Conceptualising humiliation

Figures & data

Table 1. Prototype features of humiliation, sample exemplars, frequencies (Study 1), and centrality ratings (Study 2).

Feature	Exemplars listed by participants	Study 1		Study 2
		N1	N2	M	SD
Central features
Belittling	Belittling, patronising, being belittled, belittlement	71	69	6.17	1.30
Ridiculing	Ridiculing, laughing at someone, mocking, being made a fool	45	35	6.16	1.46
Bringing down	Bringing down, offending, slating	17	16	6.00	1.51
Bullying	Bullying, being bullied	22	22	5.91	1.45
Wanting to leave	Wanting to crawl away, wanting to sink through the floor, wanting to disappear	22	17	5.80	1.30
Badmouthing	Badmouthing, gossip, others who talk badly about you	5	5	5.72	1.51
Feeling small	Feeling small, feeling little	13	12	5.68	1.22
Social exclusion	Ignoring, being thrown out of the group, not belonging, rejection	14	13	5.57	1.43
Roles	Perpetrator, bullies, victim, laughing stock	10	7	5.54	1.45
Negative	Negative, annoying, mean, unkind	88	50	5.51	1.59
Losing honour	Losing honour, losing face, reputational damage	17	11	5.48	1.40
Looking like a fool	Looking like a fool, looking silly, blunder, failing	31	24	5.46	1.38
Shame	Shame, embarrassed, ashamed	69	64	5.45	1.52
Cruel	Ruthless, severe, sadistic	12	10	5.43	1.47
Pain	Pain, painful, causing pain, hurting	54	43	5.42	1.55
Discomfort	Uncomfortable, discomfort	5	5	5.33	1.38
Self-confidence/Self-esteem	Feeling inferior, insecure, decreasing self-esteem, feeling superior	91	58	5.33	1.53
Power/Powerless	Power, dominance, submissive, powerless	95	50	5.27	1.49
Inappropriate	Inappropriate, unseemly, disrespectful	10	8	5.11	1.48
Being put in second place	Disadvantaged, discrimination	3	3	5.10	1.56
Group/Audience	In other people’s presence, group related, audience	26	23	5.09	1.63
Extreme events	Intense experience, trauma, rape	12	11	5.06	1.80
Feelings	Feelings, emotions, negative feeling	32	27	5.06	1.63
Abuse	Abuse, abusing a situation	8	7	4.94	1.62
Unfair	Unfair, not fair, injustice	22	19	4.87	1.49
Strength/Weakness	Strong, weak, difference in strength	34	24	4.82	1.60
Aggression	Aggression, violence, molesting, name calling	39	26	4.76	1.69
Losing trust	Losing trust in yourself, fear of trusting others	4	3	4.73	1.71
Avoiding eye contact	Head down, looking away, looking down	4	2	4.72	1.64
Betrayal	Deceit, deception	4	3	4.71	1.54
Deliberate	Deliberately, on purpose, consciously	9	7	4.67	1.65
Peripheral features
Unhappy	Unhappy	3	3	4.64	1.76
Hating	Hatred, feelings of hate	10	10	4.62	1.65
Rumination	Not forgetting quickly, rumination, keeps hunting you	6	6	4.60	1.65
Useless	Useless, needless	5	5	4.59	1.65
Sadness	Sad, crying, sorrowful	55	43	4.54	1.68
Revenge	Vindictive feelings, seeking revenge, vengeance, payback	46	37	4.52	1.68
Anger	Anger, fury, rage, frustration	68	42	4.48	1.56
Fear	Fear, afraid	18	14	4.43	1.63
Dismay	Dismay, disconcerted	9	8	4.43	1.70
Red	Red, red cheeks, red head	5	5	4.38	1.64
Battle	Battle, quarrel, competition, conflict	7	6	4.33	1.47
Personal	Personal	5	5	4.31	1.95
Alone	Alone, lonely	11	9	4.25	1.80
Compassion	Compassion, pitying	17	13	4.17	1.58
Incomprehension	Incomprehension	4	3	4.11	1.73
Winning/Losing	Winner, loser, loss, defeat	19	16	4.11	1.58
Preventing repetition	Preventing repetition, afraid of repetition	8	7	4.07	1.63
Criticising	Criticism, pointing out a negative aspect of someone	4	4	4.02	1.81
Guilt	Guilt, feeling of guilt	4	4	4.02	1.57
Envy	Envy, jealousy	9	8	3.98	1.59
Without emotion	Without emotion, being insensitive to compassion	4	4	3.94	1.87
Popularity	Popular, macho, being tough	6	6	3.88	1.73
Not accepting	Not accepting it, not being able to accept it	3	3	3.76	1.48
Interpretation	Interpretation, perception	3	2	3.68	1.55
Disappointment	Disappointment	7	7	3.68	1.59
Correction	Correcting, reprimanding, adjusting	6	5	3.56	1.61
Shyness	Shy	3	3	3.47	1.59
Psychosomatic complaints	Headache, fatigue, depression, insomnia	13	10	3.44	1.73
Regret	Regret	7	6	3.41	1.51
Useful	Useful, good result	3	3	2.08	1.37

Note: N₁ = frequencies including duplicates, N₂ = frequencies excluding duplicates.

