Misreading Scripture with Individualist Eyes: Patronage, Honor, and Shame in the Biblical World

by E Randolph Richards

While Westerners often use guilt to shape behavior, collectivist cultures more often use shame. While individualists might use guilt to shape my behavior, collectives use shame to shape our behavior. My grandmother would try to make me feel guilty, because I (as an individual) had drifted too far from the center of ideal behavior and was too near the boundary. Collectivist cultures think collectively. It is not that the community is alarmed that I (as an individual) have moved too far. Their thinking is more alarm that I have pulled all of us off center. I am part of us, and I am influencing all of us. We could be known as a community that has drifted away from the proper way to treat someone with respect! My community will use shame to make me aware that I have drifted. The goal—and this is critical to understand—is to pull me back toward the center, for everyone’s benefit. We have rescued me and us.