Relationship between shame proneness and cooperation among chinese adolescents: a moderated mediation model

This study examines the relationship between shame proneness and cooperation in Chinese adolescents, and the role of interpersonal trust and cognitive emotion regulation strategies (CERSs). A total of 783 students (355 boys and 374 girls; Mage = 13.85, SD = 1.88 years) completed questionnaires measuring shame proneness, interpersonal relationships, CERSs, cooperative tendency, and cooperative behavior. The findings indicated that adolescents' shame proneness negatively predicted cooperative behavior; however, it negatively predicted cooperative tendency only partially, and only affected the dimension of gregariousness. Adolescents' shame proneness weakened their interpersonal trust, thus reducing their gregariousness and cooperative behavior. A preference for negative CERSs strengthened this negative relationship, whereas a preference for positive CERSs weakened the relationship. These findings suggest that we should teach adolescents positive emotion regulation strategies and guide them to adopt reasonable adjustment strategies to cope with negative events and improve their emotional regulation and social adaptability.