Shame and guilt

Shame and guilt are self-conscious emotions that follow personal transgressions. Shame is characterized by negative self-evaluations - feeling like one is a flawed person. Guilt is characterized by negative behavior-evaluations - feeling like one behaved badly. Shame is likely to arise when transgressions are witnessed or publicized because in these settings we tend to view ourselves from the perspective of other people, who see us as a whole person, thus leading to the negative self-evaluations that characterize shame. However, when transgressions are private, we tend to focus more narrowly on our behavior, thus leading to the specific negative behavior-evaluations that characterize guilt.