Comparison of attitudes of guilt and forgiveness in cancer patients without evidence of disease and advanced cancer patients in a palliative care setting.

PubMed

van Laarhoven, Hanneke W M; Schilderman, Johannes; Verhagen, Constans A H H V M; Prins, Judith B

2012-01-01

: Attitudes toward guilt and forgiveness may be important factors determining distress in cancer patients. Direct comparative studies in patients with different life expectancies exploring attitudes toward guilt and forgiveness are lacking. Also, sociodemographic and religious characteristics determining the attitudes toward guilt and forgiveness are unknown. : The objective of this study was to compare attitudes toward guilt and forgiveness in cancer patients without evidence of disease and advanced cancer patients. : A descriptive research design was used. Ninety-seven patients without evidence of disease and 55 advanced cancer patients filled out the Dutch Guilt Measurement Instrument and the Forgiveness of Others Scale. : Both groups had an attitude of nonreligious guilt and forgiveness, but not of religious guilt. No significant differences in attitudes toward guilt and forgiveness were observed between the 2 groups. In contrast to sociodemographic characteristics, religious characteristics were relevant predictors for guilt and forgiveness. Significant differences in relations between images of God and attitudes toward guilt were observed between the 2 patient groups. : An attitude of nonreligious guilt and forgiveness was found in cancer patients, irrespective of the stage of disease. Religious characteristics were significantly associated with attitudes of guilt and forgiveness. This correlation differed in the early and the advanced setting of disease. : The observed relations between religious characteristics and attitudes of guilt and forgiveness suggest that a careful examination of the role of religious beliefs and values is relevant in the clinical care of patients with cancer, both in the setting of early and advanced disease.

The exemplary social emotion guilt: not so relationship-oriented when another person repairs for you.

PubMed

de Hooge, Ilona E

2012-01-01

Guilt is considered by many researchers to be the hallmark social emotion. Guilt theories perceive guilt to be a negative emotion with positive interpersonal consequences, and empirical research has shown guilt to motivate prosocial behaviours aimed at restoring the relationship with one's victims. The current research questions the relationship-oriented nature of this emotion. Five experiments reveal that when a person repairs the transgressor's damage caused to a victim, the transgressor's guilt feelings, reparative intentions, and prosocial behaviour decrease. These findings suggest that it is not the relationship with the victim that is important in the regulation of guilt feelings, but rather the reparative actions that have been undertaken. Implications for theory and behavioural research on guilt are discussed.

Intensity of habitual guilt in men and women: differences in interpersonal sensitivity and the tendency towards anxious-aggressive guilt.

PubMed

Etxebarria, Itziar; Ortiz, M José; Conejero, Susana; Pascual, Aitziber

2009-11-01

In this study we analyzed gender differences in the intensity of habitual guilt, as well as those in interpersonal sensitivity and the tendency towards experiencing feelings of guilt with a high anxious-aggressive component. The 360 participants (adolescents, young adults and adults) were asked to relate one of the situations that most frequently caused them to experience guilt and to rank its intensity and that of 9 other emotions they may have experienced at the same time on a 7-point scale. These scales were used to obtain the scores for the anxious-aggressive component of guilt. Two interpersonal sensitivity measures were used: the IRI Empathic Concern scale and an ad hoc measure focusing on the guilt produced by interpersonal events (Interpersonal Guilt). Habitual guilt was found to be more intense in women than in men in all age groups. The results suggest that this difference is linked to differences in interpersonal sensitivity and the tendency to experience types of guilt with a high anxious-aggressive component.

The prosocial functions of early social emotions: the case of guilt.

PubMed

Vaish, Amrisha

2018-04-01

To safeguard human cooperation, it is vital that when cooperative relationships break down, they are repaired. This requirement is met by the social emotion of guilt, at two levels: the experience of guilt motivates transgressors to repair the damage they have caused, and transgressors' displays of guilt appease victims and bystanders and elicit cooperation toward the transgressor. I review recent evidence that guilt functions in both of these ways from early in development. The experience of guilt motivates reparative behavior in children 2-3 years of age, and transgressors' displays of guilt appease and elicit cooperation in children 4-5 years of age. Thus, over the first few years of ontogeny, guilt becomes an important mechanism for upholding cooperation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A model comparison approach to trauma-related guilt as a mediator of the relationship between PTSD symptoms and suicidal ideation among veterans.

PubMed

Cunningham, Katherine C; Farmer, Chloe; LoSavio, Stefanie T; Dennis, Paul A; Clancy, Carolina P; Hertzberg, Michael A; Collie, Claire F; Calhoun, Patrick S; Beckham, Jean C

2017-10-15

Suicidal ideation (SI) is a serious issue affecting U.S. veterans, and those with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are at an especially high risk of SI. Guilt has been associated with both PTSD and SI and may therefore be an important link between these constructs. The present study compared models of trauma-related guilt and used path analysis to examine the direct and indirect effects of PTSD and trauma-related guilt on SI among a sample of 988 veterans receiving outpatient PTSD treatment at a Veterans Affairs (VA) specialty clinic. Results showed that a model of trauma-related guilt including guilt-cognitions and global guilt (but not distress) provided the best model fit for the data. PTSD and trauma-related guilt had direct effects on SI, and PTSD exhibited indirect effects on SI via trauma-related guilt. The use of cross-sectional data limits the ability to make causal inferences. A treatment-seeking sample composed primarily of Vietnam veterans limits generalizability to other populations. Trauma-related guilt, particularly guilt cognitions, may be an effective point of intervention to help reduce SI among veterans with PTSD. This is an important area of inquiry, and suggestions for future research are discussed. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Uncovering the Affective Core of Conscientiousness: The Role of Self-Conscious Emotions

PubMed Central

Fayard, Jennifer V.; Roberts, Brent W.; Robins, Richard W.; Watson, David

2013-01-01

We conducted 3 studies to test the idea that guilt is a key affective component of Conscientiousness and that it can account for the relation between Conscientiousness and negative affect. Study 1 used meta-analysis to show that Conscientiousness was associated with specific emotions and overall negative affect but was most strongly associated with guilt. Conscientiousness was negatively related to guilt experience but positively related to guilt proneness. Also, guilt experience mediated the relation between Conscientiousness and negative affect. Study 2 (N = 142) examined the relation between facets of Conscientiousness and guilt. We replicated results from Study 1 and showed that the relation between Conscientiousness and guilt was not due to overlap with Extraversion and Neuroticism. Study 3 (n = 176) examined the interplay between Conscientiousness and guilt on grades in a short-term longitudinal study. These studies showed that Conscientiousness is primarily related to guilt and highlighted the importance of examining the emotional substrate of Conscientiousness. PMID:21241309

Uncovering the affective core of conscientiousness: the role of self-conscious emotions.

PubMed

Fayard, Jennifer V; Roberts, Brent W; Robins, Richard W; Watson, David

2012-02-01

We conducted 3 studies to test the idea that guilt is a key affective component of Conscientiousness and that it can account for the relation between Conscientiousness and negative affect. Study 1 used meta-analysis to show that Conscientiousness was associated with specific emotions and overall negative affect but was most strongly associated with guilt. Conscientiousness was negatively related to guilt experience but positively related to guilt proneness. Also, guilt experience mediated the relation between Conscientiousness and negative affect. Study 2 (N = 142) examined the relation between facets of Conscientiousness and guilt. We replicated results from Study 1 and showed that the relation between Conscientiousness and guilt was not due to overlap with Extraversion and Neuroticism. Study 3 (n = 176) examined the interplay between Conscientiousness and guilt on grades in a short-term longitudinal study. These studies showed that Conscientiousness is primarily related to guilt and highlighted the importance of examining the emotional substrate of Conscientiousness. © 2012 The Authors. Journal of Personality © 2012, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Protecting the sacred and expressions of rituality: examining the relationship between extrinsic dimensions of religiosity and unhealthy guilt.

PubMed

Maltby, John

2005-03-01

The aim of the present study was to examine the relationship between extrinsic religiosity and unhealthy guilt by testing two specific hypotheses. Using multidimensional measures of religious orientation and guilt, among 344 (169 male and 175 female) adults, and consistent with predictions; extrinsic-personal religiosity was found to be related to trait and state guilt, and extrinsic-social religiosity was found to be related to moral standards guilt. The present findings suggest evidence for a present conceptualization of the relationship between extrinsic religiosity and unhealthy guilt as the result of internal and external conflicts. The findings suggest that, when looking at maladaptive guilt among religious clients in clinical, therapeutic or counselling settings, it may be crucial to distinguish between dimensions of extrinsic religiosity and unhealthy guilt.

Situational and structural variation in youth perceptions of maternal guilt induction.

PubMed

Rote, Wendy M; Smetana, Judith G

2017-10-01

Parental induction of empathy-related guilt plays an important role in children's moral development. However, guilt induction can also be psychologically controlling and detrimental for youth adjustment. This study provided a more nuanced view of parental guilt induction by examining how the nature of a child's misdeed and the structure and content of the parental guilt inductive statement impact children's perceptions of it. Using hypothetical vignettes, this study experimentally examined the impact of the type (domain) of child behavior, highlighted victim, and focus of parental criticism on 156 children's and early and middle adolescents' (age: Ms = 8.82, 12.11, and 15.84 years) perceptions of maternal guilt induction. Attributions of guilt and shame increased most for younger children, when mothers focused on indirect harm to themselves about personal issues, and when mothers criticized their child as a person (shame only). Youth evaluated guilt induction least positively for personal issues and when mothers criticized the child's personality while focusing on indirect harm to themselves. With age, youth were less accepting of maternal guilt induction and more likely to endorse negative and parent-centered intentions, especially for personal issues. Older youth also drew less distinction between guilt induction over multifaceted and personal issues. Guilt induction over moral issues was generally perceived most positively. Additional interactions also emerged. These findings suggest that the meaning and effects of guilt induction on children's development may depend on the way in which it is enacted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

An Experimental Decision-Making Paradigm to Distinguish Guilt and Regret and Their Self-Regulating Function via Loss Averse Choice Behavior.

PubMed

Wagner, Ullrich; Handke, Lisa; Dörfel, Denise; Walter, Henrik

2012-01-01

Both guilt and regret typically result from counterfactual evaluations of personal choices that caused a negative outcome and are thought to regulate human decisions by people's motivation to avoid these emotions. Despite these similarities, studies asking people to describe typical situations of guilt and regret identified the social dimension as a fundamental distinguishing factor, showing that guilt but not regret specifically occurs for choices in interpersonal (social) contexts. However, an experimental paradigm to investigate this distinction systematically by inducing emotions of guilt and regret online is still missing. Here, extending existing procedures, we introduce such a paradigm, in which participants choose in each trial between two lotteries, with the outcome of the chosen lottery (gain or loss) being either assigned to themselves (intrapersonal trials) or to another person (interpersonal trials). After results of both the chosen and the unchosen lottery were shown, subjects rated how they felt about the outcome, including ratings of guilt and regret. Trait Guilt (TG) was determined for all participants in order to take their general inclination to experience guilt into account. Results confirmed that guilt but not regret specifically occurred in an interpersonal context. Percentages of loss averse choices (choosing the lottery with the lower possible monetary loss) were determined as indicators of regulation via guilt and regret avoidance. High TG scorers generally made more loss averse choices than low TG scorers, while trial-by-trial analyses showed that low TG scorers used their feelings of guilt more specifically to avoid the same emotional experience in subsequent choices. Our results confirm the social dimension as the critical factor distinguishing guilt from regret and identify TG as an important moderator determining the way in which guilt vs. regret can regulate their own occurrence by influencing choice strategies.

Sex guilt and life satisfaction in Iranian-american women.

PubMed

Abdolsalehi-Najafi, Emon; Beckman, Linda J

2013-08-01

Although the experience of sex guilt has been considered among a variety of ethnic groups, the area has not yet been empirically explored among Iranian American women. The present study investigated the relationship between sexual self-schema (i.e., beliefs about the sexual aspects of oneself), acculturation, and sex guilt, and it further examined the association between sex guilt and life satisfaction in Iranian American women. A total of 65 Iranian American women, with a mean age of 31.3 years (SD = 11.7), completed five self-administered questionnaires. Findings indicated a significant inverse correlation between sexual self-schema and sex guilt. More specifically, women who endorsed negative self-views regarding their sexual self reported higher levels sex guilt. Results revealed that acculturation was unrelated to sex guilt, when the effect of being Muslim or non-Muslim was controlled. Women with high sex guilt reported significantly lower levels of life satisfaction. Moreover, analyses for mediation effects supported sex guilt as a partially mediating variable between sexual self-schema and life satisfaction. Levels of sex guilt were higher among Muslim women when compared to women of other religious affiliations. Additionally, Muslim women appeared to be significantly less acculturated to Western ideals than other religious groups. The present findings suggest that mental health professionals who provide services to Iranian American women need to consider the negative effects of sex guilt, particularly among Muslim women.

Guilt and Effortful Control: Two Mechanisms that Prevent Disruptive Developmental Trajectories

PubMed Central

Kochanska, Grazyna; Barry, Robin A.; Jimenez, Natasha B.; Hollatz, Amanda L.; Woodard, Jarilyn

2009-01-01

Children's guilt associated with transgressions and their capacity for effortful control are both powerful forces that inhibit disruptive conduct. We examined how guilt and effortful control, repeatedly observed from toddler to preschool age, jointly predict children's disruptive outcomes in two multi-method multi-trait longitudinal studies (N's 57 and 99). Disruptive outcomes were rated by mothers at 73 months (Study 1) and mothers, fathers, and teachers at 52 and 67 months (Study 2). In both studies, guilt moderated effects of effortful control: For highly guilt-prone children, variations in effortful control were unrelated to future disruptive outcomes, but for children who were less guilt prone, effortful control predicted such outcomes. Guilt may inhibit transgressions through an automatic response due to negative arousal triggered by memories of past wrongdoing, regardless of child capacity for deliberate inhibition. Effortful control that engages a deliberate restraint may offset risk for disruptive conduct conferred by low guilt. PMID:19634978

The Weight of a Guilty Conscience: Subjective Body Weight as an Embodiment of Guilt

PubMed Central

Day, Martin V.; Bobocel, D. Ramona

2013-01-01

Guilt is an important social and moral emotion. In addition to feeling unpleasant, guilt is metaphorically described as a “weight on one's conscience.” Evidence from the field of embodied cognition suggests that abstract metaphors may be grounded in bodily experiences, but no prior research has examined the embodiment of guilt. Across four studies we examine whether i) unethical acts increase subjective experiences of weight, ii) feelings of guilt explain this effect, and iii) whether there are consequences of the weight of guilt. Studies 1–3 demonstrated that unethical acts led to more subjective body weight compared to control conditions. Studies 2 and 3 indicated that heightened feelings of guilt mediated the effect, whereas other negative emotions did not. Study 4 demonstrated a perceptual consequence. Specifically, an induction of guilt affected the perceived effort necessary to complete tasks that were physical in nature, compared to minimally physical tasks. PMID:23936041

The weight of a guilty conscience: subjective body weight as an embodiment of guilt.

PubMed

Day, Martin V; Bobocel, D Ramona

2013-01-01

Guilt is an important social and moral emotion. In addition to feeling unpleasant, guilt is metaphorically described as a "weight on one's conscience." Evidence from the field of embodied cognition suggests that abstract metaphors may be grounded in bodily experiences, but no prior research has examined the embodiment of guilt. Across four studies we examine whether i) unethical acts increase subjective experiences of weight, ii) feelings of guilt explain this effect, and iii) whether there are consequences of the weight of guilt. Studies 1-3 demonstrated that unethical acts led to more subjective body weight compared to control conditions. Studies 2 and 3 indicated that heightened feelings of guilt mediated the effect, whereas other negative emotions did not. Study 4 demonstrated a perceptual consequence. Specifically, an induction of guilt affected the perceived effort necessary to complete tasks that were physical in nature, compared to minimally physical tasks.

Guilt leads to enhanced facing-the-viewer bias

PubMed Central

Shen, Mowei; Zhu, Chengfeng; Liao, Huayu; Zhang, Haihang; Zhou, Jifan

2018-01-01

As an important moral emotion, guilt plays a critical role in social interaction. It has been found that people tended to exhibit prosocial behavior under circumstances of guilt. However, all extant studies have predominantly focused on the influence of guilt on macro-level behavior. So far, no study has investigated whether guilt affects people’s micro-level perception. The current study closes this gap by examining whether guilt affects one’s inclination to perceive approaching motion. We achieved this aim by probing a facing-the-viewer bias (FTV bias). Specifically, when an ambiguous walking biological motion display is presented to participants via the point-light display technique, participants tend to perceive a walking agent approaching them. We hypothesized that guilt modulated FTV bias. To test this hypothesis, we adopted a two-person situation induction task to induce guilt, whereby participants were induced to feel that because of their poor task performance, their partner did not receive a satisfactory payment. We found that when participants were told that the perceived biological motion was motion-captured from their partner, the FTV bias was significantly increased for guilty participants relative to neutral participants. However, when participants were informed that the perceived biological motion was from a third neutral agent, the FTV bias was not modulated by guilt. These results suggest that guilt influences one’s inclination to perceive approaching motion, but this effect is constrained to the person towards whom guilt is directed. PMID:29649338

Pain-related guilt in low back pain.

PubMed

Serbic, Danijela; Pincus, Tamar

2014-12-01

Identifying mechanisms that mediate recovery is imperative to improve outcomes in low back pain (LBP). Qualitative studies suggest that guilt may be such a mechanism, but research on this concept is scarce, and reliable instruments to measure pain-related guilt are not available. We addressed this gap by developing and testing a Pain-related Guilt Scale (PGS) for people with LBP. Two samples of participants with LBP completed the scale and provided data on rates of depression, anxiety, pain intensity, and disability. Three factors were identified using exploratory factor analysis (n=137): "Social guilt," (4 items) relating to letting down family and friends; "Managing condition/pain guilt," (5 items) relating to failing to overcome and control pain; and "Verification of pain guilt," (3 items) relating to the absence of objective evidence and diagnosis. This factor structure was confirmed using confirmatory factor analysis (n=288), demonstrating an adequate to good fit with the data (AGFI=0.913, RMSEA=0.061). The PGS subscales positively correlated with depression, anxiety, pain intensity, and disability. After controlling for depression and anxiety the majority of relationships between the PGS subscales and disability and pain intensity remained significant, suggesting that guilt shared unique variance with disability and pain intensity independent of depression and anxiety. High levels of guilt were reported by over 40% of participants. The findings suggest that pain-related guilt is common and is associated with clinical outcomes. Prospective research is needed to examine the role of guilt as a predictor, moderator, and mediator of patients' outcomes.

Commitment to personal values and guilt feelings in dementia caregivers.

PubMed

Gallego-Alberto, Laura; Losada, Andrés; Márquez-González, María; Romero-Moreno, Rosa; Vara, Carlos

2017-01-01

Caregivers' commitment to personal values is linked to caregivers' well-being, although the effects of personal values on caregivers' guilt have not been explored to date. The goal of this study is to analyze the relationship between caregivers´ commitment to personal values and guilt feelings. Participants were 179 dementia family caregivers. Face-to-face interviews were carried out to describe sociodemographic variables and assess stressors, caregivers' commitment to personal values and guilt feelings. Commitment to values was conceptualized as two factors (commitment to own values and commitment to family values) and 12 specific individual values (e.g. education, family or caregiving role). Hierarchical regressions were performed controlling for sociodemographic variables and stressors, and introducing the two commitment factors (in a first regression) or the commitment to individual/specific values (in a second regression) as predictors of guilt. In terms of the commitment to values factors, the analyzed regression model explained 21% of the variance of guilt feelings. Only the factor commitment to family values contributed significantly to the model, explaining 7% of variance. With regard to the regression analyzing the contribution of specific values to caregivers' guilt, commitment to the caregiving role and with leisure contributed negatively and significantly to the explanation of caregivers' guilt. Commitment to work contributed positively to guilt feelings. The full model explained 30% of guilt feelings variance. The specific values explained 16% of the variance. Our findings suggest that commitment to personal values is a relevant variable to understand guilt feelings in caregivers.

An Experimental Decision-Making Paradigm to Distinguish Guilt and Regret and Their Self-Regulating Function via Loss Averse Choice Behavior

PubMed Central

Wagner, Ullrich; Handke, Lisa; Dörfel, Denise; Walter, Henrik

2012-01-01

Both guilt and regret typically result from counterfactual evaluations of personal choices that caused a negative outcome and are thought to regulate human decisions by people’s motivation to avoid these emotions. Despite these similarities, studies asking people to describe typical situations of guilt and regret identified the social dimension as a fundamental distinguishing factor, showing that guilt but not regret specifically occurs for choices in interpersonal (social) contexts. However, an experimental paradigm to investigate this distinction systematically by inducing emotions of guilt and regret online is still missing. Here, extending existing procedures, we introduce such a paradigm, in which participants choose in each trial between two lotteries, with the outcome of the chosen lottery (gain or loss) being either assigned to themselves (intrapersonal trials) or to another person (interpersonal trials). After results of both the chosen and the unchosen lottery were shown, subjects rated how they felt about the outcome, including ratings of guilt and regret. Trait Guilt (TG) was determined for all participants in order to take their general inclination to experience guilt into account. Results confirmed that guilt but not regret specifically occurred in an interpersonal context. Percentages of loss averse choices (choosing the lottery with the lower possible monetary loss) were determined as indicators of regulation via guilt and regret avoidance. High TG scorers generally made more loss averse choices than low TG scorers, while trial-by-trial analyses showed that low TG scorers used their feelings of guilt more specifically to avoid the same emotional experience in subsequent choices. Our results confirm the social dimension as the critical factor distinguishing guilt from regret and identify TG as an important moderator determining the way in which guilt vs. regret can regulate their own occurrence by influencing choice strategies. PMID:23133433

From Oedipus to PACE, using the concepts of shame and guilt as golden thread.

PubMed

Beckmann, Klaus Martin

2016-02-01

To demonstrate that antiquity's concepts of shame and guilt developed in their meaning over the centuries and can still have practical applicability in psychological therapies these days. To review shame and guilt in philosophy, history, ethics and psychiatry contexts. Within limitations, a narrative is presented, starting with Oedipus in antiquity, visiting several important philosophical theories and ending in the present time with, for example, Dan Hughes' PACE model for therapy. The first part expands on selected ideas presented in Melvyn Bragg's 2007 BBC radio programme entitled 'Guilt'; the second part adds selected therapeutic models where concepts of shame and guilt play a role. Shame and guilt are archaic but quintessential concepts that already occupied thinkers in antiquity. Shame and guilt are concepts that preoccupied science and art over the millennia and continue as useful concepts to the present day. Moreover, shame and guilt, as concepts, continue to play a salient role in recent and contemporary psychiatry. © The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists 2015.

Guilt: an interpersonal approach.

PubMed

Baumeister, R F; Stillwell, A M; Heatherton, T F

1994-03-01

Multiple sets of empirical research findings on guilt are reviewed to evaluate the view that guilt should be understood as an essentially social phenomenon that happens between people as much as it happens inside them. Guilt appears to arise from interpersonal transactions (including transgressions and positive inequities) and to vary significantly with the interpersonal context. In particular, guilt patterns appear to be strongest, most common, and most consistent in the context of communal relationships, which are characterized by expectations of mutual concern. Guilt serves various relationship-enhancing functions, including motivating people to treat partners well and avoid transgressions, minimizing inequities and enabling less powerful partners to get their way, and redistributing emotional distress.

Interpersonal guilt in college student pathological gamblers

PubMed Central

Locke, Geoffrey W.; Shilkret, Robert; Everett, Joyce E.; Petry, Nancy M.

2013-01-01

Background Interpersonal guilt is associated with psychopathology, but its relationship to pathological gambling has not been studied. Objectives This study examined the relationship between interpersonal guilt and pathological gambling. Methods In total, 1,979 college students completed a questionnaire containing the South Oaks Gambling Screen, Interpersonal Guilt Questionnaire, and questions about substance use. Students identified as pathological gamblers (n = 145) were matched to non-problem gamblers with respect to demographics and substance use. Results Pathological gamblers had significantly higher interpersonal guilt than their non-problem gambling peers. Conclusions and Scientific Significance Pathological gambling college students have excessive interpersonal guilt, and these findings may lead to novel treatment approaches. PMID:22746179

Combining guilt-by-association and guilt-by-profiling to predict Saccharomyces cerevisiae gene function

PubMed Central

Tian, Weidong; Zhang, Lan V; Taşan, Murat; Gibbons, Francis D; King, Oliver D; Park, Julie; Wunderlich, Zeba; Cherry, J Michael; Roth, Frederick P

2008-01-01

Background: Learning the function of genes is a major goal of computational genomics. Methods for inferring gene function have typically fallen into two categories: 'guilt-by-profiling', which exploits correlation between function and other gene characteristics; and 'guilt-by-association', which transfers function from one gene to another via biological relationships. Results: We have developed a strategy ('Funckenstein') that performs guilt-by-profiling and guilt-by-association and combines the results. Using a benchmark set of functional categories and input data for protein-coding genes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Funckenstein was compared with a previous combined strategy. Subsequently, we applied Funckenstein to 2,455 Gene Ontology terms. In the process, we developed 2,455 guilt-by-profiling classifiers based on 8,848 gene characteristics and 12 functional linkage graphs based on 23 biological relationships. Conclusion: Funckenstein outperforms a previous combined strategy using a common benchmark dataset. The combination of 'guilt-by-profiling' and 'guilt-by-association' gave significant improvement over the component classifiers, showing the greatest synergy for the most specific functions. Performance was evaluated by cross-validation and by literature examination of the top-scoring novel predictions. These quantitative predictions should help prioritize experimental study of yeast gene functions. PMID:18613951

Guilt enhances the sense of control and drives risky judgments.

PubMed

Kouchaki, Maryam; Oveis, Christopher; Gino, Francesca

2014-12-01

In the present studies, we investigate the hypothesis that guilt influences risk taking by enhancing one's sense of control. Across multiple inductions of guilt, we demonstrate that experimentally induced guilt enhances optimism about risks for the self (Study 1), preferences for gambles versus guaranteed payoffs (Studies 2, 4, and 6), and the likelihood that one will engage in risk-taking behaviors (Study 5). In addition, we demonstrate that guilt enhances the sense of control over uncontrollable events, an illusory control (Studies 3, 4, and 5), and found that a model with illusory control as a mediator is consistent with the data (Studies 5 and 6). We also found that a model with feelings of guilt as a mediator but not generalized negative affect fits the data (Study 4). Finally, we examined the relative explanatory power of different appraisals and found that appraisals of illusory control best explain the influence of guilt on risk taking (Study 6). These results provide the first empirical demonstration of the influence of guilt on sense of control and risk taking, extend previous theorizing on guilt, and more generally contribute to the understanding of how specific emotions influence cognition and behavior. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Shame and guilt and their relationship to positive expectations and anger expressiveness.

PubMed

Lutwak, N; Panish, J B; Ferrari, J R; Razzino, B E

2001-01-01

College students (174 females, 91 males) completed measures of shame, guilt, expectations for future success, and styles of anger expression. Significant gender differences were found in proneness for both shame and guilt, with young women exhibiting a greater propensity for shame and guilt than young men. For both females and males, however, shame-proneness was positively related to expressions of inward anger. Among males and females, guilt-proness was negatively related to outward anger, but positively related to anger control. For females, guilt-proness was also negatively related to expectations for future success. Multiple regression analyses indicated that for male and female late adolescents, the best positive predictor of shame-proneness was inward anger. Gender differences emerged in predicting guilt-proneness; greater anger control, lower outward anger, and lower expectations for future success significantly predicted this variable among females.

Implicit Sex Guilt Predicts Sexual Behaviors: Evidence for the Validity of the Sex Guilt Implicit Association Test.

PubMed

Totonchi, Delaram A; Derlega, Valerian J; Janda, Louis H

2018-05-14

Self-report measures of sexuality may be influenced by people's conscious concerns about confidentiality and social desirability. Alternatively, non-conscious measures (e.g., implicit association tests; IATs) are designed to minimize these validity concerns. We constructed an IAT measure of sex guilt using 154 male and female university students. The sex guilt IAT demonstrated convergent validity as it correlated with various sexual behaviors and incremental validity as it improved the prediction of several sexual behaviors beyond that provided by the Mosher sex guilt scale. We conclude that a non-conscious measure of sex guilt may complement the use of self-reports in studying sexual behaviors.

Can guilt lead to psychological growth following trauma exposure?

PubMed

Dekel, Sharon; Mamon, Daria; Solomon, Zahava; Lanman, Olivia; Dishy, Gabriella

2016-02-28

With the growing interest in posttraumatic growth (PTG) and its predictors, this study examined the relationship between trauma-related guilt and PTG in a sample of veterans over time. Self-reported guilt, PTG, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms were measured in combat veterans and prisoners of war (POWs). Positive correlations were found between guilt, PTSD, and PTG levels. Hierarchical regression revealed that initial guilt levels predicted subsequent PTG controlling for initial PTSD in combat veterans but not in POWs. The findings suggest that posttraumatic growth can be facilitated by trauma-related guilt, underscoring the complex relationship between positive and negative trauma outcomes. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

The influence of anticipated pride and guilt on pro-environmental decision making.

PubMed

Schneider, Claudia R; Zaval, Lisa; Weber, Elke U; Markowitz, Ezra M

2017-01-01

The present research explores the relationship between anticipated emotions and pro-environmental decision making comparing two differently valenced emotions: anticipated pride and guilt. In an experimental design, we examined the causal effects of anticipated pride versus guilt on pro-environmental decision making and behavioral intentions by making anticipated emotions (i.e. pride and guilt) salient just prior to asking participants to make a series of environmental decisions. We find evidence that anticipating one's positive future emotional state from green action just prior to making an environmental decision leads to higher pro-environmental behavioral intentions compared to anticipating one's negative emotional state from inaction. This finding suggests a rethinking in the domain of environmental and climate change messaging, which has traditionally favored inducing negative emotions such as guilt to promote pro-environmental action. Furthermore, exploratory results comparing anticipated pride and guilt inductions to baseline behavior point toward a reactance eliciting effect of anticipated guilt.

Empathy, Guilt Proneness, and Gender: Relative Contributions to Prosocial Behaviour

PubMed Central

Torstveit, Linda; Sütterlin, Stefan; Lugo, Ricardo Gregorio

2016-01-01

Guilt is a moral emotion that is often looked upon as a negative trait. However, studies show that some individuals are more predisposed to think, feel and act in a more ethical manner because of a lower threshold to experience guilt. Some theories of helping behaviour emphasize the evolutionary mechanisms, while other theories stress the importance of social variables. This study investigated whether guilt proneness as a dispositional trait can be associated with prosocial behaviour. Five hundred sixty-nine participants reported in an online survey their own levels of guilt proneness, frequency of prosocial behaviour, and related cognitions such as empathy. This study is among the first to demonstrate how guilt proneness combined with empathy can explain additional variance in prosocial behaviour. The findings also indicate gender differences in the precursors of prosocial behaviour, suggesting women are more influenced by the effects of guilt proneness on prosocial behaviour than men. PMID:27298635

Shame and guilt in women with eating-disorder symptomatology.

PubMed

Burney, J; Irwin, H J

2000-01-01

The relationship of shame and guilt to eating-disorder symptomatology was investigated in a sample of 97 Australian women. In terms of the objective of predicting the severity of eating disturbance, the study explored the predictive utility of proneness to shame and guilt in a global sense, shame and guilt associated specifically with eating contexts, and shame associated with the body. The study also sought to determine if shame is a more prominent emotion than guilt among women who have eating difficulties. Shame associated with eating behavior was the strongest predictor of the severity of eating-disorder symptomatology. Other effective predictors were guilt associated with eating behavior and body shame. Eating disturbance was unrelated to proneness to shame and guilt in a global sense. Discussion of these findings focuses on the issue of determining whether self-conscious affects are best regarded as causes or as consequences of eating disturbance.

Self-conscious emotions and depression: rumination explains why shame but not guilt is maladaptive.

PubMed

Orth, Ulrich; Berking, Matthias; Burkhardt, Simone

2006-12-01

Feelings of shame and guilt are factors associated with depression. However, studies simultaneously investigating shame and guilt suggest that only shame has a strong unique effect, although it is not yet clear which psychological processes cause shame and not shame-free guilt to be related to depression. The authors hypothesized that shame, in contrast to guilt, elicits rumination, which then leads to depression. Therefore, in this study we investigated event-related shame and guilt, event-related rumination, and depression among 149 mothers and fathers following family breakup due to marital separation. Data were analyzed using latent variable modeling. The results confirm that shame but not guilt has a strong unique effect on depression. Moreover, the results show that the effect of shame is substantially mediated by rumination. The results are discussed against the background of self-discrepancies and self-esteem.

Shame and Guilt and Their Relationship to Positive Expectations and Anger Expressiveness.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lutwak, Nita; Panish, Jacqueline B.; Ferrari, Joseph R.; Razzino, Brian E.