Table 2. Means and standard deviations per condition in Study 3.

Feature	Humiliation		Shame		Anger
	M	(SD)	M	(SD)	M	(SD)
Preventing repetition	6.13	(1.22)	5.80	(1.71)	5.40	(1.98)
Feelings	5.55	(1.62)	4.33	(2.14)	5.93	(0.83)
Negative	5.50	(1.55)	4.33	(2.14)	6.07	(1.36)
Discomfort	5.40	(1.33)	6.07	(1.23)	4.57	(1.87)
Unfair	5.23	(1.91)	2.70	(1.84)	5.33	(2.31)
Wanting to leave	5.10	(1.79)	5.70	(1.54)	4.53	(2.30)
Disappointment	5.10	(1.52)	3.60	(1.99)	5.53	(1.46)
Useless	5.07	(1.46)	3.80	(2.02)	4.30	(2.05)
Group/Audience	4.90	(2.30)	4.70	(2.45)	3.70	(2.45)
Anger	4.87	(1.93)	2.97	(1.61)	6.30	(1.09)
Shame	4.87	(1.87)	6.13	(0.78)	2.73	(1.80)
Roles	4.80	(1.94)	2.93	(2.39)	4.90	(1.90)
Personal	4.77	(1.83)	4.60	(2.19)	4.47	(2.13)
Unhappy	4.70	(1.69)	3.57	(2.34)	4.07	(1.89)
Inappropriate	4.63	(1.99)	3.87	(2.00)	4.60	(1.83)
Fiasco	4.62	(1.90)	5.70	(1.24)	3.23	(2.06)
Power/Powerless	4.55	(1.80)	4.07	(2.07)	4.97	(2.30)
Dismay	4.52	(1.88)	3.40	(2.04)	4.03	(1.96)
Sadness	4.43	(1.70)	3.30	(1.86)	4.17	(1.91)
Strength/Weakness	4.23	(1.68)	3.80	(2.09)	3.00	(1.95)
Losing trust	4.17	(2.09)	2.77	(2.36)	4.33	(2.06)
Self-confidence/Self-esteem	4.03	(1.96)	3.10	(2.16)	2.83	(1.93)
Dishonour	3.97	(1.80)	4.07	(2.00)	3.30	(2.17)
Incomprehension	3.97	(2.18)	2.70	(1.80)	4.57	(2.11)
Feeling small	3.90	(1.90)	4.14	(2.00)	2.77	(1.83)
Bringing down	3.86	(1.96)	1.93	(1.51)	2.77	(2.19)
Criticism	3.79	(2.11)	2.97	(2.27)	4.20	(2.31)
Winning/Losing	3.67	(1.99)	2.80	(2.01)	3.83	(2.28)
Ridiculing	3.66	(1.78)	2.37	(1.63)	2.30	(1.97)
Rumination	3.63	(2.09)	3.53	(2.05)	3.03	(1.81)
Avoiding eye contact	3.60	(2.06)	4.73	(1.84)	2.73	(1.74)
Deliberate	3.57	(2.36)	1.83	(1.44)	4.13	(2.21)
Red	3.57	(2.10)	4.33	(2.23)	2.17	(1.70)
Popularity	3.57	(2.19)	2.07	(1.70)	2.33	(2.04)
Hatred	3.53	(1.89)	1.90	(1.49)	4.13	(1.98)
Alone	3.53	(2.08)	3.27	(2.27)	3.03	(1.90)
Battle	3.52	(2.29)	2.00	(1.70)	3.97	(2.29)
Pain	3.45	(1.94)	2.27	(1.60)	2.77	(1.92)
Social exclusion	3.41	(2.16)	2.47	(1.81)	3.23	(2.16)
Belittling	3.38	(1.90)	1.60	(1.28)	2.40	(1.99)
Shyness	3.33	(1.85)	4.87	(1.68)	1.97	(1.27)
Betrayal	3.31	(1.93)	1.70	(1.73)	3.33	(1.99)
Not accepting	3.30	(2.05)	2.10	(1.75)	4.07	(2.07)
Discrimination	3.28	(2.12)	1.60	(1.22)	3.50	(2.50)
Correction	3.24	(1.81)	2.83	(2.00)	2.87	(2.13)
Revenge	3.23	(2.18)	1.47	(1.17)	3.17	(2.23)
Compassion	3.10	(1.61)	3.77	(2.03)	2.67	(1.79)
Without emotion	3.10	(1.76)	3.03	(1.79)	2.93	(1.86)
Interpretation	3.03	(1.97)	2.10	(1.79)	3.00	(2.15)
Fear	2.83	(1.68)	2.70	(1.66)	2.60	(1.85)
Psychosomatic complaints	2.83	(1.86)	2.47	(1.89)	2.20	(1.90)
Badmouthing	2.69	(1.83)	1.83	(1.46)	1.97	(1.71)
Aggression	2.62	(1.80)	1.87	(1.66)	3.27	(2.13)
Regret	2.59	(1.70)	1.83	(1.51)	2.43	(1.70)
Guilt	2.55	(1.59)	1.93	(1.41)	2.27	(1.72)
Cruel	2.30	(1.75)	1.73	(1.46)	1.97	(1.61)
Envy	2.28	(1.93)	1.50	(0.94)	1.73	(1.36)
Abuse	2.28	(1.81)	1.60	(1.55)	2.00	(1.60)
Useful	2.27	(1.64)	3.00	(1.70)	2.70	(1.80)
Extreme events	2.13	(1.57)	2.13	(1.59)	1.80	(1.45)
Bullying	2.00	(1.63)	1.37	(1.00)	1.53	(0.86)

