{"schema":"https://ver.cy/schemas/card/1.0.0","id":"vr.tr.shame","code":"thing-q152282","url":"https://ver.cy/models/thing/q152282/","name":"shame","alternateNames":["Avoidance Shame Spiral","period shame","climate shame","prudery","shame of flying"],"kind":"thing","status":"published","version":"0.1.0-research.1","language":"en","classifiers":{"family":"Thing Registry","category":"Activities and processes","entryKind":"thing","plane":"ACT","domain":["ACT.ACT"],"industry":[],"navPath":"","tags":[],"facets":{}},"whatItIs":"Shame is a negatively valenced self-conscious emotion in which a person appraises the global self as defective, inferior, or exposed against internalized social or moral standards, typically with a felt sense of shrinking, worthlessness, and a motive to hide or withdraw.","purpose":"Enable an AI agent to recognise reported or possible shame, assess its context and effects without presuming inner experience, and choose responses that preserve dignity and agency.","scope":{"in":["Reported shame episodes and explicitly uncertain interpretations of possible shame","The aspect of self felt to be exposed, deficient or unacceptable","The standards and actual, imagined or internalised audiences involved","Experienced intensity, recurrence and effects on participation or disclosure","Shame-related action urges, enacted responses and desired support"],"out":["Guilt about a particular action and the independent question of responsibility","Embarrassment about an awkward exposure without an established threat to self-worth","Humiliation, ridicule or exclusion as actions performed by others","Stigma, discrimination and social norms as wider social arrangements","Clinical diagnoses, treatment plans and general self-esteem","Whether an alleged wrongdoing occurred and what restitution is owed"],"boundaries":[]},"distinguishingFeatures":["Ask whether the person's account concerns being unacceptable or diminished as a person, rather than only judging a particular action as wrong; record mixed shame and guilt when both are present.","Distinguish awkward visibility from threatened worth or belonging: embarrassment alone does not establish shame.","Separate degrading treatment from the person's experience: humiliation can be recorded without assuming the recipient feels shame or accepts the degrading judgment.","Check whether anticipated exposure concerns negative evaluation of the self; fear of punishment or material loss alone does not establish shame.","Distinguish an episode tied to a situation from an enduring negative self-view, while allowing the person to report both."],"structure":{"bundles":[{"id":"recognising-shame","name":"Recognising shame","description":"Establish whether shame is the person's description or a tentative interpretation, and what makes that interpretation specific.","layers":[{"id":"experience-and-attribution","name":"Experience and attribution","description":"Separate the person's account from an observer's interpretation.","findings":[{"id":"basis-for-shame-attribution","name":"Basis for shame attribution","description":"Record who names the experience as shame, their words and whether the person accepts that description.","questions":[{"text":"Does the person call this shame, use a different expression, or reject the label?","id":"basis-for-shame-attribution-q01","kind":"definition"},{"text":"Which parts of the account come from the person, and which are interpretations by an observer or agent?","id":"basis-for-shame-attribution-q02","kind":"provenance"}]}]},{"id":"self-evaluation-boundaries","name":"Self-evaluation boundaries","description":"Locate the threatened aspect of self and distinguish neighbouring experiences without forcing exclusivity.","findings":[{"id":"meaning-of-being-exposed","name":"Meaning of being exposed","description":"Record what exposure or discovery is understood to reveal about the person, including overlap with guilt, embarrassment or fear.","questions":[{"text":"What does the person feel this situation says about who they are or whether they belong?","id":"meaning-of-being-exposed-q01","kind":"definition"},{"text":"What supports recognising shame alongside, or instead of, regret about conduct, awkwardness or fear of consequences?","id":"meaning-of-being-exposed-q02","kind":"boundary"}]}]}]},{"id":"audiences-and-standards","name":"Audiences and standards","description":"Represent whose evaluation matters and which standards make the self feel unacceptable.","layers":[{"id":"exposure-and-audience","name":"Exposure and audience","description":"Identify actual visibility, anticipated discovery and evaluation experienced without an external observer.","findings":[{"id":"actual-and-imagined-witnesses","name":"Actual and imagined witnesses","description":"Record who knows what, who is feared