2001-01-01

Theories regarding expressions of hostility and anger, and expectations of success were tested with college students (174 females, 91 males). Significant gender differences were found in proneness for shame and guilt in females. Guilt-proness was negatively related to outward anger but positively related to anger control. Guilt-proness was also…

Situational and Structural Variation in Youth Perceptions of Maternal Guilt Induction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rote, Wendy M.; Smetana, Judith G.

2017-01-01

Parental induction of empathy-related guilt plays an important role in children's moral development. However, guilt induction can also be psychologically controlling and detrimental for youth adjustment. This study provided a more nuanced view of parental guilt induction by examining how the nature of a child's misdeed and the structure and…

Trauma Informed Guilt Reduction Therapy With Combat Veterans

PubMed Central

Norman, Sonya B.; Wilkins, Kendall C.; Myers, Ursula S.; Allard, Carolyn B.

2014-01-01

Guilt related to combat trauma is highly prevalent among veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Trauma-related guilt has been associated with increased risk for posttraumatic psychopathology and poorer response to treatment. Trauma Informed Guilt Reduction (TrIGR) therapy is a 4-module cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy designed to reduce guilt related to combat trauma. The goals of this study were to describe the key elements of TrIGR and report results of a pilot study with 10 recently deployed combat veterans. Ten combat veterans referred from a VA Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) or mental health clinic completed TrIGR over 4 to 7 sessions. Nine veterans completed the posttreatment assessment. This initial pilot suggests that TrIGR may help to reduce trauma-related guilt severity and associated distress. Changes in trauma-related guilt were highly correlated with reductions in PTSD and depression symptoms over the course of treatment, suggesting a possible mechanistic link with severity of posttraumatic psychopathology. TrIGR warrants further evaluation as an intervention for reducing guilt related to traumatic experiences in combat. PMID:25404850

Body-related state shame and guilt in women: do causal attributions mediate the influence of physical self-concept and shame and guilt proneness.

PubMed

Crocker, Peter R E; Brune, Sara M; Kowalski, Kent C; Mack, Diane E; Wilson, Philip M; Sabiston, Catherine M

2014-01-01

Guided by the process model of self-conscious emotions, this study examined whether physical self-concept (PSC) and shame and guilt proneness were associated with body-related self-conscious emotions of state shame and guilt and if these relationships were mediated by attributions of stability, globality, and controllability. Female participants (N=284; Mean age=20.6±1.9 years) completed measures of PSC and shame and guilt proneness before reading a hypothetical scenario. Participants completed measures of attributions and state shame and guilt in response to the scenario. Significant relationships were noted between state shame and attributions of globality and controllability, and shame proneness, guilt proneness, and PSC. Similar relationships, with the additional predictor of stability, were found for state guilt. Mediation analysis partially supported the process model hypotheses for shame. Results indicate PSC and shame proneness are important in predicting body-related emotions, but the role of specific attributions are still unclear. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

SHAME AND GUILT-PRONENESS AS MEDIATORS OF ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN GENERAL CAUSALITY ORIENTATIONS AND DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS

PubMed Central

YOUNG, CHELSIE M.; NEIGHBORS, CLAYTON; DIBELLO, ANGELO M.; TRAYLOR, ZACHARY K.; TOMKINS, MARY

2017-01-01

The present study examined the roles of shame- and guilt-proneness as mediators of associations between general causality orientations and depressive symptoms. We expected autonomy would be associated with less depressive symptoms based on higher guilt-proneness and lower shame-proneness, whereas control would be associated with more depressive symptoms based on lower guilt-proneness and higher shame-proneness. Undergraduates (N = 354) completed assessments of general causality orientations, shame- and guilt-proneness, and depressive symptoms in exchange for extra credit. Results of mediation analyses were generally supportive of the framework indicating that shame- and guilt-proneness mediate associations between self-determination and depressive symptoms. Autonomy was indirectly associated with less depressive symptoms through positive associations with guilt-proneness, in spite of unexpected positive associations with shame-proneness. Control and impersonal orientation were indirectly associated with more depressive symptoms through positive associations with shame-proneness. Results extend previous research relating self-determination to mental health in providing preliminary support suggesting that individual differences in self-determination facilitate differential tendencies in experiencing guilt and shame. PMID:28344381

Shame and guilt in the aftermath of terror: the Utøya Island study.

PubMed

Aakvaag, Helene Flood; Thoresen, Siri; Wentzel-Larsen, Tore; Røysamb, Espen; Dyb, Grete

2014-10-01

In recent years, there has been increased interest in trauma-related shame and guilt and their relationship to mental health. Little is known, however, about shame and guilt following mass traumas, such as terrorism. This study investigates the potential associations of trauma-related shame and guilt with posttraumatic stress (PTS) reactions after the terrorist attack of July 22, 2011 on Utøya Island in Norway. Interviews were conducted with 325 of the 490 survivors 4 to 5 months after the event. Multiple linear regression analyses were employed to investigate associations. In the month previous to the interview, 44.1% (n = 143) of participants had experienced at least some guilt for what happened during the attack, and 30.5% (n = 99) had experienced at least some shame. Shame and guilt were both uniquely associated with PTS reactions after adjusting for terror exposure, gender, and other potential confounders (frequent shame: B = 0.54, frequent guilt: B = 0.33). We concluded that trauma-related shame and guilt are related to mental health after mass trauma. Copyright © 2014 International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies.

The Interpersonal Adaptiveness of Dispositional Guilt and Shame: A Meta-Analytic Investigation.

PubMed

Tignor, Stefanie M; Colvin, C Randall

2017-06-01

Despite decades of empirical research, conclusions regarding the adaptiveness of dispositional guilt and shame are mixed. We use meta-analysis to summarize the empirical literature and clarify these ambiguities. Specifically, we evaluate how guilt and shame are uniquely related to pro-social orientation and, in doing so, highlight the substantial yet under-acknowledged impact of researchers' methodological choices. A series of meta-analyses was conducted investigating the relationship between dispositional guilt (or shame) and pro-social orientation. Two main methodological moderators of interest were tested: test format (scenario vs. checklist) and statistical analysis (semi-partial vs. zero-order correlations). Among studies employing zero-order correlations, dispositional guilt was positively correlated with pro-social orientation (k = 63, Mr = .13, p < .001), whereas dispositional shame was negatively correlated, (k = 47, Mr = -.05, p = .07). Test format was a significant moderator for guilt studies only, with scenario measures producing significantly stronger effects. Semi-partial correlations resulted in significantly stronger effects among guilt and shame studies. Although dispositional guilt and shame are differentially related to pro-social orientation, such relationships depend largely on the methodological choices of the researcher, particularly in the case of guilt. Implications for the study of these traits are discussed. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Shame versus trauma-related guilt as mediators of the relationship between PTSD symptoms and aggression among returning veterans.

PubMed

Crocker, Laura D; Haller, Moira; Norman, Sonya B; Angkaw, Abigail C

2016-07-01

It is well established that posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with various forms of aggression, though the mechanisms by which PTSD is related to aggression are not fully understood. Some research suggests that the tendency to experience shame, but not guilt, contributes to aggression in individuals with a history of interpersonal trauma. This study tested the hypothesis that trait shame but not trauma-related guilt would mediate the relationship between PTSD symptoms and verbal and physical aggression in veterans with combat/military-related trauma seeking PTSD treatment. In a sample of 127 returning veterans (95% male, mean age = 32.93), negative binomial path analyses tested multiple mediational models in which shame versus trauma-related guilt (separate models entered the effects of global guilt, guilt cognitions, and guilt distress) were examined as mediators of PTSD symptoms on verbal and physical aggression separately. Results indicated that shame partially mediated the association of PTSD symptoms with verbal aggression but not physical aggression when accounting for trauma-related guilt. Although PTSD symptoms were associated with higher scores on all aspects of trauma-related guilt, guilt did not significantly mediate relations between PTSD symptoms and verbal or physical aggression when accounting for shame. These results indicate that it is worthwhile to examine whether addressing shame in PTSD treatment may also reduce verbal aggression in returning veterans. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Abnormal processing of deontological guilt in obsessive-compulsive disorder.

PubMed

Basile, Barbara; Mancini, Francesco; Macaluso, Emiliano; Caltagirone, Carlo; Bozzali, Marco

2014-07-01

Guilt plays a significant role in the occurrence and maintenance of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Two major types of guilt have been identified: one deriving from the transgression of a moral rule (deontological guilt DG), another (altruistic guilt AG), relying on the assumption of having compromised a personal altruistic goal. Clinical evidence suggests that OCD patients are particularly sensitive to DG, but not AG. In this functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, we investigated brain response of OCD patients while processing DG and AG stimuli. A previously validated fMRI paradigm was used to selectively evoke DG and AG, and anger and sadness, as control emotions in 13 OCD patients and 19 healthy controls. Patients' behavioral results showed a prominent attitude to experience guilt, compared to controls, while accomplishing task. fMRI results revealed that patients have reduced activation in the anterior cingulate (ACC) and frontal gyrus when experiencing guilt, regardless of its specific type (DG or AG). When separately considering each type of guilt (against each of its control), patients showed decreased activation in the ACC, the insula and the precuneus, for DG. No significant differences were observed between groups when processing AG, anger or sad stimuli. This study provides evidence for an abnormal processing of guilt, and specifically DG, in OCD patients. We suggest that decreased activation may reflect patients' cerebral efficiency, which derives from their frequent exposure to guilty feelings ("neural efficiency hypothesis"). In conclusion, our study confirms a selective abnormal processing of guilt, and specifically DG, in OCD.

Assessment of guilt and shame in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer compared with patients with breast and prostate cancer.

PubMed

LoConte, Noelle K; Else-Quest, Nicole M; Eickhoff, Jens; Hyde, Janet; Schiller, Joan H

2008-05-01

Patients with lung cancer might feel more guilt and shame resulting from previous smoking. This study was designed to determine the levels of guilt and shame among patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) compared with breast and prostate cancer. Surveys were sent to participants 3 times (at enrollment, 2 months, and 6 months). Patients were eligible if they had stage IV NSCLC, breast cancer, or prostate cancer. The survey included tests of generalized guilt, shame, depression, and anxiety as well as guilt, shame, and embarrassment related to one's cancer. One hundred seventy-two participants completed >or= 1 questionnaire: 96 patients with NSCLC, 30 patients with breast cancer, and 46 patients with prostate cancer. Of the patients with NSCLC, 91.7% were current or former smokers versus 67.1% of the comparison patients. A composite score of embarrassment related to one's cancer (perceived cancer-related stigma; PCRS) was higher in patients with NSCLC (P < .01). Mean baseline generalized guilt and shame scores were not different among groups and did not change over time. A history of smoking correlated with increased levels of guilt and shame, regardless of tumor type. A personal identification of past behaviors as contributing to cancer correlated with higher levels of guilt, shame, anxiety, and depression. Of the patients with NSCLC, 29.5% felt that their behaviors contributed to their cancer compared with 10.5% of the comparison patients. Patients with NSCLC had higher levels of PCRS than patients with prostate cancer or breast cancer but not higher baseline levels of shame and guilt. Smoking is correlated with higher levels of guilt and shame. A belief that one caused one's own cancer is correlated with higher levels of guilt, shame, anxiety, and depression. These findings could be translated into an increased need for open communication among patients and their providers surrounding issues of cancer causation, guilt, shame, depression, and anxiety.

Deontological guilt and obsessive compulsive disorder.

PubMed

Mancini, Francesco; Gangemi, Amelia

2015-12-01

The emotion of guilt plays a pivotal role in the genesis and maintenance of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). But what kind of guilt do OC patients want to prevent? Several studies suggest the existence of two different types of guilt emotions, namely deontological and altruistic guilt. This research suggests that the former, more than the latter, is involved in OCD. Studies in which people must hypothetically choose between killing one person to save a few (consequentialist choice) or take no action and allow things to take their course (omission choice), have found that the latter is consistent with the "Do not play God" moral principle whereas the former is consistent with altruistic motivations. This paper is aimed at verifying whether both OC patients, with no induction, and nonclinical participants, after the induction of deontological guilt prefer omission more often than a consequentialist option. It is hypothesized that people with OCD will be motivated to avoid feeling deontological guilt and thus will be more likely to opt for omission. Similarly, nonclinical participants who receive a deontological guilt induction will also be more likely to choose omission. In two studies participants were given seven scenarios (four moral dilemmas, three control scenarios). Twenty patients with OCD, 20 anxious controls, and 20 healthy participants took part in study 1. In study 2, we recruited 70 healthy participants who were randomly assigned to receive a deontological guilt or a control induction. Consistent with hypotheses, in Study 1 OC patients preferred omission, instead of the consequentialist option, moreso than did the clinical and nonclinical controls. In Study 2, the group receiving the deontological guilt induction preferred omission to a greater extent than did the altruistic group. The present study cannot establish that the goal of preventing or neutralizing deontological guilt actually drives obsessions and compulsions. These results provide further evidence that people with OCD are more sensitive to deontological guilt, compared to other people. They thus contribute to improve the moral appraisal theory of OCD. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A relative weights comparison of trauma-related shame and guilt as predictors of DSM-5 posttraumatic stress disorder symptom severity among US veterans and military members.

PubMed

Cunningham, Katherine C; Davis, Joanne L; Wilson, Sarah M; Resick, Patricia A

2018-06-01

Veterans and military service members have increased risk for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and consequent problems with health, psychosocial functioning, and quality of life. In this population and others, shame and guilt have emerged as contributors to PTSD, but there is a considerable need for research that precisely demonstrates how shame and guilt are associated with PTSD. This study examined whether a) trauma-related shame predicts PTSD severity beyond the effects of trauma-related guilt and b) shame accounts for a greater proportion of variance in PTSD symptoms than guilt. We collected cross-sectional self-report data on measures of PTSD symptom severity based on Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) criteria, trauma-related shame, and trauma-related guilt via online survey. Participants included 61 US veterans and active duty service members. Hierarchical multiple regression and relative weights analysis were used to test hypotheses. In step 1 of regression analysis, guilt was significantly associated with PTSD. However, when shame was added to the model, the effect of guilt became non-significant, and only shame significant predicted PTSD. Results from relative weights analysis indicated that both shame and guilt predicted PTSD, jointly accounting for 46% of the variance in PTSD. Compared to guilt, trauma-related shame accounted for significantly more explained variance in PTSD. This study provided evidence that among US veterans and service members, trauma-related shame and guilt differ in their association with PTSD and that trauma-related shame, in particular, is associated with the severity of PTSD. Trauma-related shame and guilt explained almost half of the observed variance in PTSD symptom severity among this sample of US military veterans and service members. Trauma-related shame and guilt each made a unique contribution to PTSD severity after accounting for the similarity between these two emotions; however, shame was particularly associated with increased PTSD severity. These results highlight the importance of assessing and addressing trauma-related shame and guilt in PTSD treatment among military populations. We suggest that emotion- and compassion-focused techniques may be particularly relevant for addressing trauma-related shame and guilt. Limitations of the study Cross-sectional data does not allow for determination of causal relationships. Although sufficiently powered, the sample size is small. The present sample self-selected to participate in a study about stress and emotions. © 2017 The British Psychological Society.

The Origins of Jewish Guilt: Psychological, Theological, and Cultural Perspectives

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

The idea that guilt and Judaism are closely interlinked has a long historical legacy. After discussing recent work on anthropology and emotion focusing on shame and guilt, we examine three theories purporting to account for this link: psychoanalytic, theological, and guilt as a cultural stereotype particularly the notion of the Jewish mother. PMID:26425245

Exploring Negative Emotion in Women Experiencing Intimate Partner Violence: Shame, Guilt, and PTSD

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beck, J. Gayle; McNiff, Judiann; Clapp, Joshua D.; Olsen, Shira A.; Avery, Megan L.; Hagewood, J. Houston

2011-01-01

This study explored the association of shame and guilt with PTSD among women who had experienced intimate partner violence (IPV). Sixty-three women were assessed by a research clinic serving the mental health needs of women IPV survivors. Results indicated that shame, guilt-related distress, and guilt-related cognitions showed significant…

Colonial Guilt and the Recycling of Oppression: The Merit of Unofficial History in Transforming the State's Narrative

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Habashi, Janette

2012-01-01

This article juxtaposes colonial guilt with selective historical memory of Palestinian narratives as presented in the Israeli state-mandated history textbooks. The advancement of colonial guilt imposes a particular subjective truth of oppressed groups' historical memories. The purpose of colonial guilt is to keep the power structure intact by…

The role of guilt in the development of post-traumatic stress disorder: A systematic review.

PubMed

Pugh, Lauren R; Taylor, Peter J; Berry, Katherine

2015-08-15

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can be a debilitating condition associated with a myriad of emotions. Guilt is an important associated feature of PTSD that has received far less recognition than other symptoms often associated with fear and intense threat. The nature of the relationship between guilt and PTSD remains elusive and requires further clarification. The aim of the current paper was to review the extant literature regarding the link between guilt and PTSD. A systematic database search of PsycINFO, Medline, Embase and Web of Science identified articles that enabled examination of the guilt-PTSD relationship. A total of 27 articles met inclusion criteria for this review. There were cross-sectional relationships between guilt and PTSD symptomology with evidence of associations between PTSD symptoms and cognitions related to perceived wrong doing and self-blame. However, the direction of association between guilt and PTSD is unclear and possibly confounded by overlapping constructs such as shame. The review is constrained by the absence of longitudinal and experimental research and studies, which control for potential confounding variables. The reliability and validity of measures of guilt and PTSD is also not consistently reported. This review outlines four competing models of the guilt-PTSD relationship and examines existing evidence linking the two constructs. The current literature is too preliminary to offer any strong support for one model over the other. However, in critically appraising existing studies, this review helps to inform the design of future studies investigating the association between guilt and PTSD. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Anger and guilt in treatment for chronic posttraumatic stress disorder.

PubMed

Clifton, Erin G; Feeny, Norah C; Zoellner, Lori A

2017-03-01

Feelings of anger and guilt are important to consider when treating PTSD as they are related to higher PTSD severity and may be related to avoidance during treatment. Avoidance may impede emotional engagement, the process of connecting with distressing, fear-related emotions during imaginal exposure, which is considered an important mechanism for successful PTSD treatment in prolonged exposure (PE). Yet, little research has examined possible complications in achieving emotional engagement, such as anger and guilt. The present study utilized data from 116 individuals with PTSD who received PE to investigate whether anger and guilt were associated with poorer emotional engagement, as captured by pre, peak, post, and mean subjective units of distress (SUDs), during the initial imaginal exposure, and whether anger and guilt predicted worse treatment outcome generally and as a result of lessened emotional engagement. Neither initial anger nor guilt hindered engagement nor predicted worse outcome. Contrary to hypotheses, higher guilt was predictive of greater anticipatory distress and slightly better PTSD outcome. The relationship between pre-treatment guilt cognitions and post-treatment PTSD severity was not mediated by engagement. This study used a trauma-specific measure of guilt and general measure for anger, however both are commonly used. In addition, this study examined emotional engagement during imaginal exposure to the exclusion of engagement with other therapy components, such as in vivo exposure. These findings help dispel concerns that those with higher anger and guilt will avoid emotionally engaging during the initial imaginal exposure due to feeling distressed by intense negative emotionality. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

"I'd only let you down": Guilt proneness and the avoidance of harmful interdependence.

PubMed

Wiltermuth, Scott S; Cohen, Taya R

2014-11-01

Five studies demonstrated that highly guilt-prone people may avoid forming interdependent partnerships with others whom they perceive to be more competent than themselves, as benefitting a partner less than the partner benefits one's self could trigger feelings of guilt. Highly guilt-prone people who lacked expertise in a domain were less willing than were those low in guilt proneness who lacked expertise in that domain to create outcome-interdependent relationships with people who possessed domain-specific expertise. These highly guilt-prone people were more likely than others both to opt to be paid on their performance alone (Studies 1, 3, 4, and 5) and to opt to be paid on the basis of the average of their performance and that of others whose competence was more similar to their own (Studies 2 and 5). Guilt proneness did not predict people's willingness to form outcome-interdependent relationships with potential partners who lacked domain-specific expertise (Studies 4 and 5). It also did not predict people's willingness to form relationships when poor individual performance would not negatively affect partner outcomes (Study 4). Guilt proneness therefore predicts whether, and with whom, people develop interdependent relationships. The findings also demonstrate that highly guilt-prone people sacrifice financial gain out of concern about how their actions would influence others' welfare. As such, the findings demonstrate a novel way in which guilt proneness limits free-riding and therefore reduces the incidence of potentially unethical behavior. Lastly, the findings demonstrate that people who lack competence may not always seek out competence in others when choosing partners.

Uses of guilt in the treatment of dehumanization.

PubMed

Peskin, Harvey

2017-04-01

It is likely that under the impact of impending Nazism, aggression theory in late Freud, as presented in Civilization and its Discontents (1930), left the entirety of guilt to self-punishment, thus retracting his view that love functions in the superego as remorse and restitution. This change however, essentially withdraws provision for treating victims of abuse, violence and terror. This paper proposes a paradigm shift that reframes Freud's late instinct theory into a theory of dehumanization by recovering reparative and relational components of guilt. This reframe has major implications for the position taken with regard to the role of witnessing and the moral imperative in recovery from dehumanizing experience, which orthodox psychoanalytic theory has essentially bypassed. It is propose that victim treatment, as case examples illustrate, reformulates guilt as drawing on the life instincts to revivify victims' humanity through analytic witnessing and acknowledgment. Indeed, unless breaches of humanity are confronted by a witness, the life instincts stay merely rhetorical, if not contradictory, by leaving the death instincts to grow unseen and, thus, unopposed. A two-fold formulation of guilt may better address and redress disorders of dehumanization, whereby 'death guilt' (under the sway of aggression) signifies the orthodox, irrevocable guilt of self-reproach for the bad we may have done, and 'life guilt' (under the sway of a moral imperative) the redeemable guilt for the good we have still to do. Copyright © 2017 Institute of Psychoanalysis.

A Comparison of Guilt in Bereaved Parents Whose Children Died by Suicide, Accident, or Chronic Disease.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miles, Margaret Shandor; Demi, Alice Sterner

1992-01-01

Compared guilt experiences of parents (n=132) whose children (aged 1-36) died by suicide, accident, or chronic illness. Guilt was reported by 92 percent of suicide bereaved parents, 78 percent of accident bereaved parents, and 71 percent of chronic disease bereaved parents. Six sources of guilt (Death Causation, Illness-Related, Childrearing,…

The Military Role in Reconciliation

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-05-01

Between victims and offenders, this entails the ability to distinguish degrees of guilt among the perpetrators and to disaggregate individual and...Justice mechanisms, such as courts of law, can individualize guilt in order to detract from a generalized perception of guilt for entire groups. During...individualizes guilt , strengthens legitimacy and the process of democratization, and breaks the cycle of impunity.51 Critics of retributive justice contend

Military Role in Reconciliation

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-05-21

Between victims and offenders, this entails the ability to distinguish degrees of guilt among the perpetrators and to disaggregate individual and...Justice mechanisms, such as courts of law, can individualize guilt in order to detract from a generalized perception of guilt for entire groups. During...individualizes guilt , strengthens legitimacy and the process of democratization, and breaks the cycle of impunity.51 Critics of retributive justice contend

Being bad in a video game can make us more morally sensitive.

PubMed

Grizzard, Matthew; Tamborini, Ron; Lewis, Robert J; Wang, Lu; Prabhu, Sujay

2014-08-01

Several researchers have demonstrated that the virtual behaviors committed in a video game can elicit feelings of guilt. Researchers have proposed that such guilt could have prosocial consequences. However, this proposition has not been supported with empirical evidence. The current study examined this issue in a 2×2 (video game play vs. real world recollection×guilt vs. control) experiment. Participants were first randomly assigned to either play a video game or complete a memory recall task. Next, participants were randomly assigned to either a guilt-inducing condition (game play as a terrorist/recall of acts that induce guilt) or a control condition (game play as a UN soldier/recall of acts that do not induce guilt). Results of the study indicate several important findings. First, the current results replicate previous research indicating that immoral virtual behaviors are capable of eliciting guilt. Second, and more importantly, the guilt elicited by game play led to intuition-specific increases in the salience of violated moral foundations. These findings indicate that committing "immoral" virtual behaviors in a video game can lead to increased moral sensitivity of the player. The potential prosocial benefits of these findings are discussed.

[Cognitive therapy of trauma related guilt in patients with PTSD].

PubMed

Popiel, Agnieszka

2014-01-01

Various aspects of guilt are frequent problems of patients suffering from PTSD, though they have been included into the diagnostic criteria for PTSD just in the present version DSM-5. Some studies indicate limitation of effectiveness of exposure therapy in PTSD patients with predominant emotions of anger or guilt. The aim of this paper is to present cognitive conceptualization of guilt in PTSD proposed by Kubany, and a treatment protocol resulting from this conceptualization. The clinical application of the protocol is illustrated with preliminary results of systematic observation of 8 patients with moderate to severe PTSD who were treated with cognitive therapy for guilt followed by a standard prolonged exposure protocol. The cognitive therapy of guilt can be a valuable supplement for treatment of PTSD. This protocol can also be an inspiration for therapists working with patients with dysfunctional guilt as a problem in other than PTSD disorders--like depression or adjustment disorders. In discussion the place of guilt in treatment according to different (PE-Foa et al.; CPT-Resick et al.; CT-Ehlers and Clark) trauma focused therapy approaches is addressed, and the need for further studies is underlined.

Sex guilt mediates the relationship between religiosity and sexual desire in East Asian and Euro-Canadian college-aged women.

PubMed

Woo, Jane S T; Morshedian, Negar; Brotto, Lori A; Gorzalka, Boris B

2012-12-01

Research has examined the relationship between religiosity and sexuality but few studies have explored the mechanisms by which sexual variables are influenced by religiosity. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the role of sex guilt in the relationship between religiosity and sexual desire in women. Euro-Canadian (n = 178) and East Asian (n = 361) female university students completed a battery of questionnaires. Higher levels of religious fundamentalism, intrinsic religiosity and spirituality were associated with higher levels of sex guilt in both ethnic groups. Paranormal belief was not associated with sex guilt in either ethnic group. The Euro-Canadian women reported significantly higher levels of sexual desire and significantly less sex guilt than the East Asian women. Among the Euro-Canadian women, sex guilt mediated the relationships between spirituality and sexual desire, and fundamentalism and sexual desire; among the East Asian women, sex guilt mediated the relationships between spirituality and sexual desire, fundamentalism and sexual desire, and intrinsic religiosity and sexual desire. These findings suggest that sex guilt may be one mechanism by which religiosity affects sexual desire among women.

Interpersonal guilt and substance use in college students.

PubMed

Locke, Geoffrey W; Shilkret, Robert; Everett, Joyce E; Petry, Nancy M

2015-01-01

The college years are a time for developing independence and separating from one's family, and they are also a time in which substance use often escalates. This study examined the relationships between use of substances and interpersonal guilt, an emotion that can arise from feelings about separation among college students. In total, 1865 college students completed a survey evaluating substance use and interpersonal guilt. Regular users of alcohol, cigarettes, cannabis, and other illicit drugs were compared with nonregular users of each substance. Sequential linear regression, controlling for confounding variables, examined relationships between regular use of each substance and scores on a guilt index. Risky drinkers and daily smokers had significantly more interpersonal guilt than their peers who did not regularly use these substances. In contrast, regular cannabis users had significantly less guilt than nonregular cannabis users. These data suggest that substance use among college students may be related to interpersonal guilt and family separation issues, and this relationship may vary across substances.

The influence of anticipated pride and guilt on pro-environmental decision making

PubMed Central

Zaval, Lisa; Weber, Elke U.; Markowitz, Ezra M.

2017-01-01

The present research explores the relationship between anticipated emotions and pro-environmental decision making comparing two differently valenced emotions: anticipated pride and guilt. In an experimental design, we examined the causal effects of anticipated pride versus guilt on pro-environmental decision making and behavioral intentions by making anticipated emotions (i.e. pride and guilt) salient just prior to asking participants to make a series of environmental decisions. We find evidence that anticipating one’s positive future emotional state from green action just prior to making an environmental decision leads to higher pro-environmental behavioral intentions compared to anticipating one’s negative emotional state from inaction. This finding suggests a rethinking in the domain of environmental and climate change messaging, which has traditionally favored inducing negative emotions such as guilt to promote pro-environmental action. Furthermore, exploratory results comparing anticipated pride and guilt inductions to baseline behavior point toward a reactance eliciting effect of anticipated guilt. PMID:29190758

When feeling bad makes you look good: guilt, shame, and person perception.

PubMed

Stearns, Deborah C; Parrott, W Gerrod

2012-01-01

In two studies, we examined how expressions of guilt and shame affected person perception. In the first study, participants read an autobiographical vignette in which the writer did something wrong and reported feeling either guilt, shame, or no emotion. The participants then rated the writer's motivations, beliefs, and traits, as well as their own feelings toward the writer. The person expressing feelings of guilt or shame was perceived more positively on a number of attributes, including moral motivation and social attunement, than the person who reported feeling no emotion. In the second study, the writer of the vignette reported experiencing (or not experiencing) cognitive and motivational aspects of guilt or shame. Expressing a desire to apologise (guilt) or feelings of worthlessness (private shame) resulted in more positive impressions than did reputational concerns (public shame) or a lack of any of these feelings. Our results indicate that verbal expressions of moral emotions such as guilt and shame influence perception of moral character as well as likeability.

Forgiveness from Emotion Fit: Emotional Frame, Consumer Emotion, and Feeling-Right in Consumer Decision to Forgive

PubMed Central

Ran, Yaxuan; Wei, Haiying; Li, Qing

2016-01-01

Three studies examine an emotion fit effect in the crisis communication, namely, the interaction between emotional frames of guilt and shame and consumer emotions of anger and fear on consumer forgiveness. Guilt-framing communication results in higher forgiveness than shame-framing for angry consumers, whereas shame-framing communication results in higher forgiveness than guilt-framing for fearful consumers. These effects are driven by consumers’ accessible regulatory foci associated with anger/fear and guilt/shame. Specifically, feelings of anger activate a promotion focus that is represented by guilt frames, while feelings of fear activate a prevention focus that is enacted by shame frames. Compared with emotion non-fit (i.e., anger to shame and fear to guilt), emotion fit (i.e., anger to guilt and fear to shame) facilitates greater feeling-right and consumer forgiveness. The findings offer novel insights for extant literature on emotion, crisis communication, and regulatory focus theory, as well as practical suggestions regarding the emotional frames. PMID:27895612

"I just feel so guilty": The role of introjected regulation in linking appearance goals for exercise with women's body image.

PubMed

Hurst, Megan; Dittmar, Helga; Banerjee, Robin; Bond, Rod

2017-03-01

Appearance goals for exercise are consistently associated with negative body image, but research has yet to consider the processes that link these two variables. Self-determination theory offers one such process: introjected (guilt-based) regulation of exercise behavior. Study 1 investigated these relationships within a cross-sectional sample of female UK students (n=215, 17-30 years). Appearance goals were indirectly, negatively associated with body image due to links with introjected regulation. Study 2 experimentally tested this pathway, manipulating guilt relating to exercise and appearance goals independently and assessing post-test guilt and body anxiety (n=165, 18-27 years). The guilt manipulation significantly increased post-test feelings of guilt, and these increases were associated with increased post-test body anxiety, but only for participants in the guilt condition. The implications of these findings for self-determination theory and the importance of guilt for the body image literature are discussed. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Inappropriate and Excessive Guilt: Instrument Validation and Developmental Differences in Relation to Depression

PubMed Central

Tilghman-Osborne, Carlos; Felton, Julia W.

2014-01-01

Inappropriate or excessive guilt is listed as a symptom of depression by the American Psychiatric Association (1994). Although many measures of guilt have been developed, definitional and operational problems exist, especially in the application of such measures in childhood and adolescence. To address these problems, the current study introduces the Inappropriate and Excessive Guilt Scale (IEGS), assesses its validity for use with children and adolescents, and tests its relation to depression across development. From a sample of 370 children between 7 and 16 years old, results provided (1) evidence that items designed to assess inappropriate and excessive guilt converged onto a single underlying factor, (2) support for the convergent, discriminant, and construct validity of the IEGS in a general youth population, and (3) evidence of incremental validity of the IEGS over-and-above other measures of guilt. Results also supported the hypothesis that inappropriate and excessive guilt as well as negative cognitive errors become less normative and more depressotypic with age. PMID:22086497

The guiltless guilty: trauma-related guilt and psychopathology in former Ugandan child soldiers.

