The unexpected importance of expectations in self-conscious emotions.

= 1,643) provide support for this account. Studies 1 and 2 examine how expectation-behavior discrepancies influence emotions in hypothetical and recalled situations. Studies 3 and 4 manipulate behaviors or expectations to create discrepancies between them, then examine effects of discrepancies on self-conscious emotions. Study 5 uses a longitudinal, naturalistic design to test how these discrepancies track emotions outside the lab and over time. Study 6 directly tests predictions made by our account and competing accounts against each other. Across studies, a robust, causal, and distinct relationship emerged between expectation discrepancies and self-conscious emotions. When participants exceeded expectations, they felt greater pride compared to when they met or fell below expectations and compared to other positive emotions; when participants fell below expectations, they felt greater shame or guilt compared to when they met or exceeded expectations and compared to other negative emotions. These findings provide the first evidence for a new understanding of the cognitive elicitors of self-conscious emotions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).