A Polish online survey has found that people who report higher levels of humiliation tend to be less happy and more prone to rumination, with repetitive negative thinking partly explaining the link between humiliation and lower happiness. The study, conducted by researchers from SWPS University in Katowice and the University of Silesia, was published in Current Issues in Personality Psychology.
Humiliation is described as a distressing experience that can leave lasting memories and affect self-esteem and relationships. The researchers note it has been linked to emotional distress, impaired concentration, disrupted relationships and even depression, while rumination is characterised by repetitive negative thinking about troubling experiences and fears.
The study aimed to explore how humiliation and rumination relate to happiness, and whether rumination mediates the relationship between humiliation and overall well-being. The online survey attracted 323 adult participants from Poland, comprising 212 women, 107 men and four individuals identifying as another gender. Respondents ranged in age from 18 to 79, with a mean age of 26, and just under half (49%) reported higher education.
Participants completed three measures: the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire to assess happiness, the Perseverative Thinking Questionnaire for rumination, and the Humiliation Inventory, which captures both past humiliating experiences and fear of future humiliation. The rumination measure targeted a general tendency to engage in repetitive negative thinking rather than rumination about humiliating events specifically.
Findings indicated that individuals reporting more humiliation tended to be less happy and more prone to rumination. In particular, fear of future humiliation was slightly more strongly associated with lower happiness than past humiliation. Those prone to rumination also tended to be less happy, especially if they viewed their repetitive thinking as unproductive.
Statistical analyses suggested that rumination partially mediated the link between humiliation and happiness. In other words, higher humiliation was associated with more rumination, and greater rumination was in turn linked to lower happiness. However, the mediation accounted for only part of the relationship, and humiliation remained strongly connected to lower happiness even after accounting for rumination.
“The results suggest that feelings of humiliation may have a devastating effect on stated happiness through rumination about difficult experiences and fear of future humiliation. Knowledge of the role of rumination and humiliation in perceived happiness may help in diagnosis and treatment, especially of anxiety and affective disorders,” the study authors concluded.
The researchers caution that the study’s design cannot establish causality, given its cross-sectional nature and single-point data collection. All measures were self-reported, which raises the possibility of reporting biases, and the sample—a young, predominantly female cohort recruited via social media—may not be representative of the broader population.
The paper, “I can’t stop thinking about it: The mediating role of rumination in the relationship between humiliation and happiness,” was written by Natalia Cichecka, Sonia Antosz and Aleksandra Żenda.
