Shame as Self-Targeted Displacement: The Self as Wrong Attractor, Guilt as Returnable Error Signal, and the Geometry of Moral Emotion

We apply the Displacement Framework to shame and guilt, establishing the critical formal distinction: guilt is D(xi_action) — a displacement signal pointing at the action with a clear return path (repair, apology, behavior change); shame is D(xi_self) — a displacement signal targeting the identity itself, which cannot be fixed by fixing the action. Seven formal propositions are derived covering: guilt as returnable error signal, shame as self-targeted displacement, the shame wrong attractor theorem (cannot return by fixing action — must fix the self, a much harder problem), toxic shame as permanent D(xi_self) > 0 (Bradshaw — shame not triggered by specific actions but by existence), the shame-rage spiral (shame → humiliation → violence as the only available return path from deep shame basins, formalizing Gilligan's prison violence theory), vulnerability as basin depth reduction (Brené Brown — shame thrives in secrecy, which deepens the basin; vulnerability exposure reduces basin depth), and cultural shame as collective attractor architecture (honor cultures as shame architectures, face-saving wrong attractors).

Bodily shame expression (collapse posture, gaze aversion, blushing, erythrophobia) is analyzed as displacement signal. 40 citations including Brown, Tangney, Gilligan, Nathanson, Bradshaw, Lewis, Neff, Tracy, Keltner, Herman, and van der Kolk.