to discover it and which audience is present only in the person's account.","questions":[{"text":"Whose actual, anticipated or internalised judgment matters in this experience?","id":"actual-and-imagined-witnesses-q01","kind":"definition"},{"text":"What establishes that an audience witnessed or judged anything, and what remains anticipated or unknown?","id":"actual-and-imagined-witnesses-q02","kind":"provenance"}]}]},{"id":"standards-and-identification","name":"Standards and identification","description":"Describe the operative standard and the person's relationship to it.","findings":[{"id":"felt-failure-against-a-standard","name":"Felt failure against a standard","description":"Record the expectation associated with shame and whether the person endorses, contests or feels divided about it.","questions":[{"text":"Which expectation about worth, acceptability, competence, body, identity or conduct is implicated, and who is understood to hold it?","id":"felt-failure-against-a-standard-q01","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Does the person regard that expectation as legitimate, imposed, discriminatory, conflicting or unresolved?","id":"felt-failure-against-a-standard-q02","kind":"boundary"}]}]}]},{"id":"episode-course-and-consequences","name":"Episode course and consequences","description":"Describe how shame develops in this instance and what the person reports it changes.","layers":[{"id":"activation-and-course","name":"Activation and course","description":"Track the reported precipitating situation, intensity and temporal pattern.","findings":[{"id":"shame-episode-trajectory","name":"Shame episode trajectory","description":"Record when shame is anticipated, active, remembered or recurring, together with the person's account of changes.","questions":[{"text":"What event, memory, comparison or anticipated discovery does the person associate with the onset or return of shame?","id":"shame-episode-trajectory-q01","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"How intense is the experience on the person's chosen scale, and how has it changed over the stated interval?","id":"shame-episode-trajectory-q02","kind":"measurement"}]}]},{"id":"urges-and-participation","name":"Urges and participation","description":"Separate felt urges from actions and establish effects on engagement with others or necessary tasks.","findings":[{"id":"concealment-and-response-effects","name":"Concealment and response effects","description":"Record any reported urge to hide, withdraw, defend, appease, disclose or repair, and the consequences of actions actually taken.","questions":[{"text":"What does the person feel urged to do, and which responses have they actually enacted?","id":"concealment-and-response-effects-q01","kind":"measurement"},{"text":"Which effects on speaking, seeking help, relationships or responsibilities does the person attribute to shame, and what supports that attribution?","id":"concealment-and-response-effects-q02","kind":"provenance"}]}]}]},{"id":"dignity-and-response","name":"Dignity and response","description":"Determine what assistance is wanted and how to respond without compounding unwanted exposure or global self-condemnation.","layers":[{"id":"control-over-exposure","name":"Control over exposure","description":"Establish preferences and constraints concerning attention, records and disclosure.","findings":[{"id":"consent-for-shame-related-information","name":"Consent for shame-related information","description":"Record what the person wants acknowledged, retained or shared and with whom, including uncertainty about the agent's role.","questions":[{"text":"What may the agent ask about, record or share concerning this experience, and with which audience?","id":"consent-for-shame-related-information-q01","kind":"action"},{"text":"Would the proposed response introduce an audience or expose information the person has not agreed to disclose?","id":"consent-for-shame-related-information-q02","kind":"boundary"}]}]},{"id":"support-and-accountability","name":"Support and accountability","description":"Connect the person's desired support to concrete options while keeping alleged wrongdoing separate from self-worth.","findings":[{"id":"chosen-next-step","name":"Chosen next step","description":"Record whether the person wants acknowledgment, privacy, help examining a judgment, support with a relationship or action addressing a specific harm.","questions":[{"text":"Which next step does the person want, and what can the agent appropriately do to support it?","id":"chosen-next-step-q01","kind":"action"},{"text":"If repair is proposed, what specific action or harm grounds it independently of the fact that the person feels shame?","id":"chosen-next-step-q02","kind":"boundary"},{"text":"How will the person indicate whether the