When spectators feel ashamed: vicarious shame and behavioral responses to in-group misconduct

In the context of sport spectatorship, spectators may experience feelings of vicarious shame when witnessing their in-group members' misconduct, which can significantly impact their behavioral responses. Despite growing interest in this phenomenon, it remains unclear which factors impact the emergence of vicarious shame among spectators and how this emotion shapes subsequent behavioral intentions. The current study adopted a cross-sectional design to examine how sports spectators' negative evaluations of deviant in-group members were associated with their experience of vicarious shame, and in turn, their subsequent behavioral intentions (i.e., distance, repair, and punishment), as well as the moderating role of group identification in this process.

Participants were 376 Chinese adult spectators who reported having experienced vicarious shame during sports competitions. The spectators self-reported on their negative evaluations, behavioral intentions, vicarious shame, and group identification. A moderated mediation model was conducted using structural equation modeling to test the hypothesized associations.

Results showed that vicarious shame mediated the positive associations between negative evaluation and all three behavioral intentions. Furthermore, group identification strengthened the positive association between negative evaluation and vicarious shame.

These findings highlight vicarious shame as a multifaceted emotion that can serve important social and moral regulatory functions in group processes, providing valuable implications for moral education initiatives among sports spectators.