The role of honor concerns in emotional reactions to offences

nvestigated the role of honor concerns in mediating the effect of nationality and gender on the reported intensity of anger and shame in reaction to insult vignettes. Spain, an honor culture, and The Netherlands, where honor is of less central significance, were selected for comparison. A total of 260 (125 Dutch, 135 Spanish) persons (mean age 21.9 yrs) participated in the research. Participants completed a measure of honor concerns and answered questions about emotional reactions of anger and shame to vignettes depicting insults in which type of threat was manipulated. It was found that Spanish participants responded especially intensely to insults that threaten family honor, and that this effect of nationality on emotional reactions to threats to family honor was mediated by individual differences in concern for family honor.