10.1177/0146167204271420 PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY BULLETIN McGregor, Elliot / FEAR OF FAILURE AND SHAME The Shame of Failure: Examining the Link Between Fear of Failure and Shame Holly A. McGregor Andrew J. Elliot University of Rochester The present research was designed to examine hypotheses derived from the proposition that shame is the core of fear of failure. Study 1 was conducted in a naturalistic setting and demon- strated that individuals high in fear of failure reported greater shame upon a perceived failure experience than those low in fear of failure. These findings were obtained controlling for other neg- ative emotions. Study 2 was conducted in a controlled labora- tory setting and demonstrated that high fear of failure individu- als reported greater shame, overgeneralization, and closeness to their mother (controlling for baseline levels of these variables) than those low in fear of failure. Those high in fear of failure also reported that they would be less likely to tell their mother and father about their failure experience and would be more likely to tell their mother and father about their success experience. The implications of these findings for acquiring a deeper understanding of fear of failure are discussed. Keywords: shame; fear of failure; motivation; avoidance For more than 60 years, motivational theorists have studied the nature and consequences of dispositional fear of failure (Atkinson, 1957; Birney, Burdick, & Teevan, 1969; Conroy, 2001; Elliot & McGregor, 1999; Heckhausen, 1991; Murray, 1938). Empirical work on this avoidance-oriented achievement motive has demon- strated that it leads to a host of deleterious processes and outcomes (for reviews, see Atkinson & Feather, 1966; Elliot & Thrash, 2004; McClelland, 1987). Although this research has contributed greatly to our understanding of the effects of fear of failure, it has not delved deeply into the basis of the motive itself to understand the rea- son that individuals are fearful of, and motivated to avoid, failure. In their pioneering work, David McClelland and his colleagues (McClelland, 1951; McClelland, Atkinson, Clark, & Lowell, 1953) proposed that motive disposi- tions are grounded in emotional experience: “A motive is the learned result of pairing cues with affect or the con- ditions which produce affect” (McClelland et al., 1953, p. 75). McClelland’s colleague, John Atkinson (1957) pro- ceeded to posit a link between the two basic achievement motives, need for achievement and fear of failure, and specific emotions. Atkinson (1957) portrayed need for achievement as “the capacity to feel pride in accomplish- ment” and fear of failure as “the capacity or propensity to experience shame upon failure” (p. 360). Surprisingly, little research has been conducted on the link between motives and particular types of affective experience. Furthermore, the limited work that has been done has focused exclusively on approach motives, specifically, need for achievement, need for affiliation, and need for power (see Zurbriggen & Sturman, 2002). As such, Atkinson’s proposition that shame is the core of fear of failure has yet to receive empirical attention. Atkinson did not provide an explicit rationale for his fear of failure–shame proposal. In conceptualizing motive-emotion links in the achievement domain, he focused primarily on need for achievement; fear of fail- ure received only cursory attention. It appears that 218 Authors’ Note: The authors wish to thank the members of the approach- avoidance motivation laboratory at the University of Rochester for their assistance in all phases of conducting the research reported herein. This research was supported by a Scholars Program grant from the William T. Grant Foundation and a Bessell Award (from the Alex- ander von Humboldt Foundation) to the second author. Correspon- dence regarding this article should be addressed to Holly McGregor or Andrew Elliot, Department of Clinical and Social Sciences in Psychol- ogy, MelioraHall, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627; e-mail: mcgregor@scp.rochester.edu or andye@scp.rochester.edu. PSPB, Vol. 31 No. 2, February 2005 218-231 DOI: 10.1177/0146167204271420 © 2005 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.