A Study of Internalized Shame and University Students

The purpose of the researcher was to investigate internalized shame. The independent variables were gender, age, family structure, religious affiliation, and birth order. The dependent variable was the scores obtained by the Internalized Shame Scale Inventory. The sample consisted of 87 females and 71 males. Five composite null hypotheses were tested employing a three-way analysis of variance (general linear model) at the .0500 level. A total of 18 comparisons were made plus 17 recurring. Of the 18 comparisons, 5 were main effects and 13 were interactions. Of the 5 main effects, 1 was statistically significant at the .0500 level. The results indicated that individuals from single parent and divorced single parent families had a statistically higher mean score than those from step-mother/step-father two parent family structure, and those from intact family structure had a statistically higher mean score than those from step-mother/step-father two parent family structure. None of the 13 interactions was statistically significant at the .0500 level. The results of the present study appeared to support the following generalizations: 1) college students from single parent and divorced single parent family structures have more internalized shame than those from families including step-mothers and step-fathers, 2) college students from intact family structures have more internalized shame than those from families including step-mothers and step-fathers, 3) college student gender is not associated with internalized shame, 4) college student age is not associated with internalized shame, 5) college student religious affiliation is not associated with internalized shame, 6) college student birth order is not associated with internalized shame, and 7) students in the present study have low internalized shame