response helped or increased unwanted exposure or self-condemnation?","id":"chosen-next-step-q03","kind":"measurement"}]}]}]},{"id":"evidence-and-external-alignment","name":"Evidence and external alignment","description":"What the world already says about this thing, gathered so the model can be checked against it.","layers":[{"id":"reported-evidence","name":"Reported evidence","description":"Findings from the breadth pass, kept separate from the structural claims.","findings":[{"id":"evidence-kinds","name":"Kinds and varieties","description":"Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.","questions":[{"text":"Which of these kinds and varieties hold for the sense of shame this model covers, and on what evidence?","id":"evidence-kinds-q01","kind":"provenance"}]},{"id":"evidence-identifiers","name":"Identifiers and schemes","description":"Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.","questions":[{"text":"Which of these identifiers and schemes hold for the sense of shame this model covers, and on what evidence?","id":"evidence-identifiers-q01","kind":"provenance"}]},{"id":"evidence-real-world-use","name":"Real-world use","description":"Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.","questions":[{"text":"Which of these real-world use hold for the sense of shame this model covers, and on what evidence?","id":"evidence-real-world-use-q01","kind":"provenance"}]},{"id":"evidence-measurements","name":"Typical measurements","description":"Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.","questions":[{"text":"Which of these typical measurements hold for the sense of shame this model covers, and on what evidence?","id":"evidence-measurements-q01","kind":"provenance"}]},{"id":"evidence-failure-modes-and-hazards","name":"Failure modes and hazards","description":"Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.","questions":[{"text":"Which of these failure modes and hazards hold for the sense of shame this model covers, and on what evidence?","id":"evidence-failure-modes-and-hazards-q01","kind":"provenance"}]},{"id":"evidence-regional-variation","name":"Regional variation","description":"Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.","questions":[{"text":"Which of these regional variation hold for the sense of shame this model covers, and on what evidence?","id":"evidence-regional-variation-q01","kind":"provenance"}]},{"id":"evidence-neighbours","name":"Neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart","description":"Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.","questions":[{"text":"Which of these neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart hold for the sense of shame this model covers, and on what evidence?","id":"evidence-neighbours-q01","kind":"provenance"}]}]}]}]},"agentConduct":{"may":["Explain shame and how it differs from guilt, with sourced psychology.","Respond to someone describing shame with respect and point to support when it is severe."],"mustNot":["Shame or humiliate a user, or design messages meant to make people feel shame.","Diagnose a person's emotional state or mental illness.","Use a person's disclosed shame to pressure, manipulate or blackmail them.","Publicly expose someone's private failings."],"requiresHuman":["Contacting crisis services when someone expresses thoughts of self-harm."]},"ethics":{"considerations":["Shame is linked to depression, self-harm and withdrawal from help.","Public shaming and stigma can cause lasting harm."],"affectedParties":["People experiencing shame","Stigmatised groups","Children"]},"owners":{"steward":"Nobody: an emotion of each person.","roles":[],"masterSystems":[]},"relations":[{"target":"Q60539481","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"}],"interaction":{"identity":{"applicability":"required","items":["Vercy registry: vr.tr.shame","Wikidata: Q152282 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q152282)"]},"properties":{"applicability":"not-applicable","items":["Experience attribution: self-described shame | tentatively interpreted | attributed by another | disputed | unknown","Target of negative evaluation: whole self | particular identity or role | body or visibility | competence | conduct interpreted as revealing the self | other | unclear; multiple allowed","Evaluative audience: Links to actual observers, anticipated observers, an internalised evaluator or an unspecified audience","Standard relationship: person endorses | person rejects | person partly endorses | person feels conflicted | unknown","Reported intensity: Person-selected verbal scale or explicitly anchored numeric scale, recorded with time; unknown permitted","Temporal pattern: anticipated | currently experienced | subsiding | recalled | recurring | unclear","Perceived belonging at stake: Links to relationships, groups or roles the person believes may reject or devalue them, with that belief's stated basis","Response trajectory: Record separately: reported urge, intended action, enacted action and observed consequence; unknown permitted"]},"recognition":{"applicability":"optional","items":["Lowered gaze, bowed head and avoidance of eye contact.","Blushing and a wish to hide or withdraw."]