PubMed

Klasen, Fionna; Reissmann, Sina; Voss, Catharina; Okello, James

2015-04-01

Child soldiers often experience complex trauma as victims and perpetrators, and feelings of guilt may affect their psychological health. The relationship between the children's traumatic experiences as victims or perpetrators, their perception of themselves as victim or perpetrator, guilt and psychopathology were investigated: of the 330 former child soldiers interviewed, 50.8 % perceived themselves as victims and 19.1 % as perpetrators. On psychopathology measures, scores within the clinical range were 33 % for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), 36.4 % for major depressive disorder (MDD), and 26.1 % for externalizing problems. Low socio-economic status, traumatic experience as perpetrator, and guilt were significant predictors of PTSD. Significant predictors of MDD were low socio-economic status, traumatic experiences as victim, and guilt. A greater number of traumatic experiences as perpetrator and guilt were associated with externalizing problems. The current paper underscores the significance of guilt following traumatic experiences and has implications for the development of clinical interventions for war-affected children.

Gendering Guilt among Dependent Family Members' Caregivers.

PubMed

Brea, Maria-Teresa; Albar, María-Jesús; Casado-Mejia, Rosa

2016-11-17

This study analyzes guilt among family caregivers of dependent patients, from a gender perspective. A qualitative design was used, conducting in-depth interviews and focus groups. Using purposive sampling, we selected 73 family caregivers and 23 health professionals (family medicine, community nursing, and social work) from the Primary Care District of Seville. The content of the information collected was analyzed in terms of the following categories: a) guilt for abandoning family and friends; b) guilt for the relationship with the dependent person; and c) guilt for placing the relative in a nursing home. To validate the findings, data sources, methodological techniques, and researchers' disciplines were all triangulated. Results indicated that women report more guilt than men for abandoning family and friends, and because of their relationship with the dependent person. However, with respect to nursing home placement, no difference was observed as a function of gender. The high incidence of caregiver guilt needs to be addressed by health professionals to avoid the emergence of other mental health issues.

Forgiveness from Emotion Fit: Emotional Frame, Consumer Emotion, and Feeling-Right in Consumer Decision to Forgive.

PubMed

Ran, Yaxuan; Wei, Haiying; Li, Qing

2016-01-01

Three studies examine an emotion fit effect in the crisis communication, namely, the interaction between emotional frames of guilt and shame and consumer emotions of anger and fear on consumer forgiveness. Guilt-framing communication results in higher forgiveness than shame-framing for angry consumers, whereas shame-framing communication results in higher forgiveness than guilt-framing for fearful consumers. These effects are driven by consumers' accessible regulatory foci associated with anger/fear and guilt/shame. Specifically, feelings of anger activate a promotion focus that is represented by guilt frames, while feelings of fear activate a prevention focus that is enacted by shame frames. Compared with emotion non-fit (i.e., anger to shame and fear to guilt), emotion fit (i.e., anger to guilt and fear to shame) facilitates greater feeling-right and consumer forgiveness. The findings offer novel insights for extant literature on emotion, crisis communication, and regulatory focus theory, as well as practical suggestions regarding the emotional frames.

Can Masturbatory Guilt Lead to Severe Psychopathology: A Case Series

PubMed Central

Aneja, Jitender; Grover, Sandeep; Avasthi, Ajit; Mahajan, Sudhir; Pokhrel, Prabhakar; Triveni, Davuluri

2015-01-01

Masturbation is common in all societies. Despite being common, it is admonished culturally and almost all religions prohibit masturbation and consider it an act of immorality. The prohibition for masturbation leads to a lot of cultural beliefs, including certain myths, which influence sexual behavior of the person. The impact of these common cultural myths associated with masturbation, are clinically understood as Dhat syndrome and masturbatory guilt. Although there is a reasonable literature on Dhat syndrome, there is limited literature with regard to masturbatory guilt especially linking the same with axis-I psychopathology. In this case series, three cases of masturbatory guilt are presented in whom masturbatory guilt was associated with manifestation of severe psychopathology. This report suggests that masturbatory guilt must be enquired for in patients presenting with severe mental disorder. PMID:25722518

Guilt and pride are heartfelt, but not equally so.

PubMed

Fourie, Melike M; Rauch, Henri G L; Morgan, Barak E; Ellis, George F R; Jordaan, Esmè R; Thomas, Kevin G F

2011-07-01

We examined the cardiovascular physiology of guilt and pride to elucidate physiological substrates underpinning the behavioral motivations of these moral emotions. Although both emotions motivate prosocial behavior, guilt typically inhibits ongoing behavior, whereas pride reinforces current behavior. To succeed in eliciting real emotions, we used a novel social interaction task. We found dissociable sympathetic activation during guilt and pride; specifically, Guilt participants experienced prolonged cardiac sympathetic arousal as measured by preejection period (PEP), whereas Pride participants experienced transient non-cardiac somatic arousal and a shift to low frequency (LF) power in the cardiac spectrogram. This dissociation supports their distinctive motivational functions. Higher self-reported Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS) sensitivity was furthermore uniquely associated with guilt, supporting its function as a punishment cue. Copyright © 2010 Society for Psychophysiological Research.

Frontal negativity: An electrophysiological index of interpersonal guilt.

PubMed

Leng, Bingbing; Wang, Xiangling; Cao, Bihua; Li, Fuhong

2017-12-01

The present study aimed to reveal the temporal course and electrophysiological correlates of interpersonal guilt. Human participants were asked to perform multiple rounds of a dot-estimation task with their partners, while event-related potential being recorded. The paired participants were informed that they would win money if both responded correctly; otherwise, both of them would lose money. The feeling of guilt in Self-Wrong condition (SW) was significantly higher than that in Both-Wrong and Partner-Wrong conditions. At approximately 350 ms after the onset of feedback presentation, greater negativities were observed in the frontal regions in the guilt condition (i.e., SW) than those in the non-guilt condition. The guilt-modulated frontal negativity might reflect the interactions of self-reflection, condemnation, and negative emotion.

When feeling bad leads to feeling good: guilt-proneness and affective organizational commitment.

PubMed

Flynn, Francis J; Schaumberg, Rebecca L

2012-01-01

The authors posit that higher levels of guilt-proneness are associated with higher levels of affective organizational commitment. To explain this counterintuitive link, the authors suggest that a dispositional tendency to feel guilt motivates individuals to exert greater effort on their work-related tasks that, in turn, strengthens their affinity for the organization. The authors tested this idea using a laboratory study and field data from 2 samples of working adults. Individuals who are more guilt-prone reported higher levels of organizational attachment compared with less guilt-prone individuals. Furthermore, mediation analyses indicate that the link between guilt-proneness and affective commitment is driven by greater task effort. The authors discuss the implications of these findings for understanding the affective drivers of commitment in organizations.

Guilt in bereavement: a review and conceptual framework.

PubMed

Li, Jie; Stroebe, Margaret; Chan, Cecilia L W; Chow, Amy Y M

2014-01-01

Thirty-four quantitative and 9 qualitative studies are reviewed to indicate current understanding of the nature and impact of guilt in bereavement. This overview suggests that guilt is especially prevalent among some vulnerable subgroups, and it is associated with maladaptive health outcomes. Being male, longer bereavement time, and good end-of life experience seem to be associated with less guilt feelings. However, definition ambiguity, measurement difficulties, and cultural insensitivity are evident in studies. Therefore, a multidimensional conceptualization of guilt and a structural model to guide future investigation of this phenomenon in the bereavement context is proposed.

S.E.E. Program Parents' Manual: How to Raise a Child with Epilepsy Part Three: Coping with Guilt

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mittan, Robert J.

2005-01-01

In this final article in the series of 3 on "Raising a Child with Epilepsy, Coping with Guilt," readers will discover how culture attacks the emotional well being of parents of children who have epilepsy. Guilt, like fear and stigma, unconsciously influences childrearing decisions for the worse. However, in the case of guilt, most of the damage…

Shame and guilt in preschool depression: evidence for elevations in self-conscious emotions in depression as early as age 3

PubMed Central

Luby, Joan; Belden, Andy; Sullivan, Jill; Hayen, Robin; McCadney, Amber; Spitznagel, Ed

2010-01-01

Background Empirical findings from two divergent bodies of literature illustrate that depression can arise in the preschool period and that the complex self-conscious emotions of guilt and shame may develop normatively as early as age 3. Despite these related findings, few studies have examined whether the emotions of shame and guilt are salient in early childhood depression. This is important to further understand the emotional characteristics of preschool depression. Based on the hypothesis that preschool depression would be uniquely associated with higher levels of shame and maladaptive guilt, these emotions were investigated in a sample that included depressed, anxious, and disruptive disordered preschoolers as well as healthy peers using multiple methods. Method Structured psychiatric diagnoses were derived in a sample of N = 305 preschoolers ascertained from community sites. Pre-schoolers’ tendency to experience shame and guilt were explored using a story stem completion task coded by raters blind to symptoms and diagnosis of the subjects. Guilt experience and reparation behaviors were also measured using parent report. Results Based on preschooler’s emotion themes during the narrative tasks, gender, age, and depression severity predicted unique and significant portions of the variance in preschoolers’ expressions of shame. Parent report measures revealed that increasing depression severity was associated with children’s more frequent experiences of guilt feelings and less frequent attempts at guilt reparation (maladaptive guilt). Conclusions Findings demonstrated that high levels of shame and maladaptive guilt were related to preschool onset depression when using observational measures of children’s internal representations of their self-conscious emotions as well as parent report. These findings demonstrate continuity of these core emotions of depression as early as age 3. These findings suggest that guilt and shame should be explored in clinical assessments of young children and may be an important focus for future studies of the developmental psychopathology of depression. PMID:19490311

The Shame and Guilt Scales of the Test of Self-Conscious Affect-Adolescent (TOSCA-A): Psychometric Properties for Responses from Children, and Measurement Invariance Across Children and Adolescents

PubMed Central

Watson, Shaun D.; Gomez, Rapson; Gullone, Eleonora

2016-01-01

This study examined various psychometric properties of the items comprising the shame and guilt scales of the Test of Self-Conscious Affect-Adolescent (TOSCA-A) in a group children between 8 and 11 years of age. A total of 699 children (367 females and 332 males) completed these scales, and also measures of depression and empathy. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) provided support for an oblique two-factor model, with the originally proposed shame and guilt items comprising shame and guilt factors, respectively. There was good internal consistency reliability for the shame and guilt scales, with omega coefficient values of 0.77 and 0.81 for shame and guilt, respectively. Also, shame correlated with depression symptoms positively (0.34, p < 0.001) and had no relation with empathy (-0.07, ns). Guilt correlated with depression symptoms negatively (-0.28, p < 0.001), and with empathy positively (0.13. p < 0.05). Thus there was support for the convergent and discriminant validity of the shame and guilt factors. Multiple-group CFA comparing this group of children with a separate group of adolescents (320 females and 242 males), based on the chi-square difference test, supported full metric invariance, the intercept invariance of 17 of the 30 shame and guilt items, and higher latent mean scores among children for both shame and guilt. The non-equivalency for intercepts and mean scores were of small effect sizes. Comparisons based on the difference in root mean squared error of approximation values supported full measurement invariance and no group difference for latent mean scores. The findings in the current study support the use of the TOSCA-A in children and the valid comparison of scores between children and adolescents, thereby opening up the possibility of evaluating change in the TOSCA-A shame and guilt factors over these developmental age groups. PMID:27242573

Empathy and feelings of guilt experienced by nurses: A cross-sectional study of their role in burnout and compassion fatigue symptoms.

PubMed

Duarte, Joana; Pinto-Gouveia, José

2017-06-01

The main goal of this study was to explore the relationships between empathy, empathy-based pathogenic guilt and professional quality of life (burnout and compassion fatigue). We aim to test a model in which we hypothesize that when empathic feelings are related to pathogenic guilt, burnout and compassion fatigue symptoms may be increased. Empathy is at the core of nursing practice, and has been associated with positive outcomes not only for the healthcare provider but also for the patient. However, empathy is also at the core of guilt feelings that, when excessive and misdirected, can lead to pathogenic guilt beliefs. We focused on two types of empathy-based guilt characterized by excessive responsibility over others' well-being and how these can be related to professional quality of life. This study is a cross-sectional self-report survey. Data were collected during 2014 and 2015. Two hundred ninety-eight nurses from public hospitals in Portugal's north and center region were surveyed. Professional quality of life (burnout and compassion fatigue), empathy, and empathy-based guilt were measured using validated self-report measures. Correlation analyses showed that empathy-based guilt was positively associated with empathy, and with burnout and compassion fatigue. Results from multiple mediation models further indicated when empathy is associated with empathy-based guilt, this leads to greater levels of burnout and compassion fatigue. Given the nature of their work, nurses who experience pathogenic guilt feelings may have compromised well-being, and this should be addressed in training programs aiming at preventing or treating burnout and compassion fatigue. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Validation of the Caregiver Guilt Questionnaire (CGQ) in a sample of British dementia caregivers.

PubMed

Roach, Louise; Laidlaw, Ken; Gillanders, David; Quinn, Kathryn

2013-12-01

Depression is well documented as a key outcome variable for dementia caregivers; however, guilt has been under-researched, which may be in part due to the lack of an appropriate measure. The Caregiver Guilt Questionnaire (CGQ) was originally developed and piloted with a Spanish population but has not yet been tested in an English-speaking population. A cross-sectional postal survey was undertaken with a sample of 221 dementia caregivers in the UK, as part of a larger study of dementia caregiver outcome measures. The five-factor structure identified for the CGQ in the Spanish sample was replicated in this study. The five factors, "guilt about doing wrong by the care recipient," "guilt about failing to meet the challenges of caregiving," 'guilt over experience of negative emotions in relation to caregiving," "guilt about self-care," and "guilt about neglecting other relatives" accounted for 60% of the variance. Internal consistencies for the whole scale and factors were acceptable, and convergent validity was established with the Zarit Burden Interview guilt factor. A higher score on the CGQ was associated with a higher score on the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression scale (CES-D) and a new cut-off score of 22 was established, which predicted a clinical score on the CES-D with 80.0% sensitivity and 61.5% specificity. The replication of the five-factor structure suggests that these are relevant themes within the feelings of guilt to both Hispanic and British dementia caregivers. The CGQ has been demonstrated to be a valid measure for use with British dementia caregivers and is likely to be of use in clinical and research settings.

Increased Mindfulness Skills as Predictors of Reduced Trauma-Related Guilt in Treatment-Seeking Veterans.

PubMed

Held, Philip; Owens, Gina P; Monroe, J Richard; Chard, Kathleen M

2017-08-01

The present study examined the predictive role of increased self-reported mindfulness skills on reduced trauma-related guilt in a sample of veterans over the course of residential treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; N = 128). The residential treatment consisted of seven weeks of intensive cognitive processing therapy (CPT) for PTSD, as well as additional psychoeducational groups, including seven sessions on mindfulness skills. Increased mindfulness skills describing, acting with awareness, and accepting without judgment were significantly associated with reductions in trauma-related guilt over the course of treatment. Increases in the ability to act with awareness and accept without judgment were significantly associated with reductions in global guilt, R 2 = .26, guilt distress, R 2 = .23, guilt cognitions, R 2 = .23, and lack of justification, R 2 = .11. An increase in the ability to accept without judgment was the only self-reported mindfulness skill that was associated with reductions in hindsight bias, β = -.34 and wrongdoing, β = -.44. Increases in self-reported mindfulness skills explained 15.1 to 24.1% of the variance in reductions in trauma-related guilt, suggesting that mindfulness skills may play a key role in reducing the experience of trauma-related guilt during psychotherapy. Our results provide preliminary support for the use of mindfulness groups as an adjunct to traditional evidence-based treatments aimed at reducing trauma-related guilt, though this claim needs to be tested further using experimental designs. Copyright © 2017 International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies.

A Comparison of the Social-Adaptive Perspective and Functionalist Perspective on Guilt and Shame

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Within the field of guilt and shame two competing perspectives have been advanced. The first, the social-adaptive perspective, proposes that guilt is an inherently adaptive emotion and shame is an inherently maladaptive emotion. Thus, those interested in moral character development and psychopathology should work to increase an individual’s guilt-proneness and decrease an individual’s shame-proneness. The functionalist perspective, in contrast, argues that both guilt and shame can serve a person adaptively or maladaptively—depending on the situational appropriateness, duration, intensity, and so forth. This paper reviews the research conducted supporting both positions; critiques some issues with the most widely used guilt- and shame-proneness measure in the social-adaptive research (the TOSCA) and discusses the differences in results found when assessing guilt and shame at the state versus trait level. The conclusion drawn is that although there is broad support for the functionalist perspective across a wide variety of state and trait guilt/shame studies, the functionalist perspective does not yet have the wealth of data supporting it that has been generated by the social-adaptive perspective using the TOSCA. Thus, before a dominant perspective can be identified, researchers need to (1) do more research assessing how the social-adaptive perspective compares to the functionalist perspective at the state level and (2) do more trait research within the functionalist perspective to compare functionalist guilt- and shame-proneness measures with the TOSCA. PMID:29232888

The relationship between trauma, shame, and guilt: findings from a community-based study of refugee minors in Germany

PubMed Central

Stotz, Sabrina J.; Elbert, Thomas; Müller, Veronika; Schauer, Maggie

2015-01-01

Background The relationships between traumatic stress and self-conscious emotions, such as shame and guilt, remain to be fully explored, especially in refugees, who frequently are exposed to a multitude of stressors. Objective The aim of the present study was to investigate shame and guilt in refugee minors and to assess to what extent a greater cumulative exposure to traumatic stressors would result not only in more severe posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms but also in higher levels of shame and guilt. Methods Thirty-two male refugee minors, who were all below the age of 18 when they sought asylum in Germany, agreed to participate. At the time of the assessment, the age ranged from 11 to 20 years. Eighteen refugees had arrived without relatives in their host country (“unaccompanied minors”). In structured diagnostic interviews, a PTSD diagnosis was established using the UCLA PTSD Index. Posttraumatic guilt was assessed by means of the Trauma-related Guilt Inventory, and the Shame Variability Questionnaire was used to record the intensity, duration, and frequency of shame episodes. Results Feelings of guilt and shame as well as trauma symptoms were all associated with the number of traumatic event types subjects had experienced. Posttraumatic guilt and shame were both correlated with PTSD symptom severity. Conclusions The findings indicate that cumulative stress such as exposure to multiple traumatic events poses a risk factor for the mental health including greater suffering and functional impairment due to shame and guilt. PMID:26105045

Feelings of guilt and shame in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

PubMed

Ten Klooster, Peter M; Christenhusz, Lieke C A; Taal, Erik; Eggelmeijer, Frank; van Woerkom, Jan-Maarten; Rasker, Johannes J

2014-07-01

This study aims to determine whether patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) experience more general feelings of guilt and shame than their peers without RA and to examine possible correlates of guilt and shame in RA. In a cross-sectional survey study, 85 out-patients with RA (77 % female; median disease duration, 11 years) and 59 peer controls completed the Experience of Shame Scale (ESS) and the Test of Self-Conscious Affect (TOSCA). Patients additionally completed measures of health status, self-efficacy, cognitive emotion regulation, and numerical rating scales for life satisfaction and happiness. Patients and peer controls were well matched for sociodemographic characteristics. No significant differences between patients and controls were found for guilt or different types of shame as measured with the TOSCA or ESS. In multivariate analyses, female patients reported more feelings of bodily shame and higher guilt proneness, while younger patients reported more character and bodily shame. Worse social functioning and more self-blaming coping strategies were the strongest independent correlates of shame. Shame proneness was only independently associated with more self-blame, whereas guilt proneness was only associated with female sex. None of the physical aspects of the disease, including pain and physical functioning, correlated with feelings of guilt and shame. Patients with longstanding RA do not experience more general feelings of shame or guilt than their peers without RA. Shame and guilt in RA is primarily associated with demographic and psychosocial characteristics and not with physical severity of the disease.

Guilt, shame, and suicidal ideation in a military outpatient clinical sample.

PubMed

Bryan, Craig J; Morrow, Chad E; Etienne, Neysa; Ray-Sannerud, Bobbie

2013-01-01

Increased suicide risk among US military personnel is a growing concern. Research has linked trauma exposure, including exposure to combat-related injuries, death, and atrocities to suicidal ideation among combat veterans. Guilt (feeling bad about what you did to another) and shame (feeling bad about who you are) have been proposed as potential contributors to suicidal ideation among military personnel, but have not yet received much empirical attention. Sixty-nine active duty military personnel receiving outpatient mental health treatment at a military clinic completed self-report symptom measures of guilt, shame, depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, and suicidal ideation while engaged in treatment. Generalized linear regression modeling was utilized to test the association of guilt and shame with suicidal ideation. Mean levels of guilt and shame were significantly higher among military personnel with a history of suicidal ideation. Guilt (B = 0.203, SE = .046, P < .001) and shame (B = 0.111, SE = .037, P = .002) were independently associated with severity of current suicidal ideation above and beyond the effects of depression, PTSD symptoms, and the depression-by-PTSD interaction, and fully mediated the relationships of depression and PTSD symptom severity with suicidal ideation. When considered simultaneously, only guilt (B = 0.167, SE = .053, P = .001) was significantly associated with increased suicidal ideation. Guilt and shame are associated with increased severity of suicidal ideation in military mental health outpatients. Guilt has a particularly strong relationship with suicidal ideation. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Anticipation of guilt for everyday moral transgressions: The role of the anterior insula and the influence of interpersonal psychopathic traits

PubMed Central

Seara-Cardoso, Ana; Sebastian, Catherine L.; McCrory, Eamon; Foulkes, Lucy; Buon, Marine; Roiser, Jonathan P.; Viding, Essi

2016-01-01

Psychopathy is a personality disorder characterised by atypical moral behaviour likely rooted in atypical affective/motivational processing, as opposed to an inability to judge the wrongness of an action. Guilt is a moral emotion believed to play a crucial role in adherence to moral and social norms, but the mechanisms by which guilt (or lack thereof) may influence behaviour in individuals with high levels of psychopathic traits are unclear. We measured neural responses during the anticipation of guilt about committing potential everyday moral transgressions, and tested the extent to which these varied with psychopathic traits. We found a significant interaction between the degree to which anticipated guilt was modulated in the anterior insula and interpersonal psychopathic traits: anterior insula modulation of anticipated guilt was weaker in individuals with higher levels of these traits. Data from a second sample confirmed that this pattern of findings was specific to the modulation of anticipated guilt and not related to the perceived wrongness of the transgression. These results suggest a central role for the anterior insula in coding the anticipation of guilt regarding potential moral transgressions and advance our understanding of the neurocognitive mechanisms that may underlie propensity to antisocial behaviour. PMID:27808160

Examining the Factor Structure and Psychometric Properties of a Guilt Management Scale (GMS).

PubMed

McIvor, Katy; Degnan, Amy; Pugh, Lauren; Bettney, Laura; Emsley, Richard; Berry, Katherine

2018-06-19

Guilt is commonly associated with distress and psychopathology. However, there is a lack of validated measures that assess how people cope with this aversive emotional and cognitive experience. We therefore developed and validated a self-report measure that assesses how people manage their guilt: the Guilt Management Scale (GMS). The GMS was administered to a non-clinical (n = 339) and clinical (n = 67) sample, alongside other validated measures of guilt severity, coping, thought control and psychological distress. Results from a principal component analysis (PCA) and assessments of test-retest reliability and internal consistency are presented. The PCA yielded a six subscale solution (Self-Punishment, Reparation, People-Focused, Spirituality, Avoidance and Metacognition), accounting for 56.14% of variance. Test-retest reliability and internal consistency was found to be good-excellent for the majority of subscales. Across samples, Self-Punishment was related to higher levels of guilt and distress whilst Metacognition and Reparation were related to less guilt and distress in the non-clinical sample only. This paper provides preliminary evidence for the psychometric properties of the GMS in a non-clinical sample. With development and validation in clinical samples, the GMS could be used to inform psychological formulations of guilt and assess therapy outcomes.

The Shame and Guilt Scales of the Test of Self-Conscious Affect-Adolescent (TOSCA-A): Factor Structure, Concurrent and Discriminant Validity, and Measurement and Structural Invariance Across Ratings of Males and Females.

PubMed

Watson, Shaun; Gomez, Rapson; Gullone, Eleonora

2017-06-01

This study examined various psychometric properties of the items comprising the shame and guilt scales of the Test of Self-Conscious Affect-Adolescent. A total of 563 adolescents (321 females and 242 males) completed these scales, and also measures of depression and empathy. Confirmatory factor analysis provided support for an oblique two-factor model, with the originally proposed shame and guilt items comprising shame and guilt factors, respectively. Also, shame correlated with depression positively and had no relation with empathy. Guilt correlated with depression negatively and with empathy positively. Thus, there was support for the convergent and discriminant validity of the shame and guilt factors. Multiple-group confirmatory factor analysis comparing females and males, based on the chi-square difference test, supported full metric invariance, the intercept invariance of 26 of the 30 shame and guilt items, and higher latent mean scores among females for both shame and guilt. Comparisons based on the difference in root mean squared error of approximation values supported full measurement invariance and no gender difference for latent mean scores. The psychometric and practical implications of the findings are discussed.

Anticipation of guilt for everyday moral transgressions: The role of the anterior insula and the influence of interpersonal psychopathic traits.

PubMed

Seara-Cardoso, Ana; Sebastian, Catherine L; McCrory, Eamon; Foulkes, Lucy; Buon, Marine; Roiser, Jonathan P; Viding, Essi

2016-11-03

Psychopathy is a personality disorder characterised by atypical moral behaviour likely rooted in atypical affective/motivational processing, as opposed to an inability to judge the wrongness of an action. Guilt is a moral emotion believed to play a crucial role in adherence to moral and social norms, but the mechanisms by which guilt (or lack thereof) may influence behaviour in individuals with high levels of psychopathic traits are unclear. We measured neural responses during the anticipation of guilt about committing potential everyday moral transgressions, and tested the extent to which these varied with psychopathic traits. We found a significant interaction between the degree to which anticipated guilt was modulated in the anterior insula and interpersonal psychopathic traits: anterior insula modulation of anticipated guilt was weaker in individuals with higher levels of these traits. Data from a second sample confirmed that this pattern of findings was specific to the modulation of anticipated guilt and not related to the perceived wrongness of the transgression. These results suggest a central role for the anterior insula in coding the anticipation of guilt regarding potential moral transgressions and advance our understanding of the neurocognitive mechanisms that may underlie propensity to antisocial behaviour.

Differences in sexual guilt and desire in east Asian and Euro-Canadian men.

PubMed

Brotto, Lori A; Woo, Jane S T; Gorzalka, Boris B

2012-01-01

Differences in sexual desire between individuals of East Asian and European descent are well-documented, with East Asian individuals reporting lower sexual desire. The mechanisms that underlie this disparity have received little empirical attention. Recent research has found that sex guilt, "a generalized expectancy for self-mediated punishment for violating or for anticipating violating standards of proper sexual conduct" (Mosher & Cross, 1971 , p. 27), mediates the relationship between culture and sexual desire in East Asian and Euro-Canadian women. The goal of this study was to explore this role of sex guilt in men. Male Euro-Canadian (n = 38) and East Asian (n = 45) university students completed online questionnaires. The East Asian men reported significantly lower sexual desire and significantly higher sex guilt. Sex guilt was a significant mediator of the relationship between ethnicity and sexual desire, as well as a significant mediator between mainstream acculturation and sexual desire. Among the East Asian men, mainstream acculturation was significantly and negatively correlated with sex guilt such that increasing mainstream acculturation was associated with less sex guilt. The diagnostic and clinical implications of the findings are discussed.

Shame and Guilt-Proneness in Adolescents: Gene-Environment Interactions

PubMed Central

Szentágotai-Tătar, Aurora; Chiș, Adina; Vulturar, Romana; Dobrean, Anca; Cândea, Diana Mirela; Miu, Andrei C.

2015-01-01

Rooted in people’s preoccupation with how they are perceived and evaluated, shame and guilt are self-conscious emotions that play adaptive roles in social behavior, but can also contribute to psychopathology when dysregulated. Shame and guilt-proneness develop during childhood and adolescence, and are influenced by genetic and environmental factors that are little known to date. This study investigated the effects of early traumatic events and functional polymorphisms in the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene and the serotonin transporter gene promoter (5-HTTLPR) on shame and guilt in adolescents. A sample of N = 271 healthy adolescents between 14 and 17 years of age filled in measures of early traumatic events and proneness to shame and guilt, and were genotyped for the BDNF Val66Met and 5-HTTLPR polymorphisms. Results of moderator analyses indicated that trauma intensity was positively associated with guilt-proneness only in carriers of the low-expressing Met allele of BDNF Val66Met. This is the first study that identifies a gene-environment interaction that significantly contributes to guilt proneness in adolescents, with potential implications for developmental psychopathology. PMID:26230319

Shame and guilt as shared vulnerability factors: Shame, but not guilt, prospectively predicts both social anxiety and bulimic symptoms.

PubMed

Levinson, Cheri A; Byrne, Meghan; Rodebaugh, Thomas L

2016-08-01

Social anxiety disorder (SAD) and bulimia nervosa (BN) are highly comorbid. However, little is known about the shared vulnerability factors that prospectively predict both SA and BN symptoms. Two potential factors that have not yet been tested are shame and guilt. In the current study we tested if shame and guilt were shared vulnerability factors for SA and BN symptoms. Women (N=300) completed measures of SA symptoms, BN symptoms, state shame and guilt, and trait negative affect at two time points, two months apart. Utilizing structural equation modeling we tested a cross-sectional and prospective model of SA and BN vulnerability. We found that shame prospectively predicted both SA and BN symptoms. We did not find that guilt prospectively predicted SA or BN symptoms. However, higher levels of both BN and SA symptoms predicted increased guilt over time. We found support for shame as a shared prospective vulnerability factor between BN and SA symptoms. Interventions that focus on decreasing shame could potentially alleviate symptoms of BN and SA in one protocol. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Alleviation of moral disgust, shame, and guilt in posttraumatic stress reactions: an evaluation of comprehensive distancing.

PubMed

Ojserkis, Rachel; McKay, Dean; Badour, Christal L; Feldner, Matthew T; Arocho, Justin; Dutton, Courtney

2014-11-01

Research suggests that moral disgust, shame, and guilt are present in posttraumatic psychopathology. However, it is unclear that these emotional states are responsive to empirically supported interventions for posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS). This study explored the relations among moral disgust, shame, guilt, and PTSS, and examined comprehensive distancing (CD) as a novel intervention for these emotional states in undergraduates with elevated PTSS. Participants were randomly assigned to use a CD or a cognitive challenge task in response to personalized scripts of a traumatic event. Both interventions were associated with decreases in disgust, moral disgust, shame, and guilt. Contrary to predictions, there were no significant differences between the exercises in the reduction of negative emotions. In addition, PTSS severity was correlated with trauma-related guilt as well as state guilt and shame, but not trait or state measures of disgust or moral disgust. This proof of concept project sets the stage for further research examining CD as an alternative or adjunctive intervention for posttraumatic stress reactions with strong features of moral disgust, shame, and guilt. © The Author(s) 2014.

Shame and Guilt-Proneness in Adolescents: Gene-Environment Interactions.

PubMed

Szentágotai-Tătar, Aurora; Chiș, Adina; Vulturar, Romana; Dobrean, Anca; Cândea, Diana Mirela; Miu, Andrei C

2015-01-01

Rooted in people's preoccupation with how they are perceived and evaluated, shame and guilt are self-conscious emotions that play adaptive roles in social behavior, but can also contribute to psychopathology when dysregulated. Shame and guilt-proneness develop during childhood and adolescence, and are influenced by genetic and environmental factors that are little known to date. This study investigated the effects of early traumatic events and functional polymorphisms in the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene and the serotonin transporter gene promoter (5-HTTLPR) on shame and guilt in adolescents. A sample of N = 271 healthy adolescents between 14 and 17 years of age filled in measures of early traumatic events and proneness to shame and guilt, and were genotyped for the BDNF Val66Met and 5-HTTLPR polymorphisms. Results of moderator analyses indicated that trauma intensity was positively associated with guilt-proneness only in carriers of the low-expressing Met allele of BDNF Val66Met. This is the first study that identifies a gene-environment interaction that significantly contributes to guilt proneness in adolescents, with potential implications for developmental psychopathology.

Group-based guilt as a predictor of commitment to apology.

PubMed

McGarty, Craig; Pedersen, Anne; Leach, Colin Wayne; Mansell, Tamarra; Waller, Julie; Bliuc, Ana-Maria

2005-12-01

Whether the Australian government should officially apologize to Indigenous Australians for past wrongs is hotly debated in Australia. The predictors of support amongst non-Indigenous Australians for such an apology were examined in two studies. The first study (N=164) showed that group-based guilt was a good predictor of support for a government apology, as was the perception that non-Indigenous Australians were relatively advantaged. In the second study (N=116) it was found that group-based guilt was an excellent predictor of support for apology and was itself predicted by perceived non-Indigenous responsibility for harsh treatment of Indigenous people, and an absence of doubts about the legitimacy of group-based guilt. National identification was not a predictor of group-based guilt. The results of the two studies suggest that, just as individual emotions predict individual action tendencies, so group-based guilt predicts support for actions or decisions to be taken at the collective level.

The role of responsibility and fear of guilt in hypothesis-testing.

