Research on how individuals respond to depressed mood suggests that some people focus on their feelings more than others (Lyubomirsky et al., 1999 and Trask and Sigmon, 1999). Self-focused attention and repetitive thoughts associated with either worry (thoughts of future threats) or depression (thoughts of past losses) amplify or maintain distress, rather than initiate it (Segerstrom, Tsao, Alden, & Craske, 2000). Passive and repetitive thoughts (rumination) about one's symptoms, and the causes and consequences of those symptoms, interfere with adaptive problem-solving and enhance negative thinking (Davis and Nolen-Hoeksema, 2000, Nolen-Hoeksema, 1991, Nolen-Hoeksema and Davis, 1999 and Nolen-Hoeksema et al., 1999). Lyubomirsky et al. (1999) found dysphoric ruminators to be more negative, self-critical and blame themselves more for their problems than non-dysphoric ruminators.
Self-criticism and self-blame have also been linked with shame (Gilbert, 1998 and Gilbert, 2002), feelings of inferiority (Allan and Gilbert, 1997, Gilbert and Allan, 1998 and Swallow and Kuiper, 1988) and submissive behaviour (Gilbert, 2000). Shame can range from mild to intense and can involve feelings of powerlessness, (Gilbert, 1992) inferiority, helplessness, and self-consciousness, with a desire to hide self-deficiencies (Gilbert et al., 1994 and Tangney et al., 1996). Shame can be focused on the social and external environment (e.g. thinking that others look down on the self) and/or be internally focused on the self (negative self-devaluations; Gilbert, 1998 and Gilbert, 2002). Shame can also be focused on different aspects of the self, for example, on the body, on behaviour or character (Andrews, Qian, & Valentine, 2002). It remains unclear, however, how shame and low rank may be linked to rumination. Shame has been considered a major cause of rumination, especially if people focus on damage done to self-esteem and their lack of control (Beck, Emery, & Greenberg, 1985). Shame affects the revelation of negative information about the self (MacDonald & Morley, 2001). Currently, however, there are few studies that have explored the linkage of shame rumination and social rank with depression. Despite the many observations of the linkage between shame and rumination (Gilbert, 1998 and Tangney, 1995) this association has not been investigated.
There have been a number of studies looking at gender differences in depression, showing that women suffer depression approximately twice as commonly as men (Bebbington, 1996 and Bebbington, 1998). There are a number of reasons for this, but one is that women may ruminate on their depression more than men do (Butler and Nolen-Hoeksema, 1994 and Nolen-Hoeksema et al., 1999). The tendency to ruminate may be due to women searching for ways to control environmental stressors and their feeling states (Nolen-Hoeksema et al., 1999).