Table 3. Correlations of features with shame and anger ratings in humiliation recalls of Study 3.

	Shame	Anger
Shame	1.00	−.024
Red	.671***	.148
Strength/Weakness	.583***	.181
Group/Audience	.567**	−.128
Self-confidence/Self-esteem	.482**	.285
Losing honour	.477**	.246
Discomfort	.452*	.143
Looking like a fool	.443*	.188
Feeling small	.442*	.128
Fear	.420*	.259
Wanting to leave	.396*	−.056
Shyness	.383*	.168
Avoiding eye contact	.352^†	−.057
Compassion	.317^†	−.032
Unhappy	.315^†	.253
Correction	−.293	.251
Useless	.243	.114
Extreme events	.218	.200
Without emotion	−.135	−.008
Bullying	.024	.023
Anger	−.024	1.00
Feelings	.184	.747***
Hating	.021	.722***
Battle	−.225	.704***
Incomprehension	−.072	.697***
Losing trust	.147	.696***
Betrayal	.058	.612***
Disappointment	.114	.607***
Revenge	−.077	.576***
Inappropriate	−.097	.572***
Guilt	−.093	.559**
Bringing down	−.165	.546**
Unfair	−.281	.544**
Sadness	.389*	.536**
Regret	−.062	.536**
Criticising	−.357^†	.532**
Being put in second place	−.067	.530**
Dismay	.387*	.524**
Deliberate	−.217	.511**
Negative	.036	.509**
Aggression	−.408*	.497**
Not accepting	−.187	.490**
Rumination	.190	.467**
Personal	.222	.460*
Envy	−.253	.458*
Winning/Losing	.256	.456*
Badmouthing	−.344^†	.428*
Belittling	−.139	.398*
Preventing repetition	.204	.388*
Roles	.011	.381*
Abuse	−.290	.344^†
Interpretation	−.195	.337^†
Pain	.165	.334^†
Social exclusion	.155	.333^†
Alone	.116	.320^†
Popularity	.288	.313^†
Psychosomatic complaints	.152	.302
Cruel	.023	.300
Power/Powerless	.110	.248
Useful	−.191	.241
Ridiculing	.086	.160

***p < .001.

**p < .01.

*p < .05.

^†p < .10.

Table 4. Order of means of features in Studies 2 and 3.