PubMed

Mancini, Francesco; Gangemi, Amelia

2006-12-01

Recent theories argue that both perceived responsibility and fear of guilt increase obsessive-like behaviours. We propose that hypothesis-testing might account for this effect. Both perceived responsibility and fear of guilt would influence subjects' hypothesis-testing, by inducing a prudential style. This style implies focusing on and confirming the worst hypothesis, and reiterating the testing process. In our experiment, we manipulated the responsibility and fear of guilt of 236 normal volunteers who executed a deductive task. The results show that perceived responsibility is the main factor that influenced individuals' hypothesis-testing. Fear of guilt has however a significant additive effect. Guilt-fearing participants preferred to carry on with the diagnostic process, even when faced with initial favourable evidence, whereas participants in the responsibility condition only did so when confronted with an unfavourable evidence. Implications for the understanding of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) are discussed.

How Different Guilt Feelings Can Affect Social Competence Development in Childhood.

PubMed

Tani, Franca; Ponti, Lucia

2018-01-01

The authors examined how the two different dimensions of guilt feelings, needed for reparation and fear of punishment, could influence social conduct, such as prosocial and aggressive behaviors, and how they are linked to popularity in childhood. The authors hypothesized a theoretical model that they tested, fitting it with empirical data obtained from a sample of 242 Italian children 9-11 years old. Both dimensions of guilt predict prosocial and aggressive behaviors. Specifically, the feeling of guilt linked to the need for reparation tends to negatively predict aggressive behaviors, and positively predict prosocial behaviors. The feeling of guilt linked to the fear of punishment, on the contrary, tends to positively affect aggressive and negatively affect prosocial conducts in children. These results highlight that the different feelings of guilt can represent a relevant risk or protective factor for the development of social competence in childhood. Limitations, strengths, and further development of the present study are discussed.

Interpersonal Guilt and Substance Use in College Students

PubMed Central

Locke, Geoffrey W.; Shilkret, Robert; Everett, Joyce E.; Petry, Nancy M.

2016-01-01

The college years are a time for developing independence and separating from one’s family, and it is also a time in which substance use often escalates. This study examined the relationships between use of substances and interpersonal guilt, an emotion that can arise from feelings about separation, among 1,979 college students. Regular users of alcohol, cigarettes, cannabis, and other illicit drugs were compared with non-regular users of each substance. Sequential linear regression, controlling for confounding variables, examined relationships between regular use of each substance and scores on a guilt index. Risky drinkers and daily smokers had significantly more interpersonal guilt than their peers who did not regularly use these substances. In contrast, regular cannabis users had significantly less guilt than non-regular cannabis users. These data suggest that substance use among college students may be related to interpersonal guilt and family separation issues, and this relationship may vary across substances. PMID:24579980

Nuestra culpa: collective guilt and shame as predictors of reparation for historical wrongdoing.

PubMed

Brown, Rupert; González, Roberto; Zagefka, Hanna; Manzi, Jorge; Cehajic, Sabina

2008-01-01

Three studies examined the hypothesis that collective guilt and shame have different consequences for reparation. In 2 longitudinal studies, the ingroup was nonindigenous Chileans (Study 1: N = 124/120, lag = 8 weeks; Study 2: N = 247/137, lag = 6 months), and the outgroup was Chile's largest indigenous group, the Mapuche. In both studies, it was found that collective guilt predicted reparation attitudes longitudinally. Collective shame had only cross-sectional associations with reparation and no direct longitudinal effects. In Study 2, collective shame moderated the longitudinal effects of collective guilt such that the effects of guilt were stronger for low-shame respondents. In Study 3 (N = 193 nonindigenous Chileans), the cross-sectional relationships among guilt, shame, and reparation attitudes were replicated. The relationship between shame and reparation attitudes was mediated by a desire to improve the ingroup's reputation. Copyright 2008 APA, all rights reserved.

Trauma Related Guilt Inventory - psychometric properties of the Polish adaptation (TRGI-PL).

PubMed

Popiel, Agnieszka; Zawadzki, Bogdan

2015-01-01

AIM : Although various aspects of guilt are frequent problems of patients suffering from PTSD, they have been included into the diagnostic criteria for PTSD just in the present version DSM-5. Kubany proposed a cognitive conceptualization of guilt in PTSD followed by development of the Trauma Related Guilt Inventory (TRGI). The aim of the paper is to present psychometric properties of the Polish version of the inventory - the TRGI-PL. A Polish adaptation of the Trauma-Related Guilt Inventory was applied to a sample of 280 motor vehicle (MVA) participants (147 females, 133 males of age from 18 to 80 (M=34,93, SD=13,71) within 1-24 months after a MVA (M=10,18, SD=6,23). Validation of the Polish version was done by analyzing the internal structure of the instrument and comparing the emotional and cognitive aspects of guilt assessed by the TRGI with PTSD symptoms, post-traumatic cognitions and responsibility for MVA and subjective agreement with the judgment. The model with four latent factors: Distress, Hindsight-Bias/Responsibility, Wrongdoing and Insufficient Justification scales showed acceptable fit (Satorra-Bentler chi2=518,62, df=203, p<0,01, RMSEA=0,079, CFI=0,96, GFI=0,97), what confirms the four-factor structure of guilt, obtained in the studies on original TRGI version. Reliability coefficients are similar to original version. Correlations with other PTSD measures showed satisfactory convergent and discriminative validity. The Polish adaptation of the Trauma-Related Guilt Inventory is a reliable and valid tool for assessing guilt as a multidimensional phenomenon, comprising emotional and several cognitive characteristics, in trauma survivors.

Guilty Feelings, Targeted Actions

PubMed Central

Cryder, Cynthia E.; Springer, Stephen; Morewedge, Carey K.

2014-01-01

Early investigations of guilt cast it as an emotion that prompts broad reparative behaviors that help guilty individuals feel better about themselves or about their transgressions. The current investigation found support for a more recent representation of guilt as an emotion designed to identify and correct specific social offenses. Across five experiments, guilt influenced behavior in a targeted and strategic way. Guilt prompted participants to share resources more generously with others, but only did so when those others were persons whom the participant had wronged and only when those wronged individuals could notice the gesture. Rather than trigger broad reparative behaviors that remediate one’s general reputation or self-perception, guilt triggers targeted behaviors intended to remediate specific social transgressions. PMID:22337764

Guilty feelings, targeted actions.

PubMed

Cryder, Cynthia E; Springer, Stephen; Morewedge, Carey K

2012-05-01

Early investigations of guilt cast it as an emotion that prompts broad reparative behaviors that help guilty individuals feel better about themselves or about their transgressions. The current investigation found support for a more recent representation of guilt as an emotion designed to identify and correct specific social offenses. Across five experiments, guilt influenced behavior in a targeted and strategic way. Guilt prompted participants to share resources more generously with others, but only did so when those others were persons whom the participant had wronged and only when those wronged individuals could notice the gesture. Rather than trigger broad reparative behaviors that remediate one's general reputation or self-perception, guilt triggers targeted behaviors intended to remediate specific social transgressions.

Attachment anxiety and reactions to relationship threat: the benefits and costs of inducing guilt in romantic partners.

PubMed

Overall, Nickola C; Girme, Yuthika U; Lemay, Edward P; Hammond, Matthew D

2014-02-01

The current research tested whether individuals high in attachment anxiety react to relationship threats in ways that can help them feel secure and satisfied in their relationship. Individuals higher in attachment anxiety experienced greater hurt feelings on days they faced partner criticism or conflict (Study 1) and during observed conflict discussions (Study 2). These pronounced hurt feelings triggered exaggerated expressions of hurt to induce guilt in the partner. Partners perceived the hurt feelings of more anxious individuals to be more intense than low anxious individuals' hurt and, in turn, experienced greater levels of guilt (Study 1). More anxious individuals were also rated by objective coders as exhibiting more guilt-induction strategies during conflict, which led to increases in partner guilt (Study 2). Moreover, partner guilt helped anxious individuals maintain more positive relationship evaluations. Although greater partner guilt had detrimental effects for individuals low in anxiety, more anxious individuals experienced more stable perceptions of their partner's commitment and more positive relationship evaluations when their partner felt more guilt. Unfortunately, these benefits were accompanied by significant declines in the partner's relationship satisfaction. These results illustrate that anxious reactions to threat are not uniformly destructive; instead, the reassuring emotions their reactions induce in relationship partners help anxious individuals feel satisfied and secure in their partner's commitment. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved

Body-Related Shame and Guilt Predict Physical Activity in Breast Cancer Survivors Over Time.

PubMed

Castonguay, Andrée L; Wrosch, Carsten; Pila, Eva; Sabiston, Catherine M

2017-07-01

To test body-related shame and guilt as predictors of breast cancer survivors' (BCS') moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA) during six months and to examine motivational regulations as mediators of this association.
. Prospective study.
. Survivors were recruited through advertisements and oncologist referrals from medical clinics and hospitals in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
. 149 female BCS.
. Self-reports of body-related shame and guilt, motivational regulations, and MVPA were measured among BCS at baseline. MVPA was assessed a second time six months later. Residual change scores were used.
. Body-related shame and guilt; external, introjected, and autonomous (identified and intrinsic) motivational regulations; MVPA.
. In the multiple mediation models, body-related shame was associated with low levels of MVPA, as well as external, introjected, and autonomous motivational regulations. Guilt was related to high levels of MVPA and introjected and autonomous motivational regulations. Indirect effects linked shame, guilt, and MVPA via autonomous motivation. Only body-related shame was a significant predictor of six-month changes in MVPA.
. Based on these results, the specific emotions of shame and guilt contextualized to the body differentially predict BCS' health motivations and behavior over time.
. Survivorship programs may benefit from integrating intervention strategies aimed at reducing body-related shame and helping women manage feelings of guilt to improve physical activity.

Guilty, but not ashamed: "true" self-conceptions influence affective responses to personal shortcomings.

PubMed

Vess, Matthew; Schlegel, Rebecca J; Hicks, Joshua A; Arndt, Jamie

2014-06-01

The current research examined how true self-conceptions (who a person believes he or she truly is) influence negative self-relevant emotions in response to shortcomings. In Study 1 (N = 83), an Internet sample of adults completed a measure of authenticity, reflected on a shortcoming or positive life event, and completed state shame and guilt measures. In Study 2 (N = 49), undergraduates focused on true versus other determined self-attributes, received negative performance feedback, and completed state shame and guilt measures. In Study 3 (N = 138), undergraduates focused on self-determined versus other determined self-aspects, reflected on a shortcoming or neutral event, and completed state shame, guilt, and self-esteem measures. In Study 4 (N = 75), undergraduates thought about true self-attributes, an achievement, or an ordinary event; received positive or negative performance feedback; and completed state shame and guilt measures. In Study 1, differences in true self-expression positively predicted shame-free guilt (but not guilt-free shame) following reminders of a shortcoming. Studies 2-4 found that experimental activation of true self-conceptions increased shame-free guilt and generally decreased guilt-free shame in response to negative evaluative experiences. The findings offer novel insights into true self-conceptions by revealing their impact on negative self-conscious emotions. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Role of morality in the experience of guilt and shame within the armed forces.

PubMed

Nazarov, A; Jetly, R; McNeely, H; Kiang, M; Lanius, R; McKinnon, M C

2015-07-01

Despite advances in our understanding of mental health issues among military forces, a large proportion of military personnel continue to exhibit deployment-related psychological issues. Recent work has identified symptoms of guilt and shame related to moral injury as contributing significantly to combat-related mental health issues. This systematic scoping review explores the association between morality and symptoms of guilt and shame within military forces. A search of the literature pertaining to guilt, shame and morality within military samples was conducted. Nineteen articles were selected for review. There is strong evidence linking exposure to and the perceived perpetration of moral transgressions with experiences of guilt and shame. Critically, symptoms of guilt and shame were related to adverse mental health outcomes, particularly the onset of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). No studies have explored moral judgment in conjunction with assessments of guilt or moral injury. These findings have important implications for the prevention and treatment of PTSD-related symptoms in military samples. By measuring moral judgment prior to deployment, it may be possible to predict the likelihood of incurring moral injuries and the development of associated symptoms. Early intervention programmes aimed at ameliorating guilt and shame are required to prevent the long-term development of deployment-related psychological distress. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

New DSM-5 PTSD guilt and shame symptoms among Italian earthquake survivors: Impact on maladaptive behaviors.

PubMed

Carmassi, Claudia; Bertelloni, Carlo Antonio; Gesi, Camilla; Conversano, Ciro; Stratta, Paolo; Massimetti, Gabriele; Rossi, Alessandro; Dell'Osso, Liliana

2017-05-01

Important changes were introduced concerning posttraumatic-stress disorder (PTSD) by the DSM-5 recognizing the role of negative emotions such as guilt and shame, but little evidence is yet available on their prevalence in population assessed by means of DSM-5 criteria. In this study we explored the rates of guilt and shame DSM-5 PTSD diagnostic symptoms among Italian survivors to a massive earthquake and their possible correlation with PTSD and maladaptive behaviors. 869 residents of the town of L'Aquila exposed to the earthquake of April 6th, 2009 were investigated by the Trauma and Loss Spectrum-Self Report (TALS-SR) with particular attention to guilt and shame feelings. DSM-5 symptomatological PTSD was reported by 41.7% of survivors, further 11.6% endorsed at least one guilt/shame symptoms, with significantly higher rates of endorsement were in PTSD respect to No-PTSD subjects, and in the subgroup with at least one maladaptive behavior respect to those with none. There was a significant main effects of PTSD and at least one guilt/shame symptom on TALS-SR symptomatological domains. Mean TALS-SR Maladaptive coping domain score appeared significantly higher in the subgroup with at least one guilt/shame symptom. Further study are needed to investigate guilt and shame feelings in survivors to a natural disaster. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Individual Differences in Emotion Regulation, Childhood Trauma and Proneness to Shame and Guilt in Adolescence

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

Dispositional shame and guilt have been associated with psychopathology and an increasing number of studies have traced this relation back to adolescence. This developmental period is thought to be characterized by maturational changes in emotion regulation, which also play an important role in vulnerability to psychopathology, but little is known about the links between emotion regulation and dispositional shame and guilt. The current study investigated the relations between individual differences in the habitual use of a wide range of emotion regulation strategies and proneness to shame and guilt in a large sample of adolescents (N = 706), aged 13 to 17 years. History of childhood trauma was also assessed. Our results showed that emotion regulation independently explained about 20% of the variance of shame-proneness and guilt-proneness. Higher use of maladaptive (e.g., Self-Blaming, Catastrophizing) and lower use of adaptive (e.g., Refocus on Planning, Positive Reappraisal) emotion regulation strategies were positively associated with shame-proneness. In contrast, lower use of maladaptive (e.g., Catastrophizing, Blaming Others) and higher use of adaptive (e.g., Refocus on Planning, Positive Reappraisal) emotion regulation strategies were associated with guilt-proneness, independent of the influence of childhood trauma, which also explained a relatively minor portion of guilt-proneness. Although there were age differences (i.e., rumination was used more by older adolescents, and the influence of emotion regulation on depression and anxiety symptoms increased with age) and sex differences (i.e., girls reported higher use of Putting into Perspective and Other Blaming compared to boys) in emotion regulation, age and sex were not significantly associated with proneness to shame and guilt. The positive relations with maladaptive emotion regulation underscores the dysfunctional nature of shame-proneness. Future studies could use longitudinal measures to establish that emotion regulation drives dispositional shame and guilt, and also investigate whether emotion regulation optimization is able to normalize proneness to shame and guilt and reduce risk for psychopathology. PMID:27898709

Individual Differences in Emotion Regulation, Childhood Trauma and Proneness to Shame and Guilt in Adolescence.

PubMed

Szentágotai-Tătar, Aurora; Miu, Andrei C

2016-01-01

Dispositional shame and guilt have been associated with psychopathology and an increasing number of studies have traced this relation back to adolescence. This developmental period is thought to be characterized by maturational changes in emotion regulation, which also play an important role in vulnerability to psychopathology, but little is known about the links between emotion regulation and dispositional shame and guilt. The current study investigated the relations between individual differences in the habitual use of a wide range of emotion regulation strategies and proneness to shame and guilt in a large sample of adolescents (N = 706), aged 13 to 17 years. History of childhood trauma was also assessed. Our results showed that emotion regulation independently explained about 20% of the variance of shame-proneness and guilt-proneness. Higher use of maladaptive (e.g., Self-Blaming, Catastrophizing) and lower use of adaptive (e.g., Refocus on Planning, Positive Reappraisal) emotion regulation strategies were positively associated with shame-proneness. In contrast, lower use of maladaptive (e.g., Catastrophizing, Blaming Others) and higher use of adaptive (e.g., Refocus on Planning, Positive Reappraisal) emotion regulation strategies were associated with guilt-proneness, independent of the influence of childhood trauma, which also explained a relatively minor portion of guilt-proneness. Although there were age differences (i.e., rumination was used more by older adolescents) and sex differences (i.e., girls reported higher use of Putting into Perspective and lower use of Other Blaming compared to boys) in emotion regulation, age and sex were not significantly associated with proneness to shame and guilt. The positive relations with maladaptive emotion regulation underscore the dysfunctional nature of shame-proneness. Future studies could use longitudinal measures to establish that emotion regulation drives dispositional shame and guilt, and also investigate whether emotion regulation optimization is able to normalize proneness to shame and guilt and reduce risk for psychopathology.

[Sense of guilt in sexually abused children : Mediating role of avoidance coping on anxiety and self-esteem].

PubMed

Gauthier-Duchesne, Amélie; Hébert, Martine; Daspe, Marie-Ève

2017-01-01

Prior studies have suggested self-blame and sense of guilt as important elements associated with the effects of childhood sexual abuse on adult survivors (Cantón-Cortés, Cantón, Justicia & Cortés, 2011). However, few studies have explored the potential impact of the sense of guilt on outcomes in child victims. This study examines the mediating role of avoidance coping on the relationship between sense of guilt and outcomes (anxiety and self-esteem) in sexually abused children. The sample consisted of 447 sexually abused children (319 girls and 128 boys) aged 6 to 12. Path analysis indicated that children with higher feelings of guilt about the abuse showed more anxiety and lower levels of self-esteem. Indirect effects also indicated that sense of guilt predicted avoidance coping, which in turn contributed to higher anxiety and lower self-esteem. This model, which fits the data well for both girls and boys, explains 24.4 % of the variance in anxiety and 11.2 % of the variance in self-esteem. Results suggest that sense of guilt is an important target for clinical intervention with sexually abused children.

Borderline Personality Disorder and Self-Conscious Affect: Too Much Shame But Not Enough Guilt?

PubMed Central

Peters, Jessica R.; Geiger, Paul J.

2016-01-01

Shame has emerged as a particularly relevant emotion to the maintenance and exacerbation of borderline personality disorder (BPD) features; however, little attention has been paid to the potentially differing effects of other forms of self-conscious affect. While guilt has been demonstrated to have adaptive functions in the social psychology literature, it has not been previously explored whether a lack of socially adaptive guilt might also contribute to BPD-related dysfunction. The present study examined the relationship between BPD features and self-conscious emotions in a sample of undergraduate students (n=839). Increased shame and decreased guilt independently accounted for significant variance in the association between BPD features and anger, hostility, and externalization of blame. Only increased shame significantly mediated the association between BPD features and anger rumination, and only decreased guilt significantly mediated the relationship between BPD features and aggression. These findings suggest BPD and its associated problems with anger and externalizing may be characterized not only by high levels of shame, but also by lower levels of guilt. Clinical implications include the need to differentiate between self-conscious emotions and teach adaptive responses to warranted guilt. PMID:26866901

Borderline personality disorder and self-conscious affect: Too much shame but not enough guilt?

PubMed

Peters, Jessica R; Geiger, Paul J

2016-07-01

Shame has emerged as a particularly relevant emotion to the maintenance and exacerbation of borderline personality disorder (BPD) features; however, little attention has been paid to the potentially differing effects of other forms of self-conscious affect. While guilt has been demonstrated to have adaptive functions in the social psychology literature, it has not been previously explored whether a lack of socially adaptive guilt might also contribute to BPD-related dysfunction. The present study examined the relationship between BPD features and self-conscious emotions in a sample of undergraduate students (n = 839). Increased shame and decreased guilt independently accounted for significant variance in the association between BPD features and anger, hostility, and externalization of blame. Only increased shame significantly mediated the association between BPD features and anger rumination, and only decreased guilt significantly mediated the relationship between BPD features and aggression. These findings suggest BPD and its associated problems with anger and externalizing may be characterized not only by high levels of shame, but also by lower levels of guilt. Clinical implications include the need to differentiate between self-conscious emotions and teach adaptive responses to warranted guilt. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Broken and guilty since it happened: A population study of trauma-related shame and guilt after violence and sexual abuse.

PubMed

Aakvaag, Helene Flood; Thoresen, Siri; Wentzel-Larsen, Tore; Dyb, Grete; Røysamb, Espen; Olff, Miranda

2016-11-01

There is increasing interest in trauma-related shame and guilt. However, much remains unknown in terms of how these emotions relate to the type of event, gender and mental health. We investigated shame and guilt in men and women following various types of severe violence and their relation to mental health. Telephone interviews were conducted with a Norwegian general population sample (n=4529; age=18-75; response rate=42.9%). Measures included child sexual abuse, child and adult rape, severe physical violence from/between parents, severe violence from a partner and non-partners, less severe violence and non-violent trauma, the new Shame and Guilt After Trauma Scale, and the Hopkins Symptom Checklist. Analyses included t-tests and linear regressions. All types of severe violence were significantly associated with trauma-related shame and guilt (coefficients from 0.11 to 0.38, p-values <0.001). The number of violence types showed a graded relationship with both emotions. Women had significantly more shame and guilt than men did (p-values <0.001 for both emotions), which was partially explained by violence exposure. Both emotions were independently associated with mental health problems (p-values <0.001). The study is cross-sectional. The shame and guilt measure requires further validation. The more types of violence that were reported, the higher levels of shame and guilt were. Clinicians should be aware of shame and guilt after a variety of violent events, including non-sexual violence, in both men and women and should particularly be aware of whether individuals have multiple violent experiences. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Shame, guilt, and the medical learner: ignored connections and why we should care.

PubMed

Bynum, William E; Goodie, Jeffrey L

2014-11-01

Shame and guilt are subjective emotional responses that occur in response to negative events such as the making of mistakes or an experience of mistreatment, and have been studied extensively in the field of psychology. Despite their potentially damaging effects and ubiquitous presence in everyday life, very little has been written about the impact of shame and guilt in medical education. The authors reference the psychology literature to define shame and guilt and then focus on one area in medical education in which they manifest: the response of the learner and teacher to medical errors. Evidence is provided from the psychology literature to show associations between shame and negative coping mechanisms, decreased empathy and impaired self-forgiveness following a transgression. The authors link this evidence to existing findings in the medical literature that may be related to unrecognised shame and guilt, and propose novel ways of thinking about a learner's ability to cope, remain empathetic and forgive him or herself following an error. The authors combine the discussion of shame, guilt and learner error with findings from the medical education literature and outline three specific ways in which teachers might lead learners to a shame-free response to errors: by acknowledging the presence of shame and guilt in the learner; by avoiding humiliation, and by leveraging effective feedback. The authors conclude with recommendations for research on shame and guilt and their influence on the experience of the medical learner. This critical research plus enhanced recognition of shame and guilt will allow teachers and institutions to further cultivate the engaged, empathetic and shame-resilient learners they strive to create. Published 2014. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

Negative Self-Disclosure on the Web: The Role of Guilt Relief

PubMed Central

Levontin, Liat; Yom-Tov, Elad

2017-01-01

In this paper, we suggest people use anonymous online forums as platforms for self-disclosing actions they feel guilty about—such as transgressions and unethical behaviors—with the goal of achieving guilt relief through others’ reactions. We support this proposition by analyzing field data extracted from Yahoo Answers, an online question-and-answer website. Our analysis shows the level of guilt relief an answer is expected to offer the “asker” (the self-disclosing person) is positively associated with the asker’s likelihood of selecting that answer as the “best” response to the self-disclosure. Furthermore, following receipt of a guilt-relieving answer, an asker becomes less likely to engage in prosocial behavior, which is another type of guilt-relieving action. PMID:28701982

Shame, Guilt and Remorse: Implications for Offender Populations

PubMed Central

Tangney, June Price; Stuewig, Jeff; Hafez, Logaina

2011-01-01

The emotions shame and guilt may represent a critical stepping stone in the rehabilitation process. Often referred to as “moral” emotions owing to their presumed role in promoting altruistic behavior and inhibiting antisocial behaviors, shame and guilt provide potentially exciting points of intervention with offenders. In this article, we describe current psychological theory and research that underscores important differences between shame and guilt. We note parallels between psychologists’ conceptions of guilt and shame, and criminologists’ conceptions of reintegrative and disintegrative shaming. We summarize recent research investigating the implications of these moral emotions for criminal and risky behavior, with special emphasis on the handful of studies conducted with actual offenders. We conclude with a discussion of implications for treatment in criminal justice settings. PMID:22523475

When guilt evokes self-punishment: evidence for the existence of a Dobby Effect.

PubMed

Nelissen, Rob M A; Zeelenberg, Marcel

2009-02-01

Feelings of guilt may be resolved in various ways. The scientific literature has mainly highlighted beneficial interpersonal consequences of guilt, showing repeatedly that guilt motivates compensatory pro-social behavior to repair social bonds. The authors reveal that when opportunities for compensation are not present, guilt may evoke self-punishment. Self-punishment was demonstrated through self-denied pleasure in a scenario study, and by self-enforced penalties in an experimental study. The authors call this tendency for self-punishment the Dobby Effect, and discuss it as an explanation for the widely held conviction that atonement absolves sins, its contribution to some types of psychopathology, as well as its possible functional relevance. (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved

Negative Self-Disclosure on the Web: The Role of Guilt Relief.

PubMed

Levontin, Liat; Yom-Tov, Elad

2017-01-01

In this paper, we suggest people use anonymous online forums as platforms for self-disclosing actions they feel guilty about-such as transgressions and unethical behaviors-with the goal of achieving guilt relief through others' reactions. We support this proposition by analyzing field data extracted from Yahoo Answers, an online question-and-answer website. Our analysis shows the level of guilt relief an answer is expected to offer the "asker" (the self-disclosing person) is positively associated with the asker's likelihood of selecting that answer as the "best" response to the self-disclosure. Furthermore, following receipt of a guilt-relieving answer, an asker becomes less likely to engage in prosocial behavior, which is another type of guilt-relieving action.

Premarital Sexual Guilt and Contraceptive Attitudes and Behavior.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Herold, Edward S.; Goodwin, Marilyn Shirley

1981-01-01

Studied the relationship between premarital sexual guilt and contraceptive attitudes and behavior among young single women. High-guilt subjects were significantly more embarrassed about coming to the birth control clinics and were more likely to believe that it was difficult to obtain birth control. (Author)

Washing the guilt away: effects of personal versus vicarious cleansing on guilty feelings and prosocial behavior

PubMed Central

Xu, Hanyi; Bègue, Laurent; Bushman, Brad J.

2014-01-01

For centuries people have washed away their guilt by washing their hands. Do people need to wash their own hands, or is it enough to watch other people wash their hands? To induce guilt, we had participants write about a past wrong they had committed. Next, they washed their hands, watched a washing-hands video, or watched a typing-hands video. After the study was over, participants could help a Ph.D. student complete her dissertation by taking some questionnaires home and returning them within 3 weeks. Results showed that guilt and helping behavior were lowest among participants who washed their hands, followed by participants who watched a washing-hands video, followed by participants who watched a typing-hands video. Guilt mediated the effects of cleansing on helping. These findings suggest that washing one’s own hands, or even watching someone else wash their hands, can wash away one’s guilt and lead to less helpful behavior. PMID:24616686

Activation of anterior paralimbic structures during guilt-related script-driven imagery.

PubMed

Shin, L M; Dougherty, D D; Orr, S P; Pitman, R K; Lasko, M; Macklin, M L; Alpert, N M; Fischman, A J; Rauch, S L

2000-07-01

Several recent neuroimaging studies have examined the neuroanatomical correlates of normal emotional states, such as happiness, sadness, fear, anger, anxiety, and disgust; however, no previous study has examined the emotional state of guilt. In the current study, we used positron emission tomography and the script-driven imagery paradigm to study regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) during the transient emotional experience of guilt in eight healthy male participants. In the Guilt condition, participants recalled and imagined participating in a personal event involving the most guilt they had ever experienced. In the Neutral condition, participants recalled and imagined participating in an emotionally neutral personal event. In the Guilt versus Neutral comparison, rCBF increases occurred in anterior paralimbic regions of the brain: bilateral anterior temporal poles, anterior cingulate gyrus, and left anterior insular cortex/inferior frontal gyrus. These results, along with those of previous studies, are consistent with the notion that anterior paralimbic regions of the brain mediate negative emotional states in healthy individuals.

The "shoulds" and "should nots" of moral emotions: a self-regulatory perspective on shame and guilt.

PubMed

Sheikh, Sana; Janoff-Bulman, Ronnie

2010-02-01

A self-regulatory framework for distinguishing between shame and guilt was tested in three studies. Recently, two forms of moral regulation based on approach versus avoidance motivation have been proposed in the literature. Proscriptive regulation is sensitive to negative outcomes, inhibition based, and focused on what we should not do. Prescriptive regulation is sensitive to positive outcomes, activation based, and focused on what we should do. In the current research, consistent support was found for shame's proscriptive and guilt's prescriptive moral underpinnings. Study 1 found a positive association between avoidance orientation and shame proneness and between approach orientation and guilt proneness. In Study 2, priming a proscriptive orientation increased shame and priming a prescriptive orientation increased guilt. In Study 3, transgressions most apt to represent proscriptive and prescriptive violations predicted subsequent judgments of shame and guilt, respectively. This self-regulatory perspective provides a broad interpretive framework for understanding and extending past research findings.

Self-compassion: a potential resource for young women athletes.

PubMed

Mosewich, Amber D; Kowalski, Kent C; Sabiston, Catherine M; Sedgwick, Whitney A; Tracy, Jessica L

2011-02-01

Self-compassion has demonstrated many psychological benefits (Neff, 2009). In an effort to explore self-compassion as a potential resource for young women athletes, we explored relations among self-compassion, proneness to self-conscious emotions (i.e., shame, guilt-free shame, guilt, shame-free guilt, authentic pride, and hubristic pride), and potentially unhealthy self-evaluative thoughts and behaviors (i.e., social physique anxiety, obligatory exercise, objectified body consciousness, fear of failure, and fear of negative evaluation). Young women athletes (N = 151; Mage = 15.1 years) participated in this study. Self-compassion was negatively related to shame proneness, guilt-free shame proneness, social physique anxiety, objectified body consciousness, fear of failure, and fear of negative evaluation. In support of theoretical propositions, self-compassion explained variance beyond self-esteem on shame proneness, guilt-free shame proneness, shame-free guilt proneness, objectified body consciousness, fear of failure, and fear of negative evaluation. Results suggest that, in addition to self-esteem promotion, self-compassion development may be beneficial in cultivating positive sport experiences for young women.

Experiences of guilt and shame in patients with familial hypercholesterolemia: a qualitative interview study.

PubMed

Frich, Jan C; Malterud, Kirsti; Fugelli, Per

2007-12-01

To explore patients' experiences of guilt and shame with regard to how they manage familial hypercholesterolemia. We interviewed 40 men and women diagnosed with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia. Data were analyzed by systematic text condensation inspired by Giorgi's phenomenological method. Participants disclosed their condition as inherited and not caused by an unhealthy lifestyle. They could experience guilt or shame if they violated their own standards for dietary management, or if a cholesterol test was not favorable. Participants had experienced health professionals who they felt had a moralizing attitude when counseling on lifestyle and diets. One group took this as a sign of care. Another group conveyed experiences of being humiliated in consultations. Patients with familial hypercholesterolemia may experience guilt and shame related to how they manage their condition. Health professionals' counseling about lifestyle and diet may induce guilt and shame in patients. Health professionals should be sensitive to a patient's readiness for counseling in order to diminish the risk of unintentionally inducing guilt and shame in patients.

The relation of child maltreatment to shame and guilt among adolescents: psychological routes to depression and delinquency.

PubMed

Stuewig, Jeffrey; McCloskey, Laura A

2005-11-01

In a longitudinal study of children followed for 8 years into adolescence, the authors investigated how different forms of maltreatment (i.e., harsh parenting, sexual abuse, witnessing domestic violence) in childhood and parenting during adolescence influenced adolescents' shame- and guilt-proneness. Furthermore, the authors examined whether diminished feelings of guilt or heightened feelings of shame were related to delinquent behavior or depression in late adolescence. Results showed that whereas harsh parenting in childhood was related to shame proneness in adolescence, this relationship was mediated by parental rejection in adolescence. Findings confirmed that youth with rejecting parents were more shame-prone and less guilt-prone than other youth. Furthermore, shame-proneness was associated with higher depression when measured 2 years later and guilt-proneness was linked to less delinquent behavior. Results suggest that, as mediators, shame and guilt may provide useful focal points for intervention and prevention efforts in reducing adolescent depression and delinquency.

