What is common may be as important as what is different: Examining the general factor shared by dispositional shame and guilt using bi-factor models

Previous research on shame-proneness and guilt-proneness has tended to focus on their unique associations with other variables, eliminating the substantial shared variance with shame-proneness when examining guilt-proneness, and eliminating the shared variance with guilt-proneness when examining shame-proneness. However, this approach does not examine the variance shared by shame- and guilt-proneness. To address this issue, we conducted three studies employing bi-factor models to examine the general factor shared by the proneness to experience shame and guilt, and their relationship to various personality traits and psychopathology (i.e., externalizing and internalizing psychopathology). Our results showed that the general factor was strongly and positively associated with personality traits related to moral emotions (empathy, agreeableness, and conscientiousness), and strongly but inversely associated with both self-reported and informant-reported externalizing psychopathology. The general factor was also associated with self-consciousness, but not with self-criticism, vulnerable narcissism or neuroticism. These findings have important implications for the conceptualization of shame-proneness and guilt-proneness.