Shame is a powerful human emotion which occurs when our self-esteem, social status or social attractiveness is diminished in some significant way.

The feeling of shame draws our attention to those things which threaten our power and standing. In that sense it can be seen as something which helps us to learn and adapt.

The Max Mosley privacy action against the News of the World is a fascinating public example of shame and the response to it.

In publishing the story about his sadomasochistic predilections the News of the World quite clearly wanted to shame the Formula One boss. The typical responses to shame are related to submissiveness, for example avoiding eye contact, hiding. The newspaper must have anticipated a response like this to its lurid headlines.

Instead, Mosley went against the grain. His anger and sense of injustice were so great that instead of withdrawing he did exactly the opposite. He met with all the key people in his organisation to ensure that he retained their confidence. Furthermore, he accepted that what he had done had caused great personal distress to himself and to his family. What he also succeeded in doing though was to make it clear that the acts themselves, whilst unusual, were not necessarily anything to be ashamed of. He therefore appears to be separating the cause of the shame from his self concept. The court case itself may have served as away of demonstrating his feelings about what occurred.

Unsurprisingly, shame is related to a range of mental health problems including depression. Mosley’s response, however, displays a high degree of resilience which should mean he will recover from this experience quicker than most people would.