Evidence for an Evolutionary Cheater Strategy--Relationships Between Primary and Secondary Psychopathy, Parenting, and Shame and Guilt.

PubMed

Lyons, Minna T

2015-01-01

In the present study, shame and guilt proneness were investigated in relation to primary and secondary psychopathy, looking at parental care as a possible mediator. A sample of 388 volunteers participated in an on-line study, completing several self-report measurements. Primary psychopathy, robust to parental care and sex of the participant, was associated with lower guilt proneness after a private transgression and lower negative self-evaluations after a public transgression. Secondary psychopathy was not associated with guilt or shame proneness. Paternal care played a mediating role between primary psychopathy and guilt, but only in male participants. High paternal care was associated with lower guilt repair in high psychopathy males, suggesting that a positive father-son relationship might be essential for development of exploitive strategies in primary psychopathy. The results highlight the fundamental differences between primary and secondary psychopathy, and provide support for the idea that primary psychopathy is an evolutionary cheater-strategy.

The relationship between pain, disability, guilt and acceptance in low back pain: a mediation analysis.

PubMed

Serbic, Danijela; Pincus, Tamar

2017-08-01

Pain-related guilt is a common yet unexplored psychological factor in low back pain (LBP). It has recently been linked to greater depression, anxiety and disability in LBP, hence an understanding of how it can be managed in the presence of pain and disability is necessary. Since acceptance of pain has been shown to be associated with improved outcomes in chronic pain, we examined whether it might also help reduce guilt in people with LBP. To this end, a series of mediation analyses were conducted on data from 287 patients with chronic LBP, in which acceptance of pain was tested as a mediator of the relationship between pain/disability and guilt. Results showed that acceptance of pain reduced the impact of pain/disability on pain-related guilt in all mediation analyses. Pain-related guilt might be a potential target for acceptance based interventions, thus this relationship should be further tested using longitudinal designs.

To Feel or Not to Feel When My Group Harms Others? The Regulation of Collective Guilt as Motivated Reasoning.

PubMed

Sharvit, Keren; Brambilla, Marco; Babush, Maxim; Colucci, Francesco Paolo

2015-09-01

Four studies tested the proposition that regulation of collective guilt in the face of harmful ingroup behavior involves motivated reasoning. Cognitive energetics theory suggests that motivated reasoning is a function of goal importance, mental resource availability, and task demands. Accordingly, three studies conducted in the United States and Israel demonstrated that high importance of avoiding collective guilt, represented by group identification (Studies 1 and 3) and conservative ideological orientation (Study 2), is negatively related to collective guilt, but only when mental resources are not depleted by cognitive load. The fourth study, conducted in Italy, demonstrated that when justifications for the ingroup's harmful behavior are immediately available, the task of regulating collective guilt and shame becomes less demanding and less susceptible to resource depletion. By combining knowledge from the domains of motivated cognition, emotion regulation, and intergroup relations, these cross-cultural studies offer novel insights regarding factors underlying the regulation of collective guilt. © 2015 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

Relational utility as a moderator of guilt in social interactions.

PubMed

Nelissen, Rob M A

2014-02-01

The capacity to experience guilt is assumed to benefit individuals, as the rewards of repeated, cooperative interactions are likely to exceed the rewards of acting selfishly. If that assumption is true, the extent to which people experience guilt over interpersonal transgressions should at least partly depend on the utility of another person for the attainment of personal goal(s) through social interaction (relational utility). Three experiments confirmed the relational utility hypothesis by showing that people felt guiltier (a) over excluding someone from a fun game if this person could subsequently distribute more money in a dictator game, (b) over hypothetical social transgressions toward a person who was instrumental to the attainment of a salient goal than toward a person who was not instrumental to the attainment of that goal and toward the same person when no goal was salient, and (c) over a low contribution in a social dilemma game if they were more dependent on their group members for performing well in a subsequent debating contest. Closeness with the other person, differences in severity of the transgression, and strategic motives for expressing guilt were consistently excluded as alternative accounts of the effects. By showing that relational utility may affect guilt, these findings (a) provide support for the individual level function of guilt; (b) extend research on the antecedents of guilt in social interactions, which mainly focused on retrospective appraisals; and (c) bear implications for the status of guilt as a moral emotion. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Guilt Feelings and Mental Health.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moses, Harold A.

After initially defining both mental health and guilt feelings, the author examined their relationship, primarily from the perspective of the crippling effects of unwarranted feelings of guilt. Admitting the varied pressures of modern society, he nevertheless believes it is the individual's fault when he fails to glean as much from lif e as he…

Young Children's Responses to Guilt Displays

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vaish, Amrisha; Carpenter, Malinda; Tomasello, Michael

2011-01-01

Displaying guilt after a transgression serves to appease the victim and other group members, restore interpersonal relationships, and indicate the transgressors' awareness of and desire to conform to the group's norms. We investigated whether and when young children are sensitive to these functions of guilt displays. In Study 1, after 4- and…

(Dys)functional Guilt and Shame in Developmental Perspective.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ferguson, T.; And Others

Sociologists and psychologists have shown increasing interest in moral emotions such as pride, shame, and guilt, including their developmental role. While these emotions have an important part in normal development, the chronically shame-prone person has feelings of worthlessness, incompetence, and helplessness; a guilt-prone person dwells on…

Shame, Guilt, and Depressive Symptoms: A Meta-Analytic Review

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Sangmoon; Thibodeau, Ryan; Jorgensen, Randall S.

2011-01-01

Recent theoretical and empirical work has facilitated the drawing of sharp conceptual distinctions between shame and guilt. A clear view of these distinctions has permitted development of a research literature aimed at evaluating the differential associations of shame and guilt with depressive symptoms. This study quantitatively summarized the…

Moral Identity Predicts Doping Likelihood via Moral Disengagement and Anticipated Guilt.

PubMed

Kavussanu, Maria; Ring, Christopher

2017-08-01

In this study, we integrated elements of social cognitive theory of moral thought and action and the social cognitive model of moral identity to better understand doping likelihood in athletes. Participants (N = 398) recruited from a variety of team sports completed measures of moral identity, moral disengagement, anticipated guilt, and doping likelihood. Moral identity predicted doping likelihood indirectly via moral disengagement and anticipated guilt. Anticipated guilt about potential doping mediated the relationship between moral disengagement and doping likelihood. Our findings provide novel evidence to suggest that athletes, who feel that being a moral person is central to their self-concept, are less likely to use banned substances due to their lower tendency to morally disengage and the more intense feelings of guilt they expect to experience for using banned substances.

Emotional responses to work-family conflict: an examination of gender role orientation working men and women.

PubMed

Livingston, Beth A; Judge, Timothy A

2008-01-01

The present study tested the effect of work-family conflict on emotions and the moderating effects of gender role orientation. On the basis of a multilevel design, the authors found that family-interfering-with- work was positively related to guilt, and gender role orientation interacted with both types of conflict (work-interfering-with-family and family-interfering-with-work) to predict guilt. Specifically, in general, traditional individuals experienced more guilt from family-interfering-with-work, and egalitarian individuals experienced more guilt from work-interfering-with-family. Additionally, a higher level interaction indicated that traditional men tended to experience a stronger relationship between family-interfering-with-work and guilt than did egalitarian men or women of either gender role orientation. 2008 APA

Chocolate cake. Guilt or celebration? Associations with healthy eating attitudes, perceived behavioural control, intentions and weight-loss.

PubMed

Kuijer, Roeline G; Boyce, Jessica A

2014-03-01

Food and eating are often associated with ambivalent feelings: pleasure and enjoyment, but also worry and guilt. Guilt has the potential to motivate behaviour change, but may also lead to feelings of helplessness and loss of control. This study firstly examined whether a default association of either 'guilt' or 'celebration' with a prototypical forbidden food item (chocolate cake) was related to differences in attitudes, perceived behavioural control, and intentions in relation to healthy eating, and secondly whether the default association was related to weight change over an 18month period (and short term weight-loss in a subsample of participants with a weight-loss goal). This study did not find any evidence for adaptive or motivational properties of guilt. Participants associating chocolate cake with guilt did not report more positive attitudes or stronger intentions to eat healthy than did those associating chocolate cake with celebration. Instead, they reported lower levels of perceived behavioural control over eating and were less successful at maintaining their weight over an 18month period. Participants with a weight-loss goal who associated chocolate cake with guilt were less successful at losing weight over a 3month period compared to those associating chocolate cake with celebration. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder--A question of conscience? An fMRI study of behavioural and neurofunctional correlates of shame and guilt.

PubMed

Hennig-Fast, Kristina; Michl, Petra; Müller, Johann; Niedermeier, Nico; Coates, Ute; Müller, Norbert; Engel, Rolf R; Möller, Hans-Jürgen; Reiser, Maximilian; Meindl, Thomas

2015-09-01

Shame and guilt can be described as 'self-conscious emotions' and are an essential part of the psychopathology in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Our primary aim was to explore whether individuals with OCD are processing shame and guilt differently from healthy individuals (N = 20 in both groups; 50% female; age: 20-40 years) on the behavioural and neurobiological level. For the experimental task, participants were scanned with functional magnetic resonance tomography (functional magnetic resonance imaging, 3 T) while imagining neutral, shame inducing and guilt inducing scenarios. In addition to clinical questionnaires, participants were asked to complete questionnaires measuring shame and guilt. The functional data indicate an increased activity in OCD patients in the shame condition in the limbic, temporal and sub-lobar (hypothalamus) areas, in the guilt condition inter alia in frontal, limbic and temporal areas. In summary we found activity in OCD patients in neural networks which are responsible for stimulus filtering, emotion regulation, impulse control and memory. The results from our study may contribute to a better understanding of the origins and maintenance of OCD in association with the pathological processing of shame and guilt on different functional levels. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

First-Generation College Students' Guilt and Its Influences on Social Capital

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reyes-Osorio, Osmara

2017-01-01

This qualitative dissertation looks at how first-generation college students (FGCS) experience the emotion of guilt as it relates to social capital within higher education. This study included 21 FGCS enrolled at two community colleges in Los Angeles County, California. The study found that guilt, along with other variables influence…

The Early Emergence of Guilt-Motivated Prosocial Behavior

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vaish, Amrisha; Carpenter, Malinda; Tomasello, Michael

2016-01-01

Guilt serves vital prosocial functions: It motivates transgressors to make amends, thus restoring damaged relationships. Previous developmental research on guilt has not clearly distinguished it from sympathy for a victim or a tendency to repair damage in general. The authors tested 2- and 3-year-old children (N = 62 and 64, respectively) in a…

Aspects of Guilt and Self-Reported Substance Use in Adolescence.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Quiles, Zandra N.; Kinnunen, Taru; Bybee, Jane

2002-01-01

Explores the relationship between college students' self-reports of adolescent substance use and scores on indices tapping different aspects of guilt. Results suggest that a stronger internalization of societal standards, as reflected by higher scores on Standards and Situational Guilt, may prove a useful tool in the prevention of substance use.…

Attributions for Pride, Anger, and Guilt among Incarcerated Minority Adolescents.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hudley-Paul, Cynthia A.

Two studies investigate causal attributions among minority adolescents. The first investigates attributions for the emotions of anger, pride, and guilt among 26 incarcerated male adolescents. Relatively few causes are found for anger and guilt, and a larger variety of causes are cited for pride. A follow-up study then compares causal attributions…

Shame and Guilt in Men Exposed to Childhood Sexual Abuse: A Qualitative Investigation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dorahy, Martin J.; Clearwater, Ken

2012-01-01

This study examined the experiences of shame and guilt in adult males sexually abused as children. Seven participants attending a service for male sexual abuse completed measures of shame, guilt, dissociation, and childhood trauma history and subsequently participated in a focus group. All participants experienced childhood sexual abuse in the…

Shame, Guilt, Symptoms of Depression, and Reported History of Psychological Maltreatment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Webb, Marcia; Heisler, Dawn; Call, Steve; Chickering, Sarah A.; Colburn, Trina A.

2007-01-01

Objective: The purpose of the present study was to provide preliminary data extending earlier research on shame and guilt, examining their relationships both to symptoms of depression and to psychological maltreatment. Symptoms of depression were expected to correlate positively with shame, but not with guilt. Psychological maltreatment was also…

Do Guilt- and Shame-Proneness Differentially Predict Prosocial, Aggressive, and Withdrawn Behaviors during Early Adolescence?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roos, Sanna; Hodges, Ernest V. E.; Salmivalli, Christina

2014-01-01

In this short-term longitudinal study, we systematically examined the distinctiveness of guilt- and shame-proneness in early adolescents (N = 395, mean age = 11.8 years) in terms of differential relations with peer reported prosocial behavior, withdrawal, and aggression. Results from structural equation modeling indicated that guilt-proneness…

Inappropriate and Excessive Guilt: Instrument Validation and Developmental Differences in Relation to Depression

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tilghman-Osborne, Carlos; Cole, David A.; Felton, Julia W.

2012-01-01

Inappropriate or excessive guilt is listed as a symptom of depression by the American Psychiatric Association ("1994"). Although many measures of guilt have been developed, definitional and operational problems exist, especially in the application of such measures in childhood and adolescence. To address these problems, the current study…

Assessing Guilt toward the Former Spouse

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wietzker, Anne; Buysse, Ann

2012-01-01

Divorce is often accompanied by feelings of guilt toward the former spouse. So far, no scale has been available to measure such feelings. For this purpose, the authors developed the Guilt in Separation Scale (GiSS). Content validity was assured by using experts and lay experts to generate and select items. Exploratory analyses were run on samples…

Effects of Guilt and Approachability of Examiner upon Associative Sexual Responses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Janda, Louis H.; And Others

1976-01-01

The effects of guilt and approachability of a female examiner upon the associative sexual responses of 48 men and 48 women were examined. It was found that low-guilt males made more sexual responses when tested by an approachable examiner than unapproachable examiner. Subjects' perceptions of the experimenters were also examined. (Author)

Clarifying the link between job satisfaction and absenteeism: The role of guilt proneness.

PubMed

Schaumberg, Rebecca L; Flynn, Francis J

2017-06-01

We propose that the relationship between job satisfaction and absenteeism depends partly on guilt proneness. Drawing on withdrawal and process models of absenteeism, we argue that job satisfaction predicts absences for employees who are low (but not high) in guilt proneness because low guilt-prone people's behaviors are governed more by fulfilling their own egoistic desires than by fulfilling others' normative expectations. We find support for this prediction in a sample of customer service agents working for a major telecommunications company and a sample of working adults employed in a range of industries. In each study, we use measures of employees' guilt proneness and job satisfaction to predict their subsequent workplace absences. In Study 2, we extend our hypothesis tests to 2 traits that are conceptually comparable to guilt proneness (i.e., moral identity and agreeableness), showing that these traits similarly moderate the relationship between job satisfaction and absenteeism. We discuss the implications of these findings for extant models of absenteeism and research on moral affectivity in the workplace. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

The role of interpersonal harm in distinguishing regret from guilt.

PubMed

Zeelenberg, Marcel; Breugelmans, Seger M

2008-10-01

Regret and guilt are emotions that are produced by negative outcomes for which one is responsible. Both emotions have received ample attention in the psychological literature; however, it is still unclear to what extent regret and guilt represent distinct psychological processes. We examined the extent to which the distinction between interpersonal harm (negative outcomes for others) and intrapersonal harm (negative outcomes for self) is crucial in differentiating these two emotions. In a series of 3 studies we found that guilt is predominantly felt in situations of interpersonal harm, whereas regret is felt in both situations of interpersonal harm and intrapersonal harm. Moreover, the results show that in situations of interpersonal harm the phenomenology of regret shares many, but not all features with the phenomenology of guilt. We conclude that the emotion processes resulting from interpersonal and intrapersonal harm are clearly distinct, but that regret as an emotion label is applied to both types of processes whereas the emotion label guilt is primarily used to refer to experiences of interpersonal harm. Implications for emotion research are discussed. (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved

Secondary Guilt Syndrome May Have Led Nazi-persecuted Jewish Writers to Suicide

PubMed Central

Weisz, George M.

2015-01-01

Feelings of guilt have tormented Holocaust survivors, ranging from immediately after the liberation to later in life, for shorter or longer periods, and persisting for some throughout their entire post-war lives. Descriptions of the guilt experienced by survivors of the Nazi camps occupy an impressive amount of literature: “Why me?” was the question, when a younger and more able family member perished; “Why me?” when more productive members of the community perished; “Why me?” when a million and a half children were deprived of their lives. Many found the answer by retelling their stories, witnesses of what happened. This type of guilt is much different from the recently described phenomenon of survivor syndrome, namely the secondary guilt felt by Nazi-persecuted Jewish writers. Despite successes in all aspects of their life, these writers developed a self-incriminating guilt due to their perceived inadequacy of communicating, particularly in light of the resurging anti-Semitism worldwide. This paper deals with the survival and suicides of Nazi-persecuted Jewish writers and offers a possible explanation for their late self-destructive acts. PMID:26886769

The role of body-related self-conscious emotions in motivating women's physical activity.

PubMed

Sabiston, Catherine M; Brunet, Jennifer; Kowalski, Kent C; Wilson, Philip M; Mack, Diane E; Crocker, Peter R E

2010-08-01

The purpose of this study was to test a model where body-related self-conscious emotions of shame, guilt, and pride were associated with physical activity regulations and behavior. Adult women (N = 389; M age = 29.82, SD = 15.20 years) completed a questionnaire assessing body-related pride, shame, and guilt, motivational regulations, and leisure-time physical activity. The hypothesized measurement and structural models were deemed adequate, as was a revised model examining shame-free guilt and guilt-free shame. In the revised structural model, body-related pride was positively significantly related to identified and intrinsic regulations. Body-related shame-free guilt was significantly associated with external, introjected, and identified regulations. Body-related guilt-free shame was significantly positively related to external and introjected regulation, and negatively associated with intrinsic regulation. Identified and intrinsic regulations were significantly positively related to physical activity (R2 = .62). These findings highlight the importance of targeting and understanding the realm of body-related self-conscious emotions and the associated links to regulations and physical activity behavior.

Neurodevelopmental correlates of proneness to guilt and shame in adolescence and early adulthood.

PubMed

Whittle, Sarah; Liu, Kirra; Bastin, Coralie; Harrison, Ben J; Davey, Christopher G

2016-06-01

Investigating how brain development during adolescence and early adulthood underlies guilt- and shame-proneness may be important for understanding risk processes for mental disorders. The aim of this study was to investigate the neurodevelopmental correlates of interpersonal guilt- and shame-proneness in healthy adolescents and young adults using structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI). Sixty participants (age range: 15-25) completed sMRI and self-report measures of interpersonal guilt- and shame-proneness. Independent of interpersonal guilt, higher levels of shame-proneness were associated with thinner posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) thickness and smaller amygdala volume. Higher levels of shame-proneness were also associated with attenuated age-related reductions in thickness of lateral orbitofrontal cortex (lOFC). Our findings highlight the complexities in understanding brain-behavior relationships during the adolescent/young adult period. Results were consistent with growing evidence that accelerated cortical thinning during adolescence may be associated with superior socioemotional functioning. Further research is required to understand the implications of these findings for mental disorders characterized by higher levels of guilt and shame. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

On the importance of distinguishing shame from guilt: Relations to problematic alcohol and drug use

PubMed Central

Dearing, Ronda L.; Stuewig, Jeffrey; Tangney, June Price

2011-01-01

Previous research has demonstrated that shame-proneness (the tendency to feel bad about the self) relates to a variety of life problems, whereas guilt-proneness (the tendency to feel bad about a specific behavior) is more likely to be adaptive. The current analyses sought to clarify the relations of shame-proneness and guilt-proneness to substance use problems in three samples with differing levels of alcohol and drug problem severity: college undergraduates (Study 1 N =235, Study 2 N =249) and jail inmates (Study 3 N =332). Across samples, shame-proneness was generally positively correlated with substance use problems, whereas guilt-proneness was inversely related (or unrelated) to substance use problems. Results suggest that shame and guilt should be considered separately in the prevention and treatment of substance misuse. PMID:16022935

Shame and guilt--do they really differ in their focus of evaluation? Wanting to change the self and behavior in response to ingroup immorality.

PubMed

Gausel, Nicolay; Brown, Rupert

2012-01-01

Shame and guilt are often theorized to differ on a self versus behavior focus. However, we propose that this is not true when taking a group perspective. In our field study, 196 communal participants were confronted with historical ingroup immorality. Results showed that participants who were old enough to have understood what happened in that time-period felt more guilt and shame than did those who were too young. Partly due to their ingroup anger, shame motivated an intention to change the ingroup self and behavior. In contrast, partly due to personal anger, guilt motivated an intention to change personal self and behavior. This suggests that the distinction between shame and guilt are not as clear-cut as previous research have assumed.

The moderating effects of parenting styles in the association between behavioral inhibition and parent-reported guilt and empathy in preschool children.

PubMed

Cornell, Amy H; Frick, Paul J

2007-01-01

This study investigated interactions between children's temperament and parenting styles in their association with measures of guilt and empathy. Participants were 87 predominantly Caucasian, middle-class mothers and their children between the ages of 3 and 5 (M = 4.39, SD = .51). Children nominated by their preschool teachers as being behaviorally inhibited showed higher levels of parent-rated guilt and empathy than uninhibited children, irrespective of the type and quality of parenting they experienced. However, for uninhibited children, greater inconsistent discipline was associated with lower levels of guilt and lower levels of empathy, whereas higher levels of authoritarian parenting were associated with higher levels of guilt. These results support the presence of important interactions between temperament and parenting in explaining two critical dimensions of callous-unemotional traits.

Negative social emotions and cognition: Shame, guilt and working memory impairments.

PubMed

Cavalera, Cesare; Pepe, Alessandro; Zurloni, Valentino; Diana, Barbara; Realdon, Olivia; Todisco, Patrizia; Castelnuovo, Gianluca; Molinari, Enrico; Pagnini, Francesco

2018-05-23

Negative emotions can have an impact on a variety of cognitive domains, including Working Memory (WM). The present work investigated whether shame and guilt modulate WM performance in a dual-task test both in a non-clinical and a clinical population. In Experiment 1, 76 non-clinical participants performed a dual-task before and after being randomly assigned to shame, guilt or neutral inductions elicited by the writing of autobiographical past experiences. Shame and guilt elicitations were related to impaired WM performances. In Experiment 2, 65 clinical inpatients with eating disorders were assigned to the same procedure. The negative relationship of self-conscious emotions and WM was confirmed. Taken together these results suggest that shame and guilt are related to impairments of WM in both clinical and non-clinical participants. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Anticipated Guilt for Not Helping and Anticipated Warm Glow for Helping Are Differently Impacted by Personal Responsibility to Help

PubMed Central

Erlandsson, Arvid; Jungstrand, Amanda Å.; Västfjäll, Daniel

2016-01-01

One important motivation for people behaving prosocially is that they want to avoid negative and obtain positive emotions. In the prosocial behavior literature however, the motivations to avoid negative emotions (e.g., guilt) and to approach positive emotions (e.g., warm glow) are rarely separated, and sometimes even aggregated into a single mood-management construct. The aim of this study was to investigate whether anticipated guilt if not helping and anticipated warm glow if helping are influenced similarly or differently when varying situational factors related to personal responsibility to help. Helping scenarios were created and pilot tests established that each helping scenario could be formulated both in a high-responsibility version and in a low-responsibility version. In Study 1 participants read high-responsibility and low-responsibility helping scenarios, and rated either their anticipated guilt if not helping or their anticipated warm glow if helping (i.e., separate evaluation). Study 2 was similar but here participants rated both their anticipated guilt if not helping and their anticipated warm glow if helping (i.e., joint evaluation). Anticipated guilt was clearly higher in the high-responsibility versions, but anticipated warm glow was unaffected (in Studies 1a and 1b), or even higher in the low-responsibility versions (Study 2). In Studies 3 (where anticipated guilt and warm glow were evaluated separately) and 4 (where they were evaluated jointly), personal responsibility to help was manipulated within-subjects. Anticipated guilt was again constantly higher in the high-responsibility versions but for many types of responsibility-manipulations, anticipated warm glow was higher in the low-responsibility versions. The results suggest that we anticipate guilt if not fulfilling our responsibility but that we anticipate warm glow primarily when doing over and beyond our responsibility. We argue that future studies investigating motivations for helping should measure both anticipated negative consequences for oneself if not helping, and anticipated positive consequences for oneself if helping. PMID:27733840

Anticipated Guilt for Not Helping and Anticipated Warm Glow for Helping Are Differently Impacted by Personal Responsibility to Help.

PubMed

Erlandsson, Arvid; Jungstrand, Amanda Å; Västfjäll, Daniel

2016-01-01

One important motivation for people behaving prosocially is that they want to avoid negative and obtain positive emotions. In the prosocial behavior literature however, the motivations to avoid negative emotions (e.g., guilt) and to approach positive emotions (e.g., warm glow) are rarely separated, and sometimes even aggregated into a single mood-management construct. The aim of this study was to investigate whether anticipated guilt if not helping and anticipated warm glow if helping are influenced similarly or differently when varying situational factors related to personal responsibility to help. Helping scenarios were created and pilot tests established that each helping scenario could be formulated both in a high-responsibility version and in a low-responsibility version. In Study 1 participants read high-responsibility and low-responsibility helping scenarios, and rated either their anticipated guilt if not helping or their anticipated warm glow if helping (i.e., separate evaluation). Study 2 was similar but here participants rated both their anticipated guilt if not helping and their anticipated warm glow if helping (i.e., joint evaluation). Anticipated guilt was clearly higher in the high-responsibility versions, but anticipated warm glow was unaffected (in Studies 1a and 1b), or even higher in the low-responsibility versions (Study 2). In Studies 3 (where anticipated guilt and warm glow were evaluated separately) and 4 (where they were evaluated jointly), personal responsibility to help was manipulated within-subjects. Anticipated guilt was again constantly higher in the high-responsibility versions but for many types of responsibility-manipulations, anticipated warm glow was higher in the low-responsibility versions. The results suggest that we anticipate guilt if not fulfilling our responsibility but that we anticipate warm glow primarily when doing over and beyond our responsibility. We argue that future studies investigating motivations for helping should measure both anticipated negative consequences for oneself if not helping, and anticipated positive consequences for oneself if helping.

Guilt-selective functional disconnection of anterior temporal and subgenual cortices in major depressive disorder.

PubMed

Green, Sophie; Lambon Ralph, Matthew A; Moll, Jorge; Deakin, John F W; Zahn, Roland

2012-10-01

Proneness to overgeneralization of self-blame is a core part of cognitive vulnerability to major depressive disorder (MDD) and remains dormant after remission of symptoms. Current neuroanatomical models of MDD, however, assume general increases of negative emotions and are unable to explain biases toward emotions entailing self-blame (eg, guilt) relative to those associated with blaming others (eg, indignation). Recent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies in healthy participants have shown that moral feelings such as guilt activate representations of social meaning within the right superior anterior temporal lobe (ATL). Furthermore, this area was selectively coupled with the subgenual cingulate cortex and adjacent septal region (SCSR) during the experience of guilt compared with indignation. Despite its psychopathological importance, the functional neuroanatomy of guilt in MDD is unknown. To use fMRI to test the hypothesis that, in comparison with control individuals, participants with remitted MDD exhibit guilt-selective SCSR-ATL decoupling as a marker of deficient functional integration. Case-control study from May 1, 2008, to June 1, 2010. Clinical research facility. Twenty-five patients with remitted MDD (no medication in 16 patients) with no current comorbid Axis I disorders and 22 controls with no personal or family history of MDD. Between-group difference of ATL coupling with a priori SCSR region of interest for guilt vs indignation. We corroborated the prediction of a guilt-selective reduction in ATL-SCSR coupling in MDD vs controls (familywise error-corrected P=.001 over the region of interest) and revealed additional medial frontopolar, right hippocampal, and lateral hypothalamic areas of decoupling while controlling for medication status and intensity of negative emotions. Lower levels of ATL-SCSR coupling were associated with higher scores on a validated measure of overgeneralized self-blame (67-item Interpersonal Guilt Questionnaire). Vulnerability to MDD is associated with temporofrontolimbic decoupling that is selective for self-blaming feelings. This provides the first neural mechanism ofMDD vulnerability that accounts for self-blaming biases.

Interpersonal effects of strategic and spontaneous guilt communication in trust games.

PubMed

Shore, Danielle M; Parkinson, Brian

2017-10-30

A social partner's emotions communicate important information about their motives and intentions. However, people may discount emotional information that they believe their partner has regulated with the strategic intention of exerting social influence. Across two studies, we investigated interpersonal effects of communicated guilt and perceived strategic regulation in trust games. Results showed that communicated guilt (but not interest) mitigated negative effects of trust violations on interpersonal judgements and behaviour. Further, perceived strategic regulation reduced guilt's positive effects. These findings suggest that people take emotion-regulation motives into account when responding to emotion communication.

[Changes in the manifestation of guilt perception in endogenous depression in advanced age].

PubMed

Bron, B; Wetter-Parasie, J

1989-05-01

The manifestation of endogenous depressions has clearly changed in the last decades. Ideas of guilt and sin have decreased or changed their contents, whereas feelings of insufficiency, physical complaints and hypochondriac ideas have clearly increased. The importance of the experience of guilt in the case of endogenous depressions and transcultural aspects of the guilt phenomenon are pointed out. By means of 301 case-histories of depressive patients at the involutional period the change in the manifestation of the depression within four periods of time is pointed out and its possible causal relationships are discussed.

Roles of guilt and culture in normative influence: testing moderated mediation in the anti-secondhand smoking context.

PubMed

Lee, Hyegyu; Paek, Hye-Jin

2014-01-01

This study simultaneously explored direct, indirect, and joint effects of types of norm messages, guilt, and culture on smokers' behavioral intentions in the anti-secondhand smoking context. An online study among 310 smoking students in an individualistic (United States) and a collectivistic (Korea) country indicated that (1) norm messages had no conditional indirect effects on behavioral intention, (2) guilt arousal had a strong and direct impact on behavioral intention, and (3) guilt arousal and its impact on behavioral intention were stronger among Korean smokers than among US smokers.

Prone to feel guilty: Self-evaluative emotions in alcohol-dependence.

PubMed

Grynberg, Delphine; de Timary, Philippe; Van Heuverswijn, Aude; Maurage, Pierre

2017-10-01

Prior research has repeatedly shown that alcohol-dependence is associated with interpersonal difficulties. However, guilt and shame, two crucial self-evaluative emotions triggered by the transgression of social norms, have not been explored among alcohol-dependent individuals despite their important role in psychiatric disorders. The present study thus aimed to investigate whether alcohol-dependence is associated with greater proneness to negatively evaluate one's own behaviors (guilt) or the entire self (shame). 25 alcohol-dependent individuals (ADI) and 25 matched healthy individuals completed a scenario-based inventory (TOSCA-3), requiring from participants to rate the extent they will react to each scenario in terms of (contextualized) guilt and shame. Participants also completed a list of adjectives related to the frequency at which they generally experience (uncontextualized) guilt and shame (PFQ-2). When controlling for possible confounds (i.e., depression and anxiety), ADI reported greater proneness to experience guilt at the TOSCA-3 (η 2 =.22) compared to healthy individuals. This study is the first to show that alcohol-dependence is associated with greater contextualized guilt-proneness, i.e., negative evaluation of one's own behaviors that transgress social norms. Therefore, these results reinforce the relevance of social disorders in alcohol-dependence and indicate that ADI may benefit of therapeutic programs to avoid a generalization of guilt towards shame. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Trauma related guilt cognitions partially mediate the relationship between PTSD symptom severity and functioning among returning combat veterans.

PubMed

Norman, S B; Haller, M; Kim, Hyungjin Myra; Allard, C B; Porter, K E; Stein, M B; Venners, M R; Authier, C C; Rauch, S A M

2018-05-01

Trauma related guilt, a distressing emotion associated with negative cognitions regarding one's actions or inaction during a traumatic event, is common among individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We hypothesized that trauma related guilt cognitions would partially explain the relationship between PTSD symptom severity and functioning. The sample consisted of 254 combat veterans or active duty military personnel who served in Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom or Operation New Dawn (OEF/OIF/OND) who consented to participate in a larger PTSD treatment study. Results revealed a significant relationship between PTSD severity and guilt cognitions (standardized β = 0.40), as well as PTSD and overall functioning (β = 0.49). Guilt cognitions (β's = 0.13 to 0.32) were significantly associated with nearly all domains of functioning, including overall functioning (β = 0.27), and partially explained the relationship between PTSD and functioning. This study lends support to the addition of guilt as a symptom of PTSD in the DSM-5 as it contributes significantly to functional impairment even when accounting for other symptoms of PTSD, although co-occurring mental health problems may also contribute to functional impairments associated with PTSD. Future studies are needed to investigate whether reductions in traumatic guilt are related to improved functional outcomes in PTSD treatments. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Guilt is more strongly associated with suicidal ideation among military personnel with direct combat exposure.

