emotion in social anxiety disorder (SAD). However, gender differences in shame, as well as the temporal relationship between shame and anxiety in SAD have not been examined. The present study aimed to address these gaps. Methods Participants were 88 individuals (44 with SAD and 44 without SAD) who completed a 21-day experience sampling measurement (ESM). Specifically, participants reported on their emotions once a day at random times. Results Hierarchical Linear Modeling indicated that individuals with SAD reported significantly more shame compared to individuals without SAD. In addition, women reported significantly more shame compared to men. Importantly, gender differences in shame were more pronounced among individuals with SAD compared to those without SAD. Finally, we found that for individuals without SAD, shame on a given day significantly predicted anxiety on the following day among men but not among women, whereas for individuals with SAD, shame on a given day significantly predicted anxiety on the following day among both men and women. Conclusions Our findings suggest that shame may play a role in the maintenance of SAD. In addition, our findings suggest that social anxiety disorder may impact women’s experience of shame more than men’s.