},"capabilities":{"applicability":"required","items":["Invite the person to confirm, reject or rename a tentative interpretation of shame.","Map the felt self-judgment to its audience and standard without validating the judgment as true.","Track the person's reported intensity, recurrence and participation effects over time.","Distinguish requests for privacy from avoidance the person wants help changing.","Offer consent-based choices such as pausing, changing audience, seeking support or discussing a specific repair.","Support accountability for a stated action without equating that action with the person's overall worth."]},"hazards":{"applicability":"required","items":["Withdrawal from social contact and help-seeking.","Contribution to depression and self-harm when chronic."]},"interfaces":{"applicability":"not-applicable","items":[]},"context":{"applicability":"required","items":["Shame is encountered in personal relationships, education, workplaces and care settings when people experience themselves as deficient, exposed or socially devalued.","Understanding reported shame can support sensitive communication and interpretation of withdrawal without assuming that outward behaviour reveals a person's inner experience."]}},"sources":[{"title":"shame","url":"https://dictionary.apa.org/shame","note":"Specialist definition: unpleasant self-conscious emotion from a sense of dishonorable or indecorous conduct or circumstances, typically with withdrawal and sometimes defensive anger; links to depression, anxiety, eating disorders, and low self-esteem."},{"title":"Moral Emotions and Moral Behavior","url":"https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3083636/","note":"Lewis/Tangney self-versus-behavior distinction from guilt; phenomenology of shrinking, exposure, and powerlessness; TOSCA as the main scenario measure of shame-proneness."},{"title":"shame (Q152282)","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q152282","note":"Canonical identifiers: Wikidata Q152282, MeSH D012752, NCI Thesaurus C73431, Dewey 152.4."},{"title":"Crime, Shame and Reintegration","url":"https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/crime-shame-and-reintegration","note":"Reintegrative versus stigmatizing (disintegrative) shaming as a real-world use of shame in crime control and restorative justice."},{"title":"Wikipedia: Shame","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shame","note":"general description of the item"}],"openQuestions":["How should the model accommodate languages and cultural accounts that divide shame, modesty, embarrassment and disgrace differently?","How reliably does threatened self-worth distinguish shame from guilt and embarrassment, and which documented cases require a broader recognition rule?","What evidence would justify recording enduring shame patterns separately from episodes without duplicating models of self-concept or clinical conditions?","How should collective or vicarious shame be represented when the person has neither acted nor been individually exposed?","Which person-reported measures and response practices are supported across contexts, and what limits apply to their use by an AI agent?"],"resources":{"spec":"/models/things/publications/thing-q152282/spec.json"},"provenance":{"origin":"thing registry research (pass 2)","builtFrom":["models/things/publications/thing-q152282/spec.json"],"providers":["Codex","Grok"],"researchStatus":"unreviewed","generatedAt":"2026-09-07T11:25:11Z","builder":"tools/build_cards.py@1.0.0"},"completeness":{"sections":{"classifiers":"filled","whatItIs":"filled","purpose":"filled","distinguishingFeatures":"filled","structure":"filled","agentConduct":"filled","ethics":"filled","owners":"filled","relations":"filled","interaction.identity":"filled","interaction.properties":"not-applicable","interaction.recognition":"filled","interaction.capabilities":"filled","interaction.hazards":"filled","interaction.interfaces":"not-applicable","interaction.context":"filled","sources":"filled"},"notes":{"_gate":"Published through the thing publication gate 1.0 on 2026-10-07T10:10:26+00:00: completeness 1.00; sense: Wikidata description; 5 live sources; review by codex: pass","interaction.properties":"Plane ACT: no invented physical properties.","interaction.interfaces":"Shame as an ordinary emotion has no directly applicable product standard or law and is not by itself a diagnostic classification."},"score":1.0}}