PubMed

Bryan, Craig J; Ray-Sannerud, Bobbie; Morrow, Chad E; Etienne, Neysa

2013-05-15

Suicide rates in the U.S. military have been rising rapidly in the past decade. Research suggests guilt is a significant predictor of suicidal ideation among military personnel, and may be especially pronounced among those who have been exposure to combat-related traumas. The current study explored the interactive effect of direct combat exposure and guilt on suicidal ideation in a clinical sample of military personnel. Ninety-seven active duty U.S. Air Force personnel receiving outpatient mental health treatment at two military clinics completed self-report symptom measures of guilt, depression, hopelessness, perceived burdensomeness, posttraumatic stress disorder, and suicidal ideation. Generalized multiple regression analyses indicated a significant interaction of guilt and direct combat exposure (B=.124, SE=.053, p=.020), suggesting a stronger relationship of guilt with suicidal ideation among participants who had direct combat exposure as compared to those who had not. The interactions of direct combat exposure with depression (B=.004, SE=.040, p=.926), PTSD symptoms (B=.016, SE=.018, p=.382), perceived burdensomeness (B=.159, SE=.152, p=.300) and hopelessness (B=.069, SE=.036, p=.057) were nonsignificant. Although guilt is associated with more severe suicidal ideation in general among military personnel, it is especially pronounced among those who have had direct combat exposure. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Parental Predictors of Children's Shame and Guilt at Age 6 in a Multimethod, Longitudinal Study.

PubMed

Parisette-Sparks, Alyssa; Bufferd, Sara J; Klein, Daniel N

2017-01-01

Shame and guilt are self-conscious emotions that begin to develop early in life and are associated with various forms of psychopathology. However, little is known about the factors that contribute to these emotions in young children. Specifically, no longitudinal studies to date have examined a range of parent factors that shape the expression of children's shame and guilt. The current multimethod, longitudinal study sought to determine whether parenting style, parental psychopathology, and parents' marital satisfaction assessed when children were age 3 predict expressions of shame and guilt in children at age 6. A large community sample of families (N = 446; 87.4% Caucasian) with 3-year-old children (45.7% female) was recruited through commercial mailing lists. Parent variables were assessed when children were age 3 with mother- and father-report questionnaires and a diagnostic interview. Children's expressions of shame and guilt were observed in the laboratory at age 6. Fathers', but not mothers', history of depression and permissive parenting assessed when children were age 3 predicted children's expressions of shame and guilt when children were age 6; parents' marital dissatisfaction also predicted children's shame and guilt. These findings suggest that parents, and fathers in particular, contribute to expressions of self-conscious emotions in children. These data on emotional development may be useful for better characterizing the risk and developmental pathways of psychopathology.

Threat and Guilt Aspects of Internalized Antilesbian and Gay Prejudice: An Application of Personal Construct Theory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moradi, Bonnie; van den Berg, Jacob J.; Epting, Franz R.

2009-01-01

Building on G. A. Kelly's (1991a, 1991b) personal construct theory, this study introduced concepts of threat and guilt as different manifestations of internalized antilesbian and gay prejudice. Results with 102 lesbian and gay participants indicated that internalized threat and guilt each accounted for unique variance in global internalized…

Viewing Pornography and Sex Guilt: The Priggish, the Prudent, and the Profligate

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Love, Robert E.; And Others

1976-01-01

Male undergraduates (N=35) were divided into three groups on the basis of scores on Mosher's Forced-Choice Guilt Inventory. The amount of time subjects spent viewing and rating photographic slides of varying erotic content was unobtrusively recorded. Results are consistent with a predicted defensive response for high sex guilt subjects. (Author)

Children's Recognition of Pride and Guilt as Consequences of Helping and Not Helping.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shorr, David N.; McClelland, Stephen E.

1998-01-01

Investigated the relationship between young children's age and their recognition that helping or choosing not to help can cause feelings of pride or guilt. Found age differences in identifying helping-action or inaction as causes, but little support for the hypothesis that identification of guilt as a consequence of not helping would…

Assessing the Psychometric Properties of a Scenario-Based Measure of Achievement Guilt and Shame

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thompson, Ted; Sharp, Jessica; Alexander, James

2008-01-01

In this study, the psychometric properties of the scenario-based Achievement Guilt and Shame Scale (AGSS) were established. The AGSS and scales assessing interpersonal guilt and shame, high standards, overgeneralization, self-criticism, self-esteem, academic self-concept, fear of failure, and tendency to respond in a socially desirable manner were…

The Prediction of Gender and Attachment Styles on Shame, Guilt, and Loneliness

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Akbag, Muge; Imamoglu, Seval Erden

2010-01-01

The purpose of this study is to examine the predictive power of attachment styles and gender on negative social emotions such as shame, guilt, and loneliness. The sample consists of 360 (183 female, 177 male) students attending to different departments of Marmara University. The Relationships Questionnaire, Guilt-Shame Scale, and UCLA Loneliness…

Finding Purpose in Pain: Using Logotherapy as a Method for Addressing Survivor Guilt in First-Generation College Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tate, Kevin A.; Williams, Cyrus, III; Harden, Dia

2013-01-01

First-generation college students face a variety of academic and personal challenges, including survivor guilt (Piorkowski, 1983). Survivor guilt for these students involves negative emotions related to leaving family and friends "behind" in difficult contexts and lived experiences. This article provides (a) an overview of first-generation college…

Impostorism as a Mediator between Survivor Guilt and Depression in a Sample of African American College Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Austin, Chammie C.; Clark, Eddie M.; Ross, Michael J.; Taylor, Matthew J.

2009-01-01

The purpose of the current study was to explore the mediating effects of impostorism on the association between survivor guilt feelings and self-report depressive symptomatology. Ninety-seven African American college students were asked to complete measures of empathy based survivor guilt, impostor feelings, and depression. Results indicated that…

Interactive Effects of Guilt and Moral Disengagement on Bullying, Defending and Outsider Behavior

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mazzone, Angela; Camodeca, Marina; Salmivalli, Christina

2016-01-01

We examined the moderating effect of guilt on the associations between moral disengagement and bullying, defending and outsider behaviors in a sample of 404 students (203 boys; M[subscript age] = 11.09 years; SD = 1.48). Bullying, defending and outsider behavior were assessed through peer nominations, whereas guilt and moral disengagement were…

Guilt and Proneness to Shame: Unethical Behaviour in Vulnerable and Grandiose Narcissism

PubMed Central

Poless, Pauline Georgees; Torstveit, Linda; Lugo, Ricardo Gregorio; Andreassen, Marita; Sütterlin, Stefan

2018-01-01

Narcissists are described as individuals with dysfunctional personality traits such as lack of psychological awareness and empathy. Theories of ethical behaviour assume that unethical actions trigger moral emotions of guilt and shame. Currently, there is a lack of knowledge on moral emotions as dispositional traits and their potential influences on behaviour in individuals with narcissistic traits. The present study examined vulnerable and grandiose narcissism’s differences in the propensity to experience guilt and shame as a proneness, across a range of personal transgressions. Guilt proneness was measured by negative evaluation of unethical behaviour, and whether this evaluation could influence reparation of tendencies of unethical action in vulnerable and grandiose narcissism. Shame proneness was investigated by negative evaluation of the self, and then whether the previous tendency could affect unethical decision making and behaviour (e.g., hiding), in vulnerable and grandiose narcissism. Two hundred and sixteen participants responded to the Guilt and Shame Proneness Scale, the Narcissistic Personality Inventory Scale and the Hypersensitive Narcissism Scale in an online questionnaire. Findings indicate that grandiose narcissism was negatively associated with guilt proneness, and the relation between the vulnerable narcissism and guilt proneness was negative. Additionally, the results confirm a negative association between grandiose narcissism and shame proneness, especially related to the subscale ‘shame negative self-evaluation’. Furthermore, guilt and shame proneness explained 20% of the variance in vulnerable narcissism and 11% in grandiose narcissism. This research indicates that both vulnerable and grandiose narcissism have the tendency to make unethical decisions, and they are more likely to enact in unethical behaviour. These findings are relevant for the detection of narcissistic individual’s propensity to act unethically in social context. PMID:29899796

Guilt and Proneness to Shame: Unethical Behaviour in Vulnerable and Grandiose Narcissism.

PubMed

Poless, Pauline Georgees; Torstveit, Linda; Lugo, Ricardo Gregorio; Andreassen, Marita; Sütterlin, Stefan

2018-03-01

Narcissists are described as individuals with dysfunctional personality traits such as lack of psychological awareness and empathy. Theories of ethical behaviour assume that unethical actions trigger moral emotions of guilt and shame. Currently, there is a lack of knowledge on moral emotions as dispositional traits and their potential influences on behaviour in individuals with narcissistic traits. The present study examined vulnerable and grandiose narcissism's differences in the propensity to experience guilt and shame as a proneness, across a range of personal transgressions. Guilt proneness was measured by negative evaluation of unethical behaviour, and whether this evaluation could influence reparation of tendencies of unethical action in vulnerable and grandiose narcissism. Shame proneness was investigated by negative evaluation of the self, and then whether the previous tendency could affect unethical decision making and behaviour (e.g., hiding), in vulnerable and grandiose narcissism. Two hundred and sixteen participants responded to the Guilt and Shame Proneness Scale, the Narcissistic Personality Inventory Scale and the Hypersensitive Narcissism Scale in an online questionnaire. Findings indicate that grandiose narcissism was negatively associated with guilt proneness, and the relation between the vulnerable narcissism and guilt proneness was negative. Additionally, the results confirm a negative association between grandiose narcissism and shame proneness, especially related to the subscale 'shame negative self-evaluation'. Furthermore, guilt and shame proneness explained 20% of the variance in vulnerable narcissism and 11% in grandiose narcissism. This research indicates that both vulnerable and grandiose narcissism have the tendency to make unethical decisions, and they are more likely to enact in unethical behaviour. These findings are relevant for the detection of narcissistic individual's propensity to act unethically in social context.

Guilt, censure, and concealment of active smoking status among cancer patients and family members after diagnosis: a nationwide study.

PubMed

Shin, Dong Wook; Park, Jong Hyock; Kim, So Young; Park, Eal Whan; Yang, Hyung Kook; Ahn, Eunmi; Park, Seon Mee; Lee, Young Joon; Lim, Myong Cheol; Seo, Hong Gwan

2014-05-01

We aimed to identify the prevalence of feelings of guilt, censure, and concealment of smoking status among cancer patients and their family members who continued to smoke after the patient's diagnosis. Among 990 patient-family member dyads, 45 patients and 173 family members who continued to smoke for at least 1 month after the patients' diagnoses were administered questions examining feelings of guilt, censure, and smoking concealment. Most patients who continued to smoke reported experiencing feelings of guilt toward their families (75.6%) and censure from their family members (77.8%), and many concealed their smoking from their family members (44.4%) or healthcare professionals (46.7%). Family members who continued to smoke also reported feelings of guilt with respect to the patient (63.6%) and that the patient was critical of them (68.9%), and many concealed their smoking from the patient (28.5%) or healthcare professionals (9.3%). Patients' feeling of guilt was associated with concealment of smoking from family members (55.9% vs. 10.0%) or health care professionals (55.9% vs. 20.0%). Family members who reported feeling guilty (36.5% vs. 16.3%) or censured (34.5% vs. 16.7%) were more likely to conceal smoking from patients. Many patients and family members continue to smoke following cancer diagnosis, and the majority of them experience feelings of guilt and censure, which can lead to the concealment of smoking status from families or health care professionals. Feelings of guilt, censure, and concealment of smoking should be considered in the development and implementation of smoking cessation programs for cancer patients and family members. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Inhibitory control and moral emotions: relations to reparation in early and middle childhood.

PubMed

Colasante, Tyler; Zuffianò, Antonio; Bae, Na Young; Malti, Tina

2014-01-01

This study examined links between inhibitory control, moral emotions (sympathy and guilt), and reparative behavior in an ethnically diverse sample of 4- and 8-year-olds (N = 162). Caregivers reported their children's reparative behavior, inhibitory control, and moral emotions through a questionnaire, and children reported their guilt feelings in response to a series of vignettes depicting moral transgressions. A hypothesized meditation model was tested with inhibitory control relating to reparative behavior through sympathy and guilt. In support of this model, results revealed that high levels of inhibitory control were associated with high levels of reparative behavior through high levels of sympathy and guilt. However, the mediation of inhibitory control to reparation through guilt was significant for 4-year-olds only. Results are discussed in relation to the temperamental, regulatory, and affective-moral precursors of reparative behavior in early and middle childhood.

"... As we forgive those who trespass against us...": theological reflections on sin and guilt in the hospital environment.

PubMed

Schmidt, Kurt W

2005-08-01

In general parlance the term sin has lost its existential meaning. Originally a Jewish-Christian term within a purely religious context, referring to a wrongdoing with regard to God, sin has slowly become reduced to guilt in the course of the secularization process. Guilt refers to a wrongdoing, especially with regard to fellow human beings. It also refers to errors of judgement with what can be tragic consequences. These errors can occur whenever human beings are called upon to act, including the hospital environment. A Christian hospital has to address the issue of how to deal not only with guilt-ridden misdemeanors, but also with wrongdoing unto God, which overshadows every instance of guilt-ridden human behavior. Here, as in every parish, the Church Service is the place to acknowledge sin, confess sin, and forgive sin, beyond the boundaries of the parish itself.

Helping the One You Hurt: Toddlers' Rudimentary Guilt, Shame, and Prosocial Behavior After Harming Another.

PubMed

Drummond, Jesse D K; Hammond, Stuart I; Satlof-Bedrick, Emma; Waugh, Whitney E; Brownell, Celia A

2017-07-01

This study explored the role of guilt and shame in early prosocial behavior by extending previous findings that guilt- and shame-like responses can be distinguished in toddlers and, for the first time, examining their associations with helping. Toddlers (n = 32; M age  = 28.9 months) were led to believe they broke an adult's toy, after which they exhibited either a guilt-like response that included frequently confessing their behavior and trying to repair the toy; or a shame-like response that included frequently avoiding the adult and seldom confessing or attempting to repair the toy. In subsequent prosocial tasks, children showing a guilt-like response helped an adult in emotional distress significantly faster and more frequently than did children showing a shame-like response. © 2016 The Authors. Child Development © 2016 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

The Early Emergence of Guilt-Motivated Prosocial Behavior.

PubMed

Vaish, Amrisha; Carpenter, Malinda; Tomasello, Michael

2016-11-01

Guilt serves vital prosocial functions: It motivates transgressors to make amends, thus restoring damaged relationships. Previous developmental research on guilt has not clearly distinguished it from sympathy for a victim or a tendency to repair damage in general. The authors tested 2- and 3-year-old children (N = 62 and 64, respectively) in a 2 × 2 design, varying whether or not a mishap caused harm to someone and whether children themselves caused that mishap. Three-year-olds showed greatest reparative behavior when they had caused the mishap and it caused harm, thus showing a specific effect of guilt. Two-year-olds repaired more whenever harm was caused, no matter by whom, thus showing only an effect of sympathy. Guilt as a distinct motivator of prosocial behavior thus emerges by at least 3 years. © 2016 The Authors. Child Development © 2016 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

Children's Sympathy, Guilt, and Moral Reasoning in Helping, Cooperation, and Sharing: A 6-Year Longitudinal Study.

PubMed

Malti, Tina; Ongley, Sophia F; Peplak, Joanna; Chaparro, Maria P; Buchmann, Marlis; Zuffianò, Antonio; Cui, Lixian

2016-11-01

This study examined the role of sympathy, guilt, and moral reasoning in helping, cooperation, and sharing in a 6-year, three-wave longitudinal study involving 175 children (M age 6.10, 9.18, and 12.18 years). Primary caregivers reported on children's helping and cooperation; sharing was assessed behaviorally. Child sympathy was assessed by self- and teacher reports, and self-attributed feelings of guilt-sadness and moral reasoning were assessed by children's responses to transgression vignettes. Sympathy predicted helping, cooperation, and sharing. Guilt-sadness and moral reasoning interacted with sympathy in predicting helping and cooperation; both sympathy and guilt-sadness were associated with the development of sharing. The findings are discussed in relation to the emergence of differential motivational pathways to helping, cooperation, and sharing. © 2016 The Authors. Child Development © 2016 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

"Giving Guilt the Flick"?: An Investigation of Mothers' Talk about Guilt in Relation to Infant Feeding

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Williams, Kate; Donaghue, Ngaire; Kurz, Tim

2013-01-01

Manuals offering advice to new parents on the topic of infant feeding have recently begun to attend to the possible implications of pro-breast-feeding discourses for mothers' subjective experiences, particularly with respect to guilt. In this article, we present a discursive analysis of focus groups with 35 Australian mothers in which we examine…

The Relationship of Moral Reasoning to Sex Guilt and Sex Experience in College Couples.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cross, Herbert; D'Augelli, Judith F.

Seventy-six college couples were interviewed with Kohlberg's moral dilemmas interview, given the Mosher Sex Guilt scale and took a sex experience inventory. Men, women, and couples who were at the law and order stage of moral reasoning were higher on sex guilt than those at other levels of morality. Male sex experience was associated with morality…

Exploring shame, guilt, and risky substance use among sexual minority men and women

PubMed Central

Hequembourg, Amy L.; Dearing, Ronda L.

2013-01-01

This study examined the interrelationships among shame-proneness, guilt-proneness, internalized heterosexism, and problematic substance use among 389 gay, lesbian, and bisexual men and women. Problematic alcohol and drug use were positively related to shame-proneness and negatively related to guilt-proneness. Bisexuals reported riskier substance use behaviors, lower levels of guilt-proneness, and higher levels of internalized heterosexism than gay men and lesbians. Furthermore, study findings indicated that shame and internalized heterosexism are related. Additional investigations of these associations would supplement current understanding of sexual minority stress and would advance the development of substance-related intervention and prevention efforts targeting sexual minorities. PMID:23469820

Mothers' guilt responses to children's obesity risk feedback.

PubMed

Persky, Susan; McBride, Colleen M; Faith, Myles S; Wagner, Laura K; Ward, Dianne S

2015-05-01

This study explored the influence of family health history-based obesity risk feedback for their child on 147 overweight mothers' guilt related to children's lifestyle behaviors and passing down a genetic propensity for overweight. Mothers were randomized to receive, or not, obesity risk feedback for their 4- to 5-year-old child and then made food choices for them using a virtual reality-based buffet. Receipt of risk information increased lifestyle- and genetics-related guilt. Choosing fewer unhealthful foods for the child attenuated both types of guilt. Work in this area may aid in development of obesity risk feedback strategies that enhance child feeding. © The Author(s) 2015.

An Investigation of the Association Between Shame and Problem Gambling: The Mediating Role of Maladaptive Coping Motives.

PubMed

Schlagintweit, Hera E; Thompson, Kara; Goldstein, Abby L; Stewart, Sherry H

2017-12-01

Despite often being considered equivalent affective states, shame and guilt have differential associations with problem gambling with only shame showing a strong positive association with problem gambling. However, little is known about the mechanisms underlying the shame-problem gambling association. Further, shame and guilt are associated with distinct coping strategies, with shame motivating maladaptive coping (e.g., avoidance, escape) and guilt motivating adaptive coping (e.g., taking corrective action). This study aimed to examine whether maladaptive coping motives for gambling mediate the relationship between shame, but not guilt, and gambling problems. Participants were 196 (126 male) regular gamblers who completed a same and guilt scale, the Problem Gambling Severity Index, and a modified Gambling Motives Questionnaire, which assessed individual motives to engage in gambling for coping, enhancement, or social reasons. Results indicated that coping motives for gambling fully mediated the relationship between shame and problem gambling severity, but did not mediate the association between guilt and problem gambling severity. Experiencing shame contributes to problem gambling as a result of gambling to cope with negative affect. Cultivating more adaptive strategies to cope with shame may be effective in preventing and treating problem gambling.

Assessing individual differences in proneness to shame and guilt: development of the Self-Conscious Affect and Attribution Inventory.

PubMed

Tangney, J P

1990-07-01

Individual differences in proneness to shame and proneness to guilt are thought to play an important role in the development of both adaptive and maladaptive interpersonal and intrapersonal processes. But little empirical research has addressed these issues, largely because no reliable, valid measure has been available to researchers interested in differentiating proneness to shame from proneness to guilt. The Self-Conscious Affect and Attribution Inventory (SCAAI) was developed to assess characteristic affective, cognitive, and behavioral responses associated with shame and guilt among a young adult population. The SCAAI also includes indices of externalization of cause or blame, detachment/unconcern, pride in self, and pride in behavior. Data from 3 independent studies of college students and 1 study of noncollege adults provide support for the reliability of the main SCAAI subscales. Moreover, the pattern of relations among the SCAAI subscales and the relation of SCAAI subscales to 2 extant measures of shame and guilt support the validity of this new measure. The SCAAI appears to provide related but functionally distinct indices of proneness to shame and guilt in a way that these previous measures have not.

Lack of guilt, guilt, and shame: a multi-informant study on the relations between self-conscious emotions and psychopathology in clinically referred children and adolescents.

PubMed

Muris, Peter; Meesters, Cor; Heijmans, Jolina; van Hulten, Sandra; Kaanen, Linsy; Oerlemans, Birgit; Stikkelbroeck, Tessa; Tielemans, Tim

2016-04-01

The present study examined the relationships between dysregulations in self-conscious emotions and psychopathology in clinically referred children and adolescents. For this purpose, parent-, teacher-, and self-report Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment data of 1000 youth aged 4-18 years was analyzed as this instrument not only provides information on the intensity levels of lack of guilt, guilt, and shame, but also on the severity of various types of psychopathology. The results first of all indicated that dysregulations of self-conscious emotions were more common in this clinical sample than in the general population. Further, a consistent pattern was found with regard to the relationships between self-conscious emotions and childhood psychopathology. That is, lack of guilt was predominantly associated with oppositional defiant and conduct (i.e., externalizing) problems, while guilt and shame were primarily linked with affective and anxiety (i.e., internalizing) problems. By and large, these findings confirm what has been found in non-clinical youth, and suggest that self-conscious emotions play a small but significant role in the psychopathology of children and adolescents.

Guilt about being born and debt concerning the gift of life.

PubMed

Lotterman, Andrew C

2003-01-01

A very powerful form of preoedipal guilt stems from a sense of having damaged the life-giving parent with one's most basic needs. A related phenomenon is the child's sense that another subjectivity has deliberately chosen to give and sustain the child's life. This experience gives rise to a compelling mixture of awe, reverence, and obligation, a sense of guilt about being born, of debt concerning the gift of life. This sense of guilt and debt are part of every child's development. Depending on how conflicts surrounding them are negotiated, the child can come to feel either an appetite for living or a crushing sense of selfishness and unworthiness. Such forms of guilt and debt may lead not only to masochism generally, but to a particularly pernicious form of negative therapeutic reaction that can sabotage psychoanalytic work. A patient may feel, for instance, that a successful psychoanalysis is a selfish indulgence and an immoral betrayal of a sacred duty to rescue his or her parents from their misery. Guilt about being born and the sense of debt concerning the gift of life are linked to various developmental, psychodynamic, interpersonal, and cultural phenomena.

Parental Predictors of Children’s Shame and Guilt at Age 6 in a Multi-Method, Longitudinal Study

PubMed Central

Parisette-Sparks, Alyssa; Bufferd, Sara J.; Klein, Daniel N.

2015-01-01

Objective Shame and guilt are self-conscious emotions that begin to develop early in life and are associated with various forms of psychopathology. However, little is known about the factors that contribute to these emotions in young children. Specifically, no longitudinal studies to date have examined a range of parent factors that shape the expression of children’s shame and guilt. The current multi-method, longitudinal study sought to determine whether parenting style, parental psychopathology, and parents’ marital satisfaction assessed when children were age 3 predict expressions of shame and guilt in children at age 6. Method A large community sample of families (N = 446; 87.4% Caucasian) with three-year-old children (45.7% female) was recruited through commercial mailing lists. Parent variables were assessed when children were age 3 with mother- and father-report questionnaires and a diagnostic interview. Children’s expressions of shame and guilt were observed in the laboratory at age 6. Results Fathers’, but not mothers’, history of depression and permissive parenting assessed when children were age 3 predicted children’s expressions of shame and guilt when children were age 6; parents’ marital dissatisfaction also predicted children’s shame and guilt. Conclusions These findings suggest that parents, and fathers in particular, contribute to expressions of self-conscious emotions in children. These data on emotional development may be useful for better characterizing the risk and developmental pathways of psychopathology. PMID:26538055

Guilt without fault: A qualitative study into the ethics of forgiveness after traumatic childbirth.

PubMed

Schrøder, Katja; la Cour, Karen; Jørgensen, Jan Stener; Lamont, Ronald F; Hvidt, Niels Christian

2017-03-01

When a life is lost or severely impaired during childbirth, the midwife and obstetrician involved may experience feelings of guilt in the aftermath. Through three empirical cases, the paper examines the sense of guilt in the context of the current patient safety culture in healthcare where a blame-free approach is promoted in the aftermath of adverse events. The purpose is to illustrate how healthcare professionals may experience guilt without being at fault after adverse events, and Gamlund's theory on forgiveness without blame is used as the theoretical framework for this analysis. Philosophical insight has proven to be a useful resource in dealing with psychological issues of guilt and Gamlund's view on error and forgiveness elucidates an interesting dilemma in the field of traumatic events and medical harm in healthcare, where healthcare professionals experience that well-intended actions may cause injury, harm or even death to their patients. Failing to recognise and acknowledge guilt or guilty feelings may preclude self-forgiveness, which could have a negative impact on the recovery of midwives and obstetricians after adverse events. Developing and improving support systems for healthcare professionals is a multi-factorial task, and the authors suggest that the narrow focus on medico-legal and patient safety perspectives is complemented with moral philosophical perspectives to promote non-judgemental recognition and acknowledgement of guilt and of the fallible nature of medicine. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The role of guilt in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

PubMed Central

Bub, Konstantin; Lommen, Miriam J. J.

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT Background: A growing body of evidence supports the notion that the emotional profile of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) may be more diverse than traditional accounts presume. PTSD’s image as an anxiety-based disorder is undergoing change as the significance of other emotions in its development becomes more evident. Experimental research is needed in order to expand the understanding of underlying processes driving the development of PTSD. Objective: Experimentally test the influence of stressor-related guilt on the occurrence of PTSD symptomatology. Method: A non-clinical student sample faced an analogue trauma, a stressor in the form of a computer crash and related loss of data. We either personally blamed participants for causing the incident (blame group) or told them that it was a technical failure and therefore not their fault (no-blame group). Levels of guilt before and after the incident as well as number and associated distress of incident-related intrusions were assessed using a one-day diary and compared between groups. Results: The guilt manipulation was successful: feelings of guilt significantly increased in the blame group but not in the no-blame group. Furthermore, the blame group showed a significantly higher number of intrusions and associated distress compared to the no-blame group at one-day follow-up. Conclusions: These laboratory findings indicate that feelings of guilt may lead to increased PTSD symptomatology, supporting the view that guilt experienced in reaction to a traumatic event may be part of a causal mechanism driving the development of PTSD. PMID:29230272

Behaving Badly or Goodly: Is It Because I Feel Guilty, Shameful, or Sympathetic? Or Is It a Matter of What I Think?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carlo, Gustavo; McGinley, Meredith; Davis, Alexandra; Streit, Cara

2012-01-01

The article provides a brief review of theory and research on the roles of guilt, shame, and sympathy in predicting moral behaviors. Two models are presented and contrasted. The guilt-based model proposes that guilt and shame jointly predict prosocial and aggressive behaviors. In contrast, the sympathy-based model suggests that perspective taking…

What Can the Self-Conscious Emotion of Guilt Tell Us about Primary School Teachers' Moral Purpose and the Relationships They Have with Their Pupils?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Farouk, Shaalan

2012-01-01

Based on interviews and adopting and phenomenological approach this article explores primary school teachers' experiences of guilt. Teachers described feeling guilty when they held themselves responsible for having let down or upset their pupils and on occasion their colleagues. Some teachers also recalled experiencing guilt when some of their…

Shame and Guilt in Preschool Depression: Evidence for Elevations in Self-Conscious Emotions in Depression as Early as Age 3

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Luby, Joan; Belden, Andy; Sullivan, Jill; Hayen, Robin; McCadney, Amber; Spitznagel, Ed

2009-01-01

Background: Empirical findings from two divergent bodies of literature illustrate that depression can arise in the preschool period and that the complex self-conscious emotions of guilt and shame may develop normatively as early as age 3. Despite these related findings, few studies have examined whether the emotions of shame and guilt are salient…

Association between parental guilt and oral health problems in preschool children: a hierarchical approach.

PubMed

Gomes, Monalisa Cesarino; Clementino, Marayza Alves; Pinto-Sarmento, Tassia Cristina de Almeida; Martins, Carolina Castro; Granville-Garcia, Ana Flávia; Paiva, Saul Martins

2014-08-16

Dental caries and traumatic dental injury (TDI) can play an important role in the emergence of parental guilt, since parents feel responsible for their child's health. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the influence of oral health problems among preschool children on parental guilt. A preschool-based, cross-sectional study was carried out with 832 preschool children between three and five years of age in the city of Campina Grande, Brazil. Parents/caregivers answered the Brazilian version of the Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale (B-ECOHIS). The item "parental guilt" was the dependent variable. Questionnaires addressing socio-demographic variables (child's sex, child's age, parent's/caregiver's age, mother's schooling, type of preschool and household income), history of toothache and health perceptions (general and oral) were also administered. Clinical exams for dental caries and TDI were performed by three dentists who had undergone a training and calibration exercise (Kappa: 0.85-0.90). Poisson hierarchical regression was used to determine the significance of associations between parental guilt and oral health problems (α = 5%). The multivariate model was carried out on three levels using a hierarchical approach from distal to proximal determinants: 1) socio-demographic aspects; 2) health perceptions; and 3) oral health problems. The frequency of parental guilt was 22.8%. The following variables were significantly associated with parental guilt: parental perception of child's oral health as poor (PR = 2.010; 95% CI: 1.502-2.688), history of toothache (PR = 2.344; 95% CI: 1.755-3.130), cavitated lesions (PR = 2.002; 95% CI: 1.388-2.887), avulsion/luxation (PR = 2.029; 95% CI: 1.141-3.610) and tooth discoloration (PR = 1.540; 95% CI: 1.169-2.028). Based on the present findings, parental guilt increases with the occurrence of oral health problems that require treatment, such as dental caries and TDI of greater severity. Parental perceptions of poor oral health in their children and history of toothache were predictors of greater feelings of parental guilt.

Proneness to guilt, shame, and pride in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders and neurotypical children.

PubMed

Davidson, Denise; Hilvert, Elizabeth; Misiunaite, Ieva; Giordano, Michael

2018-06-01

Self-conscious emotions (e.g., guilt, shame, and pride) are complex emotions that require self-reflection and self-evaluation, and are thought to facilitate the maintenance of societal norms and personal standards. Despite the importance of self-conscious emotions, most research has focused on basic emotion processing in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Therefore, in the present study, we used the Test of Self-Conscious Affect for Children (TOSCA-C) to assess proneness to, or propensity to experience, the self-conscious emotions guilt, shame, and pride in children with ASD and neurotypical children. The TOSCA-C is designed to capture a child's natural tendency to experience a given emotion across a range of everyday situations [Tangney, Stuewig, & Mashek, 2007]. We also assessed how individual characteristics contribute to the development of proneness to self-conscious emotions, including theory of mind (ToM) and ASD symptomatology. In comparison to neurotypical children, children with ASD showed less proneness to guilt, although all children showed relatively high levels of proneness to guilt. Greater ToM ability was related to more proneness to guilt and authentic pride in children with ASD. Additionally, we found that children with ASD with more severe symptomatology were more prone to hubristic pride. Our results provide evidence of differences in proneness to self-conscious emotions in children with ASD, as well as highlight important mechanisms contributing to how children with ASD may experience self-conscious emotions. Autism Res 2018,11:883-892. ©2017 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. This research examined proneness to guilt, shame, and pride in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and neurotypical children. We found that children with ASD showed less proneness to guilt than neurotypical children. Better understanding of theory of mind was related to greater proneness to guilt and pride, but only for children with ASD. These findings are important because these complex emotions are linked with both positive and negative social behaviors towards others and oneself. © 2018 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The Relation of Parental Guilt Induction to Child Internalizing Problems When a Caregiver Has a History of Depression

PubMed Central

Rakow, Aaron; McKee, Laura; Coffelt, Nicole; Champion, Jennifer; Fear, Jessica; Compas, Bruce

2009-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the relation between parental guilt induction and child internalizing problems in families where a caregiver had experienced depression. A total of 107 families, including 146 children (age 9–15), participated. Child-reported parental guilt induction, as well as three more traditionally studied parenting behaviors (warmth/involvement, monitoring, and discipline), were assessed, as was parent-report of child internalizing problem behavior. Linear Mixed Models Analysis indicated parental guilt induction was positively related to child internalizing problems in the context of the remaining three parenting behaviors. Implications of the findings for prevention and intervention parenting programs are considered. PMID:20090863

Children’s Proneness to Shame and Guilt Predict Risky and Illegal Behaviors in Young Adulthood

PubMed Central

Stuewig, Jeffrey; Tangney, June P.; Kendall, Stephanie; Folk, Johanna B.; Meyer, Candace Reinsmith; Dearing, Ronda L.

2014-01-01

Do shame and guilt help people avoid doing wrong? Although some research suggests that guilt-proneness is a protective factor while shame-proneness puts individuals at risk, most research is either cross-sectional or short-term. In this longitudinal study, 380 5th graders (ages 10–12) completed measures of proneness to shame and guilt. We re-interviewed 68% of participants after they turned 18 years old (range 18–21). Guilt-proneness assessed in childhood predicted fewer sexual partners, less use of illegal drugs and alcohol, and less involvement with the criminal justice system. Shame-proneness, in contrast, was a risk factor for later deviant behavior. Shame-prone children were more likely to have unprotected sex and use illegal drugs in young adulthood. These results held when controlling for childhood SES and teachers’ ratings of aggression. Children’s moral emotional styles appear to be well established by at least middle childhood, with distinct downstream implications for risky behavior in early adulthood. PMID:24842762

Intrapersonal characteristics of body-related guilt, shame, pride, and envy in Canadian adults.

PubMed

Pila, Eva; Brunet, Jennifer; Crocker, Peter R E; Kowalski, Kent C; Sabiston, Catherine M

2016-03-01

This study examined differences in body-related shame, guilt, pride, and envy based on intrapersonal characteristics of sex, age, and weight status in 527 Canadian adults. Compared to men, women reported significantly higher shame and guilt contextualized to the body. No sex differences were observed for envy or pride. Middle-aged adults reported higher shame and lower pride compared with young adults, whereas no age differences were observed with body-related guilt. Meanwhile, shame and guilt were highest for individuals who had overweight or obese weight status, and pride was highest in individuals with average weight status. Overall, effect sizes were small and there were no significant interaction effects between sex, age, and weight status across body-related emotions. Further research is needed to capture similarities and differences of body-related self-conscious emotions between intrapersonal characteristics, to aid the development of intervention strategies to manage this important dimension of body image. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Intrapsychic and interpersonal guilt: a critical review of the recent literature.

PubMed

Carnì, Serena; Petrocchi, Nicola; Del Miglio, Carlamaria; Mancini, Francesco; Couyoumdjian, Alessandro

2013-11-01

Various authors hold that some emotions (i.e., moral emotions) have the function of orienting people toward ethical actions. In addition to embarrassment, shame and pride, the moral emotion of guilt is believed to affect humans' behavior when they carry out transgressions that violate social and cultural standards. Over the past century, many studies (including controversial ones) have been conducted on guilt. In this study, we analyzed and summarized mainly the most recent literature on this emotion. On one side, the destructiveness of guilt is emphasized. It inflicts punishment and pain on individuals for their errors and can lead to psychopathology (e.g., depression). On the other side, it is described as a "friendly" emotion that motivates behavior adapted to social and cultural rules. How can this asymmetry be explained? Different existing views on guilt are presented and discussed, together with recent proposals, supported by research data. Finally, we discussed some systematic models that try to incorporate these different views in a single framework that could facilitate future researches.

Children's proneness to shame and guilt predict risky and illegal behaviors in young adulthood.

PubMed

Stuewig, Jeffrey; Tangney, June P; Kendall, Stephanie; Folk, Johanna B; Meyer, Candace Reinsmith; Dearing, Ronda L

2015-04-01

Do shame and guilt help people avoid doing wrong? Although some research suggests that guilt-proneness is a protective factor while shame-proneness puts individuals at risk, most research is either cross-sectional or short-term. In this longitudinal study, 380 5th graders (ages 10-12) completed measures of proneness to shame and guilt. We re-interviewed 68 % of participants after they turned 18 years old (range 18-21). Guilt-proneness assessed in childhood predicted fewer sexual partners, less use of illegal drugs and alcohol, and less involvement with the criminal justice system. Shame-proneness, in contrast, was a risk factor for later deviant behavior. Shame-prone children were more likely to have unprotected sex and use illegal drugs in young adulthood. These results held when controlling for childhood SES and teachers' ratings of aggression. Children's moral emotional styles appear to be well established by at least middle childhood, with distinct downstream implications for risky behavior in early adulthood.

Reducing youth internalizing symptoms: Effects of a family-based preventive intervention on parental guilt induction and youth cognitive style

PubMed Central

McKEE, LAURA G.; PARENT, JUSTIN; FOREHAND, REX; RAKOW, AARON; WATSON, KELLY H.; DUNBAR, JENNIFER P.; REISING, MICHELLE M.; HARDCASTLE, EMILY; COMPAS, BRUCE E.

2014-01-01

This study utilized structural equation modeling to examine the associations among parental guilt induction (a form of psychological control), youth cognitive style, and youth internalizing symptoms, with parents and youth participating in a randomized controlled trial of a family-based group cognitive–behavioral preventive intervention targeting families with a history of caregiver depression. The authors present separate models utilizing parent report and youth report of internalizing symptoms. Findings suggest that families in the active condition (family-based group cognitive–behavioral group) relative to the comparison condition showed a significant decline in parent use of guilt induction at the conclusion of the intervention (6 months postbaseline). Furthermore, reductions in parental guilt induction at 6 months were associated with significantly lower levels of youth negative cognitive style at 12 months. Finally, reductions in parental use of guilt induction were associated with lower youth internalizing symptoms 1 year following the conclusion of the intervention (18 months postbaseline). PMID:24438999

Looking into the crystal ball of our emotional lives: emotion regulation and the overestimation of future guilt and shame.

PubMed

van Dijk, Wilco W; van Dillen, Lotte F; Rotteveel, Mark; Seip, Elise C

2017-04-01

In the present study, we examined the impact of emotion regulation on the intensity bias in guilt and shame. Fifty-two undergraduates either forecasted their emotions and emotion regulation following a guilt- and shame-eliciting situation or reported their actual experienced emotions and employed emotion regulation. Results showed a clear intensity bias, that is, forecasters predicted to experience more guilt and shame than experiencers actually experienced. Furthermore, results showed that forecasters predicted to employ less down-regulating emotion regulation (i.e. less acceptance) and more up-regulating emotion regulation (i.e. more rumination) than experiencers actually employed. Moreover, results showed that the intensity differences between forecasted and experienced guilt and shame could be explained (i.e. were mediated) by the differences between forecasted and actually employed emotion regulation (i.e. acceptance and rumination). These findings provide support for the hypothesis that the intensity bias can-at least in part-be explained by the misprediction of future emotion regulation.

Trauma-related shame and guilt as time-varying predictors of posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms during imagery exposure and imagery rescripting--A randomized controlled trial.

PubMed

Øktedalen, Tuva; Hoffart, Asle; Langkaas, Tomas Formo

2015-01-01

The specific aims of this study are to examine trauma-related shame and guilt as time-varying predictors of symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Sixty-five patients were included in the statistical analyses and the multilevel modeling analyses supported three major findings. (i) Patients with a higher level of shame and guilt at the start of treatment displayed a higher level of PTSD symptoms over the course of treatment compared to other patients. (ii) Time-specific change in shame and guilt predicted the level of PTSD symptoms 3 days later from session to session during treatment. (iii) No significant differences were evident between prolonged exposure (PE) and modified PE to include imagery rescripting in the within-person process of change in PTSD symptoms from session to session during therapy. This trial reports the first evidence that within-person change in shame and guilt predicts change in PTSD symptoms from session to session during treatment.

Relations among behavioral inhibition, shame- and guilt-proneness, and anxiety disorders symptoms in non-clinical children.

PubMed

Muris, Peter; Meesters, Cor; Bouwman, Leanne; Notermans, Sabine

2015-04-01

This study examined relationships between the self-conscious emotions of shame and guilt, behavioral inhibition (as an index of anxiety proneness), and anxiety disorder symptoms in non-clinical children aged 8-13 years (N = 126), using children's self-report data. Results showed that there were positive and significant correlations between shame and guilt, behavioral inhibition, and anxiety disorders symptoms. When controlling for the overlap between shame and guilt, it was found that shame (but not guilt) remained significantly associated with higher levels of anxiety proneness and anxiety symptoms. Further, when controlling for the effect of behavioral inhibition, shame still accounted for a significant proportion of the variance of total anxiety and generalized anxiety scores. For these anxiety problems, support emerged for a model in which shame acted as a partial mediator in the relation between behavioral inhibition and anxiety. These results indicate that the self-conscious emotion of shame is a robust correlate of anxiety pathology in children.

Distress after a single violent crime: how shame-proneness and event-related shame work together as risk factors for post-victimization symptoms.

PubMed

Semb, Olof; Strömsten, Lotta M J; Sundbom, Elisabet; Fransson, Per; Henningsson, Mikael

2011-08-01

To increase understanding of post-victimization symptom development, the present study investigated the role of shame- and guilt-proneness and event-related shame and guilt as potential risk factors. 35 individuals (M age = 31.7 yr.; 48.5% women), recently victimized by a single event of severe violent crime, were assessed regarding shame- and guilt-proneness, event-related shame and guilt, and post-victimization symptoms. The mediating role of event-related shame was investigated with structural equation modeling (SEM), using bootstrapping. The guilt measures were unrelated to each other and to post-victimization symptoms. The shame measures were highly intercorrelated and were both positively correlated to more severe post-victimization symptom levels. Event-related shame as mediator between shame-proneness and post-victimization symptoms was demonstrated by prevalent significant indirect effects. Both shame measures are potent risk factors for distress after victimization, whereby part of the effect of shame-proneness on post-victimization symptoms is explained by event-related shame.

Guilt as a Motivator for Moral Judgment: An Autobiographical Memory Study

PubMed Central

Knez, Igor; Nordhall, Ola

2017-01-01

The aim was to investigate the phenomenology of self-defining moral memory and its relations to self-conscious feelings of guilt and willingness to do wrong (moral intention) in social and economic moral situations. We found that people use guilt as a moral motivator for their moral intention. The reparative function of guilt varied, however, with type of situation; that is, participants felt guiltier and were less willing to do wrong in economic compared to social moral situations. The self-defining moral memory was shown to be relatively more easy to access (accessibility), logically structured (coherence), vivid, seen from the first-person perspective (visual perspective), real (sensory detail); but was relatively less positive (valence), emotionally intense, chronologically clear (time perspective), in agreement with the present self (distancing), and shared. Finally, it was indicated that the more guilt people felt the more hidden/denied (less accessible), but more real (more sensory details), the self-defining moral memory. PMID:28539906

The relationship between self-disgust, guilt, and flow experience among Japanese undergraduates.

PubMed

Hirao, Kazuki; Kobayashi, Ryuji

2013-01-01

To determine the relationship between self-disgust, guilt, and flow experience. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in a convenience sample of 142 Kibi International University students (mean age, 20.09 ± 1.24 years; 85 males and 57 females). Each participant was evaluated using the Flow Experience Checklist, Self-Disgust Scale, and Situational Guilt Inventory. Correlation analysis was used to describe the strength and direction of the relationship between variables. We employed Pearson's partial correlations, adjusted for age and sex, using dummy variables (female = 0, male = 1). Analysis of the relationship between the frequency of flow experience and the Self-Disgust Scale scores showed a statistically significant negative correlation, whereas the duration of the activity and the Situational Guilt Inventory score showed a significant positive correlation. The quality of flow experience and the Situational Guilt Inventory score showed a significant positive correlation. These findings suggest that flow experience could be helpful for those who need treatment to reduce negative emotions.

Communication, Ethics and Values: The Effect of Attitude toward Capital Punishment on the Evaluation of Evidence and the Determination of Guilt.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Taylor, K. Phillip; Buchanan, Raymond W.

A study examined the effect of attitude toward capital punishment on the evaluation of evidence and the determination of guilt. Subjects were 224 undergraduate students who read a description of a murder. They then received two, four, or six items of evidence relevant to the defendant's guilt. Subjects were asked to determine a verdict and…

Military Justice: Courts-Martial, an Overview

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-08-12

stages of a criminal prosecution. Criminal proceedings provide both the opportunity to contest guilt and to challenge the government’s conduct that...P. 11(a). Defendant is entitled to jury instructions explaining that guilt must be proved on the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt. Taylor v...Kentucky, 436 U.S. 478 (1978). Defendant is entitled to appear in court without unnecessary physical restraints or other indicia of guilt , such as

Evaluations of sexual assault: perceptions of guilt and legal elements for male and female aggressors using various coercive strategies.

PubMed

Russell, Brenda L; Oswald, Debra L; Kraus, Shane W

2011-01-01

This study examines the extent to which verdict, guilt, and legal components associated with jury instructions of sexual assault differ as a function of aggressor gender, participant gender, and sexual strategy used (consensual, verbal coercion, alcohol, or physical aggression) to obtain sex. Participants (N = 423; 276 women and 147 men) read a vignette depicting either a couple having consensual sex (control), or a male or female aggressor who initiates sexual intercourse via verbal coercion, use of alcohol, or physical abuse. College students were provided with legal instructions of sexual assault then asked to provide a verdict, degree of guilt, and legal components. Female participants rated guilt and coercion higher than did male participants. Ratings of guilt were highest in the physical assault condition followed by the alcohol, verbal, and control conditions. Female aggressors were rated less guilty than male aggressors. Results are explained in relation to sexual scripts and legal decision making. Lack of significance in verdict decisions and interaction effects suggests male and female aggressors are evaluated similarly using coercive strategies; yet, consent for sex was assumed and attributions of guilt was lower when the aggressor was female. Implications for jury instructions and future research are discussed.

Neurobiological underpinnings of shame and guilt: a pilot fMRI study

PubMed Central

Michl, Petra; Meindl, Thomas; Meister, Franziska; Born, Christine; Engel, Rolf R.; Reiser, Maximilian

2014-01-01

In this study, a functional magnetic resonance imaging paradigm originally employed by Takahashi et al. was adapted to look for emotion-specific differences in functional brain activity within a healthy German sample (N = 14), using shame- and guilt-related stimuli and neutral stimuli. Activations were found for both of these emotions in the temporal lobe (shame condition: anterior cingulate cortex, parahippocampal gyrus; guilt condition: fusiform gyrus, middle temporal gyrus). Specific activations were found for shame in the frontal lobe (medial and inferior frontal gyrus), and for guilt in the amygdala and insula. This is consistent with Takahashi et al.’s results obtained for a Japanese sample (using Japanese stimuli), which showed activations in the fusiform gyrus, hippocampus, middle occipital gyrus and parahippocampal gyrus. During the imagination of shame, frontal and temporal areas (e.g. middle frontal gyrus and parahippocampal gyrus) were responsive regardless of gender. In the guilt condition, women only activate temporal regions, whereas men showed additional frontal and occipital activation as well as a responsive amygdala. The results suggest that shame and guilt share some neural networks, as well as having individual areas of activation. It can be concluded that frontal, temporal and limbic areas play a prominent role in the generation of moral feelings. PMID:23051901

Subjective happiness among mothers of children with disabilities: The role of stress, attachment, guilt and social support.

PubMed

Findler, Liora; Klein Jacoby, Ayelet; Gabis, Lidia

2016-08-01

Parenting a child with disabilities might affect the happiness of the mothers. Hence we adapted Wallander, Varni, Babani, Banis, and Wilcox's (1989) disability-stress-coping model to examine the impact of risk factors (specific stressors related to the child's disability) on the mother's adaptation (happiness). Intrapersonal factors (attachment) and social-ecological factors (social support) were hypothesized to predict adaptation. Both constitute 'risk-resistant' factors, which are mediated by the mother's perceived general stress and guilt. 191 mothers of a child with a developmental disability (ages 3-7) answered questionnaires on happiness, specific and general stress, attachment, guilt and social support. Attachment avoidance was directly and negatively associated with mothers' happiness. General stress was negatively associated with happiness, and mediated the association between anxious attachment, support, and specific stress with happiness. Guilt was negatively associated with happiness, and served as a mediator between attachment anxiety and support and happiness. The findings of the current research show direct and indirect associations of risk factors with happiness and the role of general stress and feelings of guilt as mediators. This study stresses the importance of attachment and social support to happiness and sheds light on the unique role of guilt in promoting or inhibiting happiness. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Associating a prototypical forbidden food item with guilt or celebration: relationships with indicators of (un)healthy eating and the moderating role of stress and depressive symptoms.

PubMed

Kuijer, Roeline G; Boyce, Jessica A; Marshall, Emma M

2015-01-01

The increase in obesity and the many educational messages prompting us to eat a healthy diet have heightened people's concerns about the effects of food choice on health and weight. An unintended side effect may be that such awareness fuels feelings of guilt and worry about food. Although guilt has the potential to motivate behaviour change, it may also lead to feelings of helplessness and loss of control. The current study examined the relationship between a default association of either 'guilt' or 'celebration' with a prototypical forbidden food item (chocolate cake), indicators of healthy eating and choosing food for mood regulation reasons. Following a 'diathesis-stress' perspective, the moderating roles of depressive symptoms and stress were examined. Although a default association of guilt was found to be harmless under some circumstances (i.e. under low stress), those who associated chocolate cake with guilt (vs. celebration) reported unhealthier eating habits and lower levels of perceived behavioural control over healthy eating when under stress, rated mood regulation reasons for food choice as important irrespective of their current affective state, and did not have more positive attitudes towards healthy eating. Implications for public health messages and interventions will be discussed.

Tracking the trajectory of shame, guilt, and pride across the life span.

PubMed

Orth, Ulrich; Robins, Richard W; Soto, Christopher J

2010-12-01

The authors examined age differences in shame, guilt, and 2 forms of pride (authentic and hubristic) from age 13 years to age 89 years, using cross-sectional data from 2,611 individuals. Shame decreased from adolescence into middle adulthood, reaching a nadir around age 50 years, and then increased in old age. Guilt increased from adolescence into old age, reaching a plateau at about age 70 years. Authentic pride increased from adolescence into old age, whereas hubristic pride decreased from adolescence into middle adulthood, reaching a minimum around age 65 years, and then increased in old age. On average, women reported experiencing more shame and guilt; Blacks reported experiencing less shame and Asians more hubristic pride than other ethnicities. Across the life span, shame and hubristic pride tended to be negatively related to psychological well-being, and shame-free guilt and authentic pride showed positive relations with well-being. Overall, the findings support the maturity principle of personality development and suggest that as people age they become more prone to experiencing psychologically adaptive self-conscious emotions, such as guilt and authentic pride, and less prone to experiencing psychologically maladaptive ones, such as shame and hubristic pride. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved.

Neurobiological underpinnings of shame and guilt: a pilot fMRI study.

PubMed

Michl, Petra; Meindl, Thomas; Meister, Franziska; Born, Christine; Engel, Rolf R; Reiser, Maximilian; Hennig-Fast, Kristina

2014-02-01

In this study, a functional magnetic resonance imaging paradigm originally employed by Takahashi et al. was adapted to look for emotion-specific differences in functional brain activity within a healthy German sample (N = 14), using shame- and guilt-related stimuli and neutral stimuli. Activations were found for both of these emotions in the temporal lobe (shame condition: anterior cingulate cortex, parahippocampal gyrus; guilt condition: fusiform gyrus, middle temporal gyrus). Specific activations were found for shame in the frontal lobe (medial and inferior frontal gyrus), and for guilt in the amygdala and insula. This is consistent with Takahashi et al.'s results obtained for a Japanese sample (using Japanese stimuli), which showed activations in the fusiform gyrus, hippocampus, middle occipital gyrus and parahippocampal gyrus. During the imagination of shame, frontal and temporal areas (e.g. middle frontal gyrus and parahippocampal gyrus) were responsive regardless of gender. In the guilt condition, women only activate temporal regions, whereas men showed additional frontal and occipital activation as well as a responsive amygdala. The results suggest that shame and guilt share some neural networks, as well as having individual areas of activation. It can be concluded that frontal, temporal and limbic areas play a prominent role in the generation of moral feelings.

Surrogate End-of-Life Care Decision Makers' Postbereavement Grief and Guilt Responses.

PubMed

Lovell, Geoff P; Smith, Trish; Kannis-Dymand, Lee

2015-01-01

This article examined differences in familial/friend surrogate decision makers' (N = 93) postbereavement grief and guilt associated with decisions to either prioritize comfort or longevity in determining end-of-life care for decisionally incapacitated adult palliative loved ones. Results demonstrated that participants prioritizing the longevity of loved ones experienced significantly and meaningfully higher levels of grief, complicated grief, and trauma related guilt than those who prioritized comfort.

Do guilt- and shame-proneness differentially predict prosocial, aggressive, and withdrawn behaviors during early adolescence?

PubMed

Roos, Sanna; Hodges, Ernest V E; Salmivalli, Christina

2014-03-01

In this short-term longitudinal study, we systematically examined the distinctiveness of guilt- and shame-proneness in early adolescents (N = 395, mean age = 11.8 years) in terms of differential relations with peer reported prosocial behavior, withdrawal, and aggression. Results from structural equation modeling indicated that guilt-proneness concurrently predicted more aggressive and less prosocial behavior as well as subsequent increases in prosocial behavior. Shame-proneness predicted subsequent decreases in prosocial behavior. Although girls reported a greater proneness to experience guilt and shame than boys, the associations between the two dispositional emotions and social behaviors were found to be similar across time and gender. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Affirmation, acknowledgment of in-group responsibility, group-based guilt, and support for reparative measures.

PubMed

Cehajić-Clancy, Sabina; Effron, Daniel A; Halperin, Eran; Liberman, Varda; Ross, Lee D

2011-08-01

Three studies, 2 conducted in Israel and 1 conducted in Bosnia and Herzegovina, demonstrated that affirming a positive aspect of the self can increase one's willingness to acknowledge in-group responsibility for wrongdoing against others, express feelings of group-based guilt, and consequently provide greater support for reparation policies. By contrast, affirming one's group, although similarly boosting feelings of pride, failed to increase willingness to acknowledge and redress in-group wrongdoing. Studies 2 and 3 demonstrated the mediating role of group-based guilt. That is, increased acknowledgment of in-group responsibility for out-group victimization produced increased feelings of guilt, which in turn increased support for reparation policies to the victimized group. Theoretical and applied implications are discussed.

Couples' communication before the wife's death to cancer and the widower's feelings of guilt or regret after the loss - a population-based investigation.

PubMed

Jonasson, Junmei Miao; Hauksdóttir, Arna; Nemes, Szilard; Surkan, Pamela J; Valdimarsdóttir, Unnur; Onelöv, Erik; Steineck, Gunnar

2011-07-01

To investigate the association between couples' communication before the wife's death to cancer and the widower's feelings of guilt and regret after the loss, in a population-based data. Men (n=907) younger than 80 years and living in Sweden, who had lost their wives due to cancer, were asked 4-5 years after their loss to answer an anonymous postal questionnaire it included questions about the couple's end-of-life communication during the last 3 months of life and the widower's feelings of guilt or regret during the first 6 months after the wife's death. During the last 3 months of their wives' lives, men who had not talked about the impending death with their wives had a higher risk of experiencing feelings of guilt than men who did talk (relative risk (RR) 2.0, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.2-3.4). Men who were not able to spend as much time as they wished with their wives had an increase in the risk of having feelings of guilt twice that of men who spent time (RR 2.0 95% CI 1.5-2.7). Men who did not talk with their wives about how they could cope practically or emotionally after the death had elevated risks of guilt feelings compared with men who talked (RR 1.8, 95% CI 1.0-3.0; RR 1.7, 95% CI 1.0-2.9, respectively). Men who realised it was too late to discuss the impending death had an increased risk of guilt feelings (RR 4.3, 95% CI 2.9-6.6). Men who thought that not everything had been brought to closure before their wives' deaths had 3.3 times increased risk of guilt feeling (RR 3.3, 95% CI 1.7-6.4). A man who does not have end-of-life discussions with his wife during the last 3 months before her death from cancer may be subject to a significantly greater risk of experiencing feelings of guilt or regret in widowhood than men who did engage in such discussions. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effect of Feelings of Guilt and Shame on Life Quality of Women in Menopause

PubMed Central

Sohbet, Rabia

2017-01-01

Objectives Current study was conducted between September 2014 and January 2015 in Gaziantep proviency Şehitkamil town Şirinevler district. Purpose of the study is to measure changes experienced, point of view on menopause, and life style of women who are older than 40, living in said district, and within post-menopause and how these factors effected their feelings of guilt and shame. Methods Out of universe consisting of 800 women, 500 participants have joined the study. Data collected by personal information form, Guilt-Shame scales, and World Health Organization quality of life (WHOQOL-BREF) scales. SPSS 18 was used to conduct statistical analysis. Results Analysis indicated that 78.6% of the participants was not literate, 37.8% of the participants were was subjected to domestic violence. Fifty-five percent of the participants were found to see menopause as a predicament, 45.4% as a disease, and 56% as infertility. Results of scales are as follows; guilt factor 48.95 ± 0.37, shame factor 44.89 ± 0.27, body 10.64 ± 0.42, mental 10.96 ± 0.39, social 11.12 ± 0.49, environment 10.84 ± 0.37. Conclusions No significant correlation found between Guilt: body, mental, social, and environmental area (P < 0.05). It was found that there is a significant correlation between the thought that menopause is not a bad thing and the perceived guilt (P < 0.001). Results of analyses indicate that information about menopause significantly correlates between perceived guilt (P < 0.05). Current study found that as perceived shame and guild increases, the life quality of the sample decreases and the average life quality of the sample is below average. PMID:28523254

The relationship between forgiveness, spirituality, traumatic guilt and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among people with addiction.

PubMed

Langman, Louise; Chung, Man Cheung

2013-03-01

Spirituality and forgiveness have been shown to be associated with psychological well-being, while guilt has been associated with poor health. Little is known, however, about the relationship between forgiveness, spirituality, guilt, posttraumatic stress (PTSD) and psychological co-morbidity among people in recovery from addiction. Eighty-one people (F = 36, M = 45) in recovery from drug and alcohol addiction were recruited from two residential units and two drop-in centres in a city in the United Kingdom. They completed the Posttraumatic Stress Diagnostic Scale (PDS), the General Health Questionnaire-28 (GHQ-28), the Spiritual Involvement and Beliefs Scale (SIBS), the Heartland Forgiveness Scale (HFS), the Traumatic Guilt Inventory (TGI), the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (MAST-22) and the Drug Abuse Screening Test (DAST-20). The control group comprised of 83 (F = 34, M = 49) individuals who confirmed that they did not have addiction and completed the PDS & GHQ-28. 54 % of the addiction group met the criteria for full PTSD and reported anxiety, somatic problems and depression. They described themselves as spiritual, had strong feelings of guilt associated with their addiction, and had difficulty in forgiving themselves. Controlling for demographics, number of events and medication management, regression analyses showed that spirituality predicted psychological co-morbidity, whilst feelings of guilt predicted PTSD symptoms and psychological co-morbidity. Unexpectedly, forgiveness did not predict outcomes. This study supports existing literature, which shows that people with drug and alcohol addiction tend to have experienced significant past trauma and PTSD symptoms. Their posttraumatic stress reactions and associated psychological difficulties can be better understood in the light of guilt and spirituality. Meanwhile, their ability to forgive themselves or others did not seem to influence health outcomes.

Effects of self-compassion workbook training on trauma-related guilt in a sample of homeless veterans: a pilot study.

PubMed

Held, Philip; Owens, Gina P

2015-06-01

The present pilot study examined the effects of a 4-week-long self-administered self-compassion training on trauma-related guilt and compared it to a stress inoculation control group. A total of 47 homeless male veterans who were living in transitional housing facilities volunteered to participate in this study. Participants were randomly assigned to either a self-compassion (N = 13) or a stress inoculation (N = 14) group and were asked to complete pre-, mid-, and postintervention assessments measuring changes in self-compassion, trauma-related guilt, and posttraumatic stress disorder severity. Participants in both interventions reported increased levels of self-compassion and equal reductions in trauma-related guilt. No other significant changes were noted. The results from this pilot study provide preliminary evidence for the use of self-compassion and stress inoculation trainings as effective interventions for trauma-related guilt. The findings also suggest that self-administered trainings in the form of workbooks may be a viable, cost-effective form of intervention for disadvantaged populations, such as homeless veterans in transitional housing, who may lack resources or access to professionals or paraprofessionals. The effects of both self-compassion training and stress inoculation training on the study variables and directions for future research on self-compassion and trauma-related guilt are discussed. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Weight-related actual and ideal self-states, discrepancies, and shame, guilt, and pride: examining associations within the process model of self-conscious emotions.

PubMed

Castonguay, Andree L; Brunet, Jennifer; Ferguson, Leah; Sabiston, Catherine M

2012-09-01

The aim of this study was to examine the associations between women's actual:ideal weight-related self-discrepancies and experiences of weight-related shame, guilt, and authentic pride using self-discrepancy (Higgins, 1987) and self-conscious emotion (Tracy & Robins, 2004) theories as guiding frameworks. Participants (N=398) completed self-report questionnaires. Main analyses involved polynomial regressions, followed by the computation and evaluation of response surface values. Actual and ideal weight self-states were related to shame (R2 = .35), guilt (R2 = .25), and authentic pride (R2 = .08). When the discrepancy between actual and ideal weights increased, shame and guilt also increased, while authentic pride decreased. Findings provide partial support for self-discrepancy theory and the process model of self-conscious emotions. Experiencing weight-related self-discrepancies may be important cognitive appraisals related to shame, guilt, and authentic pride. Further research is needed exploring the relations between self-discrepancies and a range of weight-related self-conscious emotions. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

How Upward Moral Comparison Influences Prosocial Behavioral Intention: Examining the Mediating Role of Guilt and the Moderating Role of Moral Identity.

PubMed

Zhang, Heyun; Chen, Sisi; Wang, Rong; Jiang, Jiang; Xu, Yan; Zhao, Huanhuan

2017-01-01

Although it has been shown that exceptional good deeds exert influences on people's prosocial behavior and intention, we have known little about how common moral actions in our daily life. The present study aimed to examine how upward moral comparison influenced prosocial behavioral intention as well as to explore the mediating role of guilt and the moderating role of moral identity in the focal relationship. An experimental study was conducted with 162 Chinese undergraduates (103 women, 59 men) randomly assigned to an upward moral comparison condition, an upward competence comparison condition or a control condition. Results indicated that participants in the upward moral comparison condition experienced higher levels of guilt and exhibited stronger motivation to act prosocially, relative to participants in the other two conditions. That is to say, upward moral comparison induces guilty experience, and then increases people's prosocial behavioral intention. Moreover, we have found that moral identity internalization moderates the upward moral comparison-guilt relationship, and the indirect effect of upward moral comparison on prosocial behavioral intention via guilt. The implications of these findings were discussed.

Can Perspective-Taking Reduce Crime? Examining a Pathway Through Empathic-Concern and Guilt-Proneness

PubMed Central

Martinez, Andres G.; Stuewig, Jeffrey; Tangney, June

2015-01-01

We describe and test a theoretical model in which individual differences in perspective-taking eventuate in crime reduction. Specifically, it is hypothesized that perspective-taking propensities influence the tendency to feel empathic-concern, thereby heightening proneness for guilt, which then ultimately inhibits criminal behavior (perspective-taking → empathic-concern → guilt-proneness → crime desistance). Data from two sources were analyzed: (1) a cross-sectional college sample and (2) a longitudinal sample of jail inmates. Overall, results lend credence to this model. Perspective-taking propensities ultimately “put the brakes” on criminal behavior via an affective pathway of empathic-concern and guilt-proneness. Discussion focuses on the nature of perspective-taking, its generative role in moral emotions, as well as potential applications for crime prevention. PMID:25324328

Attributions of guilt and punishment as functions of physical attractiveness and smiling.

PubMed

Abel, Millicent H; Watters, Heather

2005-12-01

The authors found an interaction between sex of participant and sex of defendant in the leniency bias toward a smiling defendant. Differences occurred for male participants when levying punishment for a smiling male defendant vs. a smiling female defendant and for a smiling male defendant vs. a nonsmiling male defendant, whereas differences did not occur for female participants. The authors found moderating effects of physical attractiveness and smiling between guilt and punishment. The only significant positive relationship between guilt and punishment occurred for the defendant whom participants rated low in physical attractiveness and who was not smiling. When guilty, the smiling and unattractive defendant received less punishment than did the smiling and attractive defendant. The authors discussed complex relationships between physical attractiveness, smiling, guilt, and punishment.

Scandalous: Christian identification, sex guilt, and the mediated demonization of the participants in the AshleyMadison scandal.

PubMed

Ashdown, Brien K; Hackathorn, Jana M; Daniels, Jordan

2018-04-06

In 2015, AshleyMadison.com (AshleyMadison) was hacked, leading to the release of site members' personal information. The exposed members faced public scrutiny, judgment, and other negative outcomes. In this study, we examined predictors of the demonization of the AshleyMadison participants (i.e., AshleyMadison members, owners, hackers) to help explain victim derogation. We attempted to discern the role religiosity and sexual guilt played in the demonization of the AshleyMadison hacking participants. We predicted sexual guilt would mediate between religiosity and demonization of the AshleyMadison hacking participants. Our findings indicate that religiosity alone does not predict demonization. Instead, sex guilt was a necessary part of the equation and mediated between participants' religiosity and the amount they demonized the different groups.

Eating Disorders

MedlinePlus

... purge afterwards, but often feel a lot of shame or guilt about their binge eating. Other specified ... Impulsivity Intense focus on “flaws” and physical appearance Shame or guilt Withdrawal from friends Binge Eating Disorder: ...

The centrality of guilt: working with ultra-orthodox Jewish patients in Israel.

PubMed

Hess, Esther

2014-09-01

The ultra-orthodox Jewish (Haredi) community in Israel is characterized by strict observance of the requirements of orthodox Jewish life. Psychoanalytic psychotherapy within this community brings us into contact with guilt as a central emotion throughout the therapeutic process. The exposure to new concepts, ways of thought and a previously unknown space, together with increased awareness of internal wishes and drives, are experienced as forbidden areas that arouse an awakening of conscience and a sense of guilt. The author's cases illustrate these conflicts.

Combat Stress and Substance Use Intervention

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-10-01

Some 3 A Lot ItemName COSR_10 Wording Guilt and shame about something I did, or a sense of failure in my life ResponseOption Code Label 0 None...when they are in no immediate danger; this tenseness may be accompanied by feelings of sadness or depression, guilt, shame , anger or irritability...you used to enjoy; want to be alone all the time; or feel tired, empty, and numb more than you used to. • Guilt and shame : You may feel guilty that

Development of fear and guilt in young children: stability over time and relations with psychopathology.

PubMed

Baker, Erika; Baibazarova, Eugenia; Ktistaki, Georgia; Shelton, Katherine H; van Goozen, Stephanie H M

2012-08-01

Extremes in fearful temperament have long been associated with later psychopathology and risk pathways. Whereas fearful children are inhibited and anxious and avoid novel events, fearless individuals are disinhibited and more likely to engage in aggressive behavior. However, very few studies have examined fear in infants from a multimethod and prospective longitudinal perspective. This study had the following objectives: to examine behavioral, maternal reported, and physiological indices of fearful temperament in infancy, together with their relations and stability over time; and to establish whether early indices of fear predict fear later in toddlerhood. We also examined the association between behavioral and physiological measures of fear and guilt and whether fear in infancy predicts guilt in toddlers. Finally, we investigated infant risk factors for later psychopathology. We recorded skin conductance level (SCL) and heart rate (HR) and observed children's responses during a Laboratory Temperament Assessment Battery fear paradigm across the first 3 years of life and during a guilt induction procedure at age 3 (N = 70). The results indicate that different measures of infant fear were associated across time. Observed fearlessness in infancy predicted observed fearlessness and low levels of SCL arousal to fear and guilt in toddlers. Low levels of HR and SCL to fear in infancy predicted low levels of physiological arousal to the same situation and to guilt 2 years later. Fear and guilt were significantly associated across measures. Finally, toddlers with clinically significant internalizing problems at age 3 were already notably more fearful in Year 1 as reflected by their significantly higher HR levels. The results indicated that assessments of children in infancy are predictive of how these children react 2 years later and therefore lend support to the idea that the emotional thermostat is set in the first 3 years of life. They also showed, for the first time, that infant fear is a predictor of guilt, which is an emotion that develops later. The implications of these findings for our understanding of developmental psychopathology are discussed.

22 CFR 1006.925 - Conviction.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... § 1006.925 Conviction. Conviction means— (a) A judgment or any other determination of guilt of a criminal... court is the functional equivalent of a judgment only if it includes an admission of guilt. ...

2 CFR 180.920 - Conviction.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... § 180.920 Conviction. Conviction means— (a) A judgment or any other determination of guilt of a criminal... court is the functional equivalent of a judgment only if it includes an admission of guilt. ...

48 CFR 1409.403 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... this subpart, means: (a) A judgment or any other determination of guilt of a criminal offense by any... functional equivalent of a judgment only if it includes an admission of guilt. Debarring Official refers to...

Blame and guilt - a mixed methods study of obstetricians' and midwives' experiences and existential considerations after involvement in traumatic childbirth.

PubMed

Schrøder, Katja; Jørgensen, Jan S; Lamont, Ronald F; Hvidt, Niels C

2016-07-01

When complications arise in the delivery room, midwives and obstetricians operate at the interface of life and death, and in rare cases the infant or the mother suffers severe and possibly fatal injuries related to the birth. This descriptive study investigated the numbers and proportions of obstetricians and midwives involved in such traumatic childbirth and explored their experiences with guilt, blame, shame and existential concerns. A mixed methods study comprising a national survey of Danish obstetricians and midwives and a qualitative interview study with selected survey participants. The response rate was 59% (1237/2098), of which 85% stated that they had been involved in a traumatic childbirth. We formed five categories during the comparative mixed methods analysis: the patient, clinical peers, official complaints, guilt, and existential considerations. Although blame from patients, peers or official authorities was feared (and sometimes experienced), the inner struggles with guilt and existential considerations were dominant. Feelings of guilt were reported by 36-49%, and 50% agreed that the traumatic childbirth had made them think more about the meaning of life. Sixty-five percent felt that they had become a better midwife or doctor due to the traumatic incident. The results of this large, exploratory study suggest that obstetricians and midwives struggle with issues of blame, guilt and existential concerns in the aftermath of a traumatic childbirth. © 2016 Nordic Federation of Societies of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Impairment in judgement of the moral emotion guilt following orbitofrontal cortex damage.

PubMed

Funayama, Michitaka; Koreki, Akihiro; Muramatsu, Taro; Mimura, Masaru; Kato, Motoichiro; Abe, Takayuki

2018-04-19

Although neuroimaging studies have provided evidence for an association between moral emotions and the orbitofrontal cortex, studies on patients with focal lesions using experimental probes of moral emotions are scarce. Here, we addressed this topic by presenting a moral emotion judgement task to patients with focal brain damage. Four judgement tasks in a simple pairwise choice paradigm were given to 72 patients with cerebrovascular disease. These tasks consisted of a perceptual line judgement task as a control task; the objects' preference task as a basic preference judgement task; and two types of moral emotion judgement task, an anger task and a guilt task. A multiple linear regression analysis was performed on each set of task performance scores to take into account potential confounders. Performance on the guilt emotion judgement task negatively correlated with the orbitofrontal cortex damage, but not with the other variables. Results for the other judgement tasks did not reach statistical significance. The close association between orbitofrontal cortex damage and a decrease in guilt emotion judgement consistency might suggest that the orbitofrontal cortex plays a key role in the sense of guilt, a hallmark of morality. © 2018 The British Psychological Society.

How Upward Moral Comparison Influences Prosocial Behavioral Intention: Examining the Mediating Role of Guilt and the Moderating Role of Moral Identity

PubMed Central

Zhang, Heyun; Chen, Sisi; Wang, Rong; Jiang, Jiang; Xu, Yan; Zhao, Huanhuan

2017-01-01

Although it has been shown that exceptional good deeds exert influences on people's prosocial behavior and intention, we have known little about how common moral actions in our daily life. The present study aimed to examine how upward moral comparison influenced prosocial behavioral intention as well as to explore the mediating role of guilt and the moderating role of moral identity in the focal relationship. An experimental study was conducted with 162 Chinese undergraduates (103 women, 59 men) randomly assigned to an upward moral comparison condition, an upward competence comparison condition or a control condition. Results indicated that participants in the upward moral comparison condition experienced higher levels of guilt and exhibited stronger motivation to act prosocially, relative to participants in the other two conditions. That is to say, upward moral comparison induces guilty experience, and then increases people's prosocial behavioral intention. Moreover, we have found that moral identity internalization moderates the upward moral comparison-guilt relationship, and the indirect effect of upward moral comparison on prosocial behavioral intention via guilt. The implications of these findings were discussed. PMID:28959221

Guilt in Bereavement: The Role of Self-Blame and Regret in Coping with Loss

PubMed Central

Stroebe, Margaret; Stroebe, Wolfgang; van de Schoot, Rens; Schut, Henk; Abakoumkin, Georgios; Li, Jie

2014-01-01

Despite the apparent centrality of guilt in complicating reactions following bereavement, scientific investigation has been limited. Establishing the impact of specific components associated with guilt could enhance understanding. The aim of this study was to examine the relationships between two guilt-related manifestations, namely self-blame and regret, with grief and depression. A longitudinal investigation was conducted 4–7 months, 14 months and 2 years post-loss. Participants were bereaved spouses (30 widows; 30 widowers); their mean age was 53.05 years. Results showed that self-blame was associated with grief at the initial time-point and with its decline over time. Such associations were not found for depression. Initial levels of regret were neither associated with initial levels of grief and depression, nor were they related to the decline over time in either outcome variable. These results demonstrate the importance of examining guilt-related manifestations independently, over time, and with respect to both generic and grief-specific outcome variables. A main conclusion is that self-blame (but not regret) is a powerful determinant of grief-specific difficulties following the loss of a loved one. Implications for intervention are considered. PMID:24819238

Early maltreatment is associated with greater risk of conduct problems and lack of guilt in adolescence.

PubMed

Docherty, Meagan; Kubik, Joanna; Herrera, Carolina M; Boxer, Paul

2018-05-01

Previous research indicates a link between childhood maltreatment and elevated conduct problems. Yet the literature is less clear on associations between maltreatment and callousness (e.g., lack of empathy or guilt). This is a critical gap given that callousness is a robust predictor of serious aggressive and violent behavior. We examine the association between substantiated maltreatment events in childhood and adolescence (up to age 13) and conduct problems and lack of guilt at age 14. We analyze self- and parent-report data along with official maltreatment records on 557 youth (50% female; 69% non-white) from a larger dataset (Longitudinal Studies on Childhood Abuse and Neglect; N = 1354). Results of multinomial logistic regression models indicate that youth with histories of substantiated maltreatment events are more likely to have elevated conduct problems and decreased guilt at age 14, particularly if they experienced maltreatment before the age of four years old. Youth who exhibit conduct problems and also appear to lack guilt are more likely to have a personal history of substantiated maltreatment. We discuss our results in terms of their implications for theory and practice. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Confirming the Multidimensionality of Psychologically Controlling Parenting among Chinese-American Mothers: Love Withdrawal, Guilt Induction, and Shaming.

PubMed

Cheah, Charissa; Yu, Jing; Hart, Craig; Sun, Shuyan; Olsen, Joseph

2015-05-01

Despite the theoretical conceptualization of parental psychological control as a multidimensional construct, the majority of previous studies have examined psychological control as a unidimensional scale. Moreover, the conceptualization of shaming and its associations with love withdrawal and guilt induction are unclear. The current study aimed to fill these gaps by evaluating the latent factor structure underlying 18 items from Olsen et al. (2002) that were conceptually relevant to love withdrawal, guilt induction, and shaming practices in a sample of 169 mothers of Chinese-American preschoolers. A multidimensional three-factor model and bi-factor model were specified based on our formulated operational definitions for the three dimensions of psychological control. Both models were found to be superior to the unidimensional model. In addition, results from the bi-factor model and an additional second-order factor model indicated that psychological control is essentially empirically isomorphic with guilt induction. Although love withdrawal and shaming factors were also fairly strong indicators of psychological control, each exhibited important additional unique variability and mutual distinctiveness. Implications for the conceptualization of love withdrawal, guilt induction, and shaming as well as directions for future studies are discussed.

Confirming the Multidimensionality of Psychologically Controlling Parenting among Chinese-American Mothers: Love Withdrawal, Guilt Induction, and Shaming

PubMed Central

Cheah, Charissa; Yu, Jing; Hart, Craig; Sun, Shuyan; Olsen, Joseph

2014-01-01

Despite the theoretical conceptualization of parental psychological control as a multidimensional construct, the majority of previous studies have examined psychological control as a unidimensional scale. Moreover, the conceptualization of shaming and its associations with love withdrawal and guilt induction are unclear. The current study aimed to fill these gaps by evaluating the latent factor structure underlying 18 items from Olsen et al. (2002) that were conceptually relevant to love withdrawal, guilt induction, and shaming practices in a sample of 169 mothers of Chinese-American preschoolers. A multidimensional three-factor model and bi-factor model were specified based on our formulated operational definitions for the three dimensions of psychological control. Both models were found to be superior to the unidimensional model. In addition, results from the bi-factor model and an additional second-order factor model indicated that psychological control is essentially empirically isomorphic with guilt induction. Although love withdrawal and shaming factors were also fairly strong indicators of psychological control, each exhibited important additional unique variability and mutual distinctiveness. Implications for the conceptualization of love withdrawal, guilt induction, and shaming as well as directions for future studies are discussed. PMID:26052168

34 CFR 85.925 - Conviction.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

...) Definitions § 85.925 Conviction. Conviction means— (a) A judgment or any other determination of guilt of a... participation of the court is the functional equivalent of a judgment only if it includes an admission of guilt...

12 CFR 622.82 - Decision of the Board.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... representative. (c) Guilt not an issue. In deciding upon any suspension of prohibition by notice, the ultimate question of the guilt or innocence of the individual with respect to the criminal charge that is...

22 CFR 208.925 - Conviction.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

...) Definitions § 208.925 Conviction. Conviction means— (a) A judgment or any other determination of guilt of a... participation of the court is the functional equivalent of a judgment only if it includes an admission of guilt. ...

22 CFR 1508.925 - Conviction.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

...) Definitions § 1508.925 Conviction. Conviction means— (a) A judgment or any other determination of guilt of a... participation of the court is the functional equivalent of a judgment only if it includes an admission of guilt. ...

And coffee too.

PubMed

Cameron, P; Boehmer, J

1982-04-01

Two hundred and seventy-two persons aged 11 to 80 were interviewed regarding whether and why they had tried and/or used coffee, tobacco, liquor, and marijuana. The attracting and capturing power of tobacco and marijuana registered as lower than those associated with coffee and liquor. A guilt/shame index was derived from avowed motives. Trying tobacco and liquor was associated with greater guilt/shame than that associated with coffee and marijuana. Most tobacco users offered motives that indicated continued guilt/shame, while the majority of the other users expressed contentment with their habits.

How jurors use and misuse character evidence.

PubMed

Hunt, Jennifer S; Budesheim, Thomas Lee

2004-04-01

The Federal Rules of Evidence allow defendants to offer testimony about their good character, but that testimony can be impeached with cross-examination or a rebuttal witness. It is assumed that jurors use the defense's character evidence (CE) to form guilt and conviction judgments but use impeachment evidence only to assess the character witness's credibility. Two experiments tested these assumptions by presenting mock jurors with various forms of CE and impeachment. Participants made trait ratings for the character witness and defendant and guilt and conviction judgments. Positive CE did not affect guilt or conviction judgments, but cross-examination caused a backlash in which judgments were harsher than when no CE was given. Using path analysis, the authors tested a model of the process by which CE and impeachment affect defendant and witness impressions and guilt and conviction judgments. Implications for juror decision making are discussed.

A STUDY OF PATIENTS ATTENDING MEHANDIPUR BALAJI TEMPLE : PSYCHIATRIC AND PSYCHODYNAMIC ASPECTS1

PubMed Central

Satija, D.C.; Nathawat, S.S.; Singh, D.; Sharma, A.

1982-01-01

SUMMARY A sample of 100 patients were selected randomly from 10 dharamshalas who qualified the diagnosis of neuroses and developed “trance”. They were subjected to tests of suggestability, intelligence, guilt, hostility and neuroticism. Patients with “trance” were significantly more suggestible and expressed more hostility and guilt as compared to those who did not develop trance. Significant differences were found on I.Q, and level of neuroticism in trance and non-trance patients as well. No significant differences were observed on suggestibility, I.Q., hostility, guilt and level of neuroticism in patients who developed trance either early or delayed. Hysterial patients with trance and non-hysterical patients with trance failed to differ on suggestibility, I.Q. and projective measures of hostility and guilt. The significance of these factors in the development of trance and cure of psychoneurotic patients in context of our cultural background and faith healing practices has been discussed. PMID:21965941

What is moral about guilt? Acting "prosocially" at the disadvantage of others.

PubMed

de Hooge, Ilona E; Nelissen, Rob M A; Breugelmans, Seger M; Zeelenberg, Marcel

2011-03-01

For centuries economists and psychologists have argued that the morality of moral emotions lies in the fact that they stimulate prosocial behavior and benefit others in a person's social environment. Many studies have shown that guilt, arguably the most exemplary moral emotion, indeed motivates prosocial behavior in dyadic social dilemma situations. When multiple persons are involved, however, the moral and prosocial nature of this emotion can be questioned. The present article shows how guilt can have beneficial effects for the victim of one's actions but also disadvantageous effects for other people in the social environment. A series of experiments, with various emotion inductions and dependent measures, all reveal that guilt motivates prosocial behavior toward the victim at the expense of others around-but not at the expense of oneself. These findings illustrate that a thorough understanding of the functioning of emotions is necessary to understand their moral nature. (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved

Shame and the motivation to change the self.

PubMed

Lickel, Brian; Kushlev, Kostadin; Savalei, Victoria; Matta, Shashi; Schmader, Toni

2014-12-01

A central question of human psychology is whether and when people change for the better. Although it has long been assumed that emotion plays a central role in self-regulation, the role of specific emotions in motivating a desire for self-change has been largely ignored. We report 2 studies examining people's lived experiences of self-conscious emotions, particularly shame, in motivating a desire for self-change. Study 1 revealed that when participants recalled experiences of shame, guilt, or embarrassment, shame-and, to some degree, guilt-predicted a motivation for self-change. Study 2 compared shame, guilt, and regret for events and found that although shame experiences often involved high levels of both regret and guilt, it was feelings of shame that uniquely predicted a desire for self-change, whereas regret predicted an interest in mentally undoing the past and repairing harm done. Implications for motivating behavior change are discussed.

Children's perceptions of others' kindness in helping: the endocentric motivations of pride and guilt.

PubMed

Shorr, D N

1993-09-01

Elementary school and college students rated the kindness of helping by story protagonists with different attributed motivations. Of particular interest was the effect of the endocentric (self-serving) motivations of anticipated pride and guilt on the kindness ratings. A number of prosocial theorists view such endocentrically motivated helping as less altruistic than exocentrically (other-serving) motivated helping. Compared with helping attributed to the exocentric motivation of sympathy, helping attributed to guilt avoidance led to lower ratings of kindness by all but second graders. Pride-attributed helping, however, did not result in lower kindness ratings at any grade level. The motivational attributions of praise and reward attainment and criticism and punishment avoidance led to relatively low kindness ratings, with the two avoidance motivations leading to the lowest ratings. The latter finding suggests an alternative explanation of the kindness ratings for guilt-motivated helping.

Implicit vs. explicit dimensions of guilt and dominance in criminal psychopathy.

PubMed

Nentjes, Lieke; Bernstein, David P; Cima, Maaike; Wiers, Reinout W

The current study investigated the relationship between psychopathy and two concepts that hold a central position in conceptualizations of this disorder, being guilt and dominance. Both constructs were measured using explicit measures (i.e., self-report), as well as indirect assessment (i.e., the Single Category Implicit Association Test; Sc-IAT). Our sample consisted of 43 psychopathic offenders, 42 nonpsychopathic offenders, and 26 nonoffender controls. Although no overall group differences emerged, the lifestyle/antisocial traits of psychopathy (Factor 2) predicted reduced self-reported guilt on a dimensional level. As hypothesized, such a relationship was absent for the interpersonal/affective dimension of psychopathy (Factor 1). Psychopathy was unrelated to implicit self-guilt associations. Regarding dominance, psychopathy was not significantly associated with indirectly or explicitly assessed dominance. These findings are interpreted in the light of empirical knowledge on moral emotions, insight and response distortion in highly antisocial offenders. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Bereavement Guilt Scale.

PubMed

Li, Jie; Stroebe, Magaret; Chan, Cecilia L W; Chow, Amy Y M

2017-06-01

The rationale, development, and validation of the Bereavement Guilt Scale (BGS) are described in this article. The BGS was based on a theoretically developed, multidimensional conceptualization of guilt. Part 1 describes the generation of the item pool, derived from in-depth interviews, and review of the scientific literature. Part 2 details statistical analyses for further item selection (Sample 1, N = 273). Part 3 covers the psychometric properties of the emergent-BGS (Sample 2, N = 600, and Sample 3, N = 479). Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that a five-factor model fit the data best. Correlations of BGS scores with depression, anxiety, self-esteem, self-forgiveness, and mode of death were consistent with theoretical predictions, supporting the construct validity of the measure. The internal consistency and test-retest reliability were also supported. Thus, initial testing or examination suggests that the BGS is a valid tool to assess multiple components of bereavement guilt. Further psychometric testing across cultures is recommended.

Can perspective-taking reduce crime? Examining a pathway through empathic-concern and guilt-proneness.

PubMed

Martinez, Andres G; Stuewig, Jeffrey; Tangney, June P

2014-12-01

We describe and appraise a theoretical model in which individual differences in perspective-taking eventuate in crime reduction. Specifically, it is hypothesized that perspective-taking propensities influence the tendency to feel empathic-concern, thereby heightening proneness for guilt, which ultimately inhibits criminal behavior (perspective-taking → empathic-concern → guilt-proneness → crime desistance). Data from two sources were analyzed: (a) a cross-sectional college sample and (b) a longitudinal sample of jail inmates. Overall, results lend credence to this theoretical model: Perspective-taking propensities ultimately "put the brakes" on criminal behavior-via an emotional pathway of empathic-concern and then guilt-proneness. Discussion focuses on the nature of perspective-taking, its generative role for moral emotion and behavior, as well as potential applications for crime reduction. © 2014 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

The Changing Nature of Guilt in Family Caregivers: Living Through Care Transitions of Parents at the End of Life.

PubMed

Martz, Kim; Morse, Janice M

2017-06-01

Older adults cared for at home by family members at the end of life are at risk for care transitions to residential and institutional care settings. These transitions are emotionally distressing and fraught with suffering for both families and the older adult. A theoretical model titled "The Changing Nature of Guilt in Family Caregivers: Living Through Care Transitions of Parents at the End of Life" was developed using the method of grounded theory. When a dying parent cannot remain at home to die, family members experience guilt throughout the transition process. Findings indicated that guilt surrounding transfers escalated during the initial stages of the transfer but was mitigated by achieving what family members deemed as a "good" death when relatives were receiving hospice care. The findings of this interpretative approach provide new insights into family-focused perspectives in care transfers of the dying.

The influence of a defendant's body weight on perceptions of guilt.

PubMed

Schvey, N A; Puhl, R M; Levandoski, K A; Brownell, K D

2013-09-01

To investigate the influence of a defendant's weight on simulated jurors' perceptions of guilt. Participants were 471 lean and overweight adults (mean body mass index: 25.34±5.91) who read a vignette describing a case of check fraud while viewing one of four images of the alleged defendant (a lean male, a lean female, an obese male or an obese female). Participants rated the defendant's culpability on a 5-point Likert scale and completed measures of anti-fat attitudes. Male respondents endorsed greater overall weight bias than females (F (1470)=23.815, P<0.01, η(2)=0.048). A three-way interaction was detected between participant sex, defendant sex and defendant weight on perceptions of guilt such that when the defendant was female, male participants were significantly more likely to find her guilty if she was obese than if she was lean (guilt ratings=4.05±0.83; 3.31±1.03, respectively; F(1467)=5.935, P=0.015, R(2)=0.060). In addition, lean male participants were significantly more likely to believe that the obese female defendant met criteria for check fraud, and indicated greater belief she would be a repeat offender, compared with the lean female defendant (t(90)=2.081, P=0.040; t(90)=2.395 P=0.019, respectively). There were no differences in perceptions of guilt or responsibility between the obese male and the lean male defendants. The results of this novel study indicate that both weight and gender of a defendant may affect juror perceptions of guilt and responsibility.

Introducing the GASP scale: a new measure of guilt and shame proneness.

PubMed

Cohen, Taya R; Wolf, Scott T; Panter, A T; Insko, Chester A

2011-05-01

Although scholars agree that moral emotions are critical for deterring unethical and antisocial behavior, there is disagreement about how 2 prototypical moral emotions--guilt and shame--should be defined, differentiated, and measured. We addressed these issues by developing a new assessment--the Guilt and Shame Proneness scale (GASP)--that measures individual differences in the propensity to experience guilt and shame across a range of personal transgressions. The GASP contains 2 guilt subscales that assess negative behavior-evaluations and repair action tendencies following private transgressions and 2 shame subscales that assess negative self-evaluations (NSEs) and withdrawal action tendencies following publically exposed transgressions. Both guilt subscales were highly correlated with one another and negatively correlated with unethical decision making. Although both shame subscales were associated with relatively poor psychological functioning (e.g., neuroticism, personal distress, low self-esteem), they were only weakly correlated with one another, and their relationships with unethical decision making diverged. Whereas shame-NSE constrained unethical decision making, shame-withdraw did not. Our findings suggest that differentiating the tendency to make NSEs following publically exposed transgressions from the tendency to hide or withdraw from public view is critically important for understanding and measuring dispositional shame proneness. The GASP's ability to distinguish these 2 classes of responses represents an important advantage of the scale over existing assessments. Although further validation research is required, the present studies are promising in that they suggest the GASP has the potential to be an important measurement tool for detecting individuals susceptible to corruption and unethical behavior. (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved.

Evaluating guilt and shame in an expressive writing alcohol intervention.

PubMed

Rodriguez, Lindsey M; Young, Chelsie M; Neighbors, Clayton; Campbell, Michelle T; Lu, Qian

2015-08-01

Expressive writing interventions have shown positive physical and psychological health benefits over time, with the presumed mechanism being emotional disclosure. However, work utilizing expressive writing in behavior change has been minimal. The current research applied the expressive writing paradigm to reduce drinking intentions among college students, and evaluated the role of event-related guilt and shame in intervention effects. College students (N=429) completed a baseline survey and were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: Negative (write about a heavy drinking event that was negative); Positive (write about a heavy drinking event that was positive); or Neutral (write about their first day of college). After writing, readiness to change and future drinking intentions were assessed. Results revealed intervention effects on intended drinks per week and intended number of drinks during peak and typical drinking occasions. Participants in the negative condition also displayed higher levels of event-related guilt and shame. Results showed that guilt mediated intervention effects on readiness to change, which also mediated the association between guilt-reparative behavior and drinking intentions. Results provide initial support for an expressive writing intervention on alcohol use and underscore the importance of eliciting emotions associated with reparative behavior when considering negative past experiences and future behavior change. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Attachment's Links With Adolescents' Social Emotions: The Roles of Negative Emotionality and Emotion Regulation.

PubMed

Murphy, Tia Panfile; Laible, Deborah J; Augustine, Mairin; Robeson, Lindsay

2015-01-01

Recent research has attempted to explain the mechanisms through which parental attachment affects social and emotional outcomes (e.g., Burnette, Taylor, Worthington, & Forsyth, 2007 ; Panfile & Laible, 2012 ). The authors' goal was to examine negative emotionality and emotion regulation as mediators of the associations that attachment has with empathy, forgiveness, guilt, and jealousy. One hundred forty-eight adolescents reported their parental attachment security, general levels of negative emotionality and abilities to regulate emotional responses, and tendencies to feel empathy, forgiveness, guilt, and jealousy. Results revealed that attachment security was associated with higher levels of empathy, forgiveness, and guilt, but lower levels of jealousy. In addition, emotion regulation mediated the links attachment shared with both empathy and guilt, such that higher levels of attachment security were linked with greater levels of emotion regulation, which led to greater levels of empathy and guilt. Alternatively, negative emotionality mediated the links attachment shared with both forgiveness and jealousy, such that higher levels of attachment security were associated with lower levels of negative emotionality, which in turn was linked to lower levels of forgiveness and higher levels of jealousy. This study provides a general picture of how attachment security may play a role in shaping an individual's levels of social emotions.

Evaluating guilt and shame in an expressive writing alcohol intervention

PubMed Central

Rodriguez, Lindsey M.; Young, Chelsie M.; Neighbors, Clayton; Campbell, Michelle T.; Lu, Qian

2016-01-01

Expressive writing interventions have shown positive physical and psychological health benefits over time, with the presumed mechanism being emotional disclosure. However, work utilizing expressive writing in behavior change has been minimal. The current research applied the expressive writing paradigm to reduce drinking intentions among college students, and evaluated the role of event-related guilt and shame in intervention effects. College students (N = 429) completed a baseline survey and were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: Negative (write about a heavy drinking event that was negative); Positive (write about a heavy drinking event that was positive); or Neutral (write about their first day of college). After writing, readiness to change and future drinking intentions were assessed. Results revealed intervention effects on intended drinks per week and intended number of drinks during peak and typical drinking occasions. Participants in the negative condition also displayed higher levels of event-related guilt and shame. Results showed that guilt mediated intervention effects on readiness to change, which also mediated the association between guilt-reparative behavior and drinking intentions. Results provide initial support for an expressive writing intervention on alcohol use and underscore the importance of eliciting emotions associated with reparative behavior when considering negative past experiences and future behavior change. PMID:26074424

Neural correlates of experienced moral emotion: an fMRI investigation of emotion in response to prejudice feedback.

PubMed

Fourie, Melike M; Thomas, Kevin G F; Amodio, David M; Warton, Christopher M R; Meintjes, Ernesta M

2014-01-01

Guilt, shame, and embarrassment are quintessential moral emotions with important regulatory functions for the individual and society. Moral emotions are, however, difficult to study with neuroimaging methods because their elicitation is more intricate than that of basic emotions. Here, using functional MRI (fMRI), we employed a novel social prejudice paradigm to examine specific brain regions associated with real-time moral emotion, focusing on guilt and related moral-negative emotions. The paradigm induced intense moral-negative emotion (primarily guilt) in 22 low-prejudice individuals through preprogrammed feedback indicating implicit prejudice against Black and disabled people. fMRI data indicated that this experience of moral-negative emotion was associated with increased activity in anterior paralimbic structures, including the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and anterior insula, in addition to areas associated with mentalizing, including the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate cortex, and precuneus. Of significance was prominent conflict-related activity in the supragenual ACC, which is consistent with theories proposing an association between acute guilt and behavioral inhibition. Finally, a significant negative association between self-reported guilt and neural activity in the pregenual ACC suggested a role of self-regulatory processes in response to moral-negative affect. These findings are consistent with the multifaceted self-regulatory functions of moral-negative emotions in social behavior.

Impact of a Human Sexuality Program on Sex Related Knowledge, Attitudes, Behavior and Guilt of College Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bernard, Harold S.; Schwartz, Allan J.

1977-01-01

This study attempts to assess whether a human sexuality course, which combines lecture and small group discussion formats, results in changes in sex related knowledge, attitudes, behavior, and three dimensions of guilt. (Author)

Comprehensive neural networks for guilty feelings in young adults.

PubMed

Nakagawa, Seishu; Takeuchi, Hikaru; Taki, Yasuyuki; Nouchi, Rui; Sekiguchi, Atsushi; Kotozaki, Yuka; Miyauchi, Carlos Makoto; Iizuka, Kunio; Yokoyama, Ryoichi; Shinada, Takamitsu; Yamamoto, Yuki; Hanawa, Sugiko; Araki, Tsuyoshi; Hashizume, Hiroshi; Kunitoki, Keiko; Sassa, Yuko; Kawashima, Ryuta

2015-01-15

Feelings of guilt are associated with widespread self and social cognitions, e.g., empathy, moral reasoning, and punishment. Neural correlates directly related to the degree of feelings of guilt have not been detected, probably due to the small numbers of subjects, whereas there are growing numbers of neuroimaging studies of feelings of guilt. We hypothesized that the neural networks for guilty feelings are widespread and include the insula, inferior parietal lobule (IPL), amygdala, subgenual cingulate cortex (SCC), and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), which are essential for cognitions of guilt. We investigated the association between regional gray matter density (rGMD) and feelings of guilt in 764 healthy young students (422 males, 342 females; 20.7 ± 1.8 years) using magnetic resonance imaging and the guilty feeling scale (GFS) for the younger generation which comprises interpersonal situation (IPS) and rule-breaking situation (RBS) scores. Both the IPS and RBS were negatively related to the rGMD in the right posterior insula (PI). The IPS scores were negatively correlated with rGMD in the left anterior insula (AI), right IPL, and vmPFC using small volume correction. A post hoc analysis performed on the significant clusters identified through these analyses revealed that rGMD activity in the right IPL showed a significant negative association with the empathy quotient. These findings at the whole-brain level are the widespread comprehensive neural network regions for guilty feelings. Interestingly, the novel finding in this study is that the PI