From humiliation to humility

Shame and Humiliation: From Isolation to Relational Transformation

This paper is a discussion of shame and humiliation that goes beyond individualistic perspectives, offering a broader, relational analysis of these profound and complex experiences. In addition to defining and examining the harmful consequences of various forms of derision and degradation, the authors explore clinical encounters with shame and humiliation, present a case, and describe relationa...

On humility.

The new professionalism movement in medical education takes seriously the old medical virtues. Perhaps the most difficult virtue to understand and practice is humility, which seems out of place in a medical culture characterized by arrogance, assertiveness, and a sense of entitlement. Countercultural though it is, humility need not suggest weakness or lack of self-confidence. On the contrary, h...

The Humiliation Dynamic

The Fear of Humiliation

A good friend of mine declined a wedding invitation recently although he would very much liked to have accepted. He had no other prior engage-ment?if he had, he would have broken it willingly ?he just did not have a dark grey suit and had no money to buy or hire one?being a student, he has a very limited income. Although his friends, and the couple getting married, said it didn't matter what he...

Is humility a sentiment?

Gervais & Fessler reintroduce the concept of a sentiment as a framework for conceptualizing contempt, a construct with both attitudinal and emotional components. We propose that humility might also fit this mold. We review recent findings regarding the antecedents, phenomenology, and functional consequences of humility, and discuss why conceptualizing it as a sentiment may advance our understan...