No.	Centrality ratings (Study 2)		Autobiographical recalls (Study 3)
	Feature	Mean	Feature	Mean
1.	Belittling	6.17	Preventing repetition	6.13
2.	Ridiculing	6.16	Feelings	5.55
3.	Bringing down	6.00	Negative	5.50
4.	Bullying	5.91	Discomfort	5.40
5.	Wanting to leave	5.80	Unfair	5.23
6.	Badmouthing	5.72	Wanting to leave	5.10
7.	Feeling small	5.68	Disappointment	5.10
8.	Social exclusion	5.57	Useless	5.07
9.	Roles	5.54	Group/Audience	4.90
10.	Negative	5.51	Anger	4.87
11.	Dishonour	5.48	Shame	4.87
12.	Fiasco	5.46	Roles	4.80
13.	Shame	5.45	Personal	4.77
14.	Cruel	5.43	Unhappy	4.70
15.	Pain	5.42	Inappropriate	4.63
16.	Discomfort	5.33	Fiasco	4.62
17.	Self-confidence/Self-esteem	5.33	Power/Powerless	4.55
18.	Power/Powerless	5.27	Dismay	4.52
19.	Inappropriate	5.11	Sadness	4.43
20.	Discrimination	5.10	Strength/Weakness	4.23
21.	Group/Audience	5.09	Losing trust	4.17
22.	Feelings	5.06	Self-confidence/Self-esteem	4.03
23.	Extreme events	5.06	Dishonour	3.97
24.	Abuse	4.94	Incomprehension	3.97
25.	Unfair	4.87	Feeling small	3.90
26.	Strength/Weakness	4.82	Bringing down	3.86
27.	Aggression	4.76	Criticism	3.79
28.	Losing trust	4.73	Winning/Losing	3.67
29.	Avoiding eye contact	4.72	Ridiculing	3.66
30.	Betrayal	4.71	Rumination	3.63
31.	Deliberate	4.67	Avoiding eye contact	3.60
32.	Unhappy	4.64	Deliberate	3.57
33.	Hatred	4.62	Red	3.57
34.	Rumination	4.60	Popularity	3.57
35.	Useless	4.59	Alone	3.53
36.	Sadness	4.54	Hatred	3.53
37.	Revenge	4.52	Battle	3.52
38.	Anger	4.48	Pain	3.45
39.	Dismay	4.43	Social exclusion	3.41
40.	Fear	4.43	Belittling	3.38
41.	Red	4.38	Shyness	3.33
42.	Battle	4.33	Betrayal	3.31
43.	Personal	4.31	Not accepting	3.30
44.	Alone	4.25	Discrimination	3.28
45.	Compassion	4.17	Correction	3.24
46.	Incomprehension	4.11	Revenge	3.23
47.	Winning/Losing	4.11	Compassion	3.10
48.	Preventing repetition	4.07	Without emotion	3.10
49.	Criticism	4.02	Interpretation	3.03
50.	Guilt	4.02	Fear	2.83
51.	Envy	3.98	Psychosomatic complaints	2.83
52.	Without emotion	3.94	Badmouthing	2.69
53.	Popularity	3.88	Aggression	2.62
54.	Not accepting	3.76	Regret	2.59
55.	Disappointment	3.68	Guilt	2.55
56.	Interpretation	3.68	Cruel	2.30
57.	Correction	3.56	Abuse	2.28
58.	Shyness	3.47	Envy	2.28
59.	Psychosomatic complaints	3.44	Useful	2.27
60.	Regret	3.41	Extreme events	2.13
61.	Useful	2.08	Bullying	2.00

Note: Sorted by the ratings in each study in a descending order. Feature ratings of Study 3 are those of humiliation recalls only.

Table 5. Whether a feature is central or peripheral in Study 2 and Study 3.

	Central in centrality ratings (Study 2)	Peripheral in centrality ratings (Study 2)
Central in humiliation recall (Study 3)	Ridiculing (−27)	Disappointment (+48)
	Bringing down (−23)	Preventing repetition (+47)
	Unfair (+20)	Personal (+30)
	Feelings (+20)	Anger (+28)
	Feeling small (−18)	Useless (+27)
	Group/Audience (+12)	Incomprehension (+22)
	Discomfort (+12)	Criticism (+22)
	Dishonour (−12)	Dismay (+21)
	Losing trust (+7)	Winning/Losing (+19)
	Negative (+7)	Unhappy (+18)
	Strength/Weakness (+6)	Sadness (+17)
	Self-confidence/Self-esteem (−5)	Rumination (+4)
	Inappropriate (+4)
	Fiasco (−4)
	Roles (−3)
	Shame (+2)
	Avoiding eye contact (−2)
	Power/Powerless (+1)
	Wanting to leave (−1)
Peripheral in humiliation recall (Study 3)	Bullying (−57)	Popularity (+19)
	Badmouthing (−46)	Shyness (+17)
	Cruel (−42)	Correction (+12)
	Belittling (−39)	Not accepting (+11)
	Extreme events (−37)	Fear (−10)
	Abuse (−33)	Alone (+9)
	Social exclusion (−31)	Revenge (−9)
	Aggression (−26)	Psychosomatic complaints (+8)
	Discrimination (−24)	Red (+8)
	Pain (−23)	Interpretation (+7)
	Betrayal (−12)	Envy (−7)
	Deliberate (−1)	Regret (+6)
		Battle (+5)
		Guilt (−5)
		Without emotion (+4)
		Hatred (−3)
		Useful (+2)
		Compassion (−2)

Note: The number in parentheses indicates the difference score of the feature’s position in the structure based on centrality ratings and its position in the structure based on the ratings from humiliation recalls (i.e. its change in position). For example, belittling obtained the first place in the structure based on centrality ratings, but the 40th place in the structure based on the ratings from humiliation recalls, resulting in a difference score of −39 (its position was 39 places lower in the structure based on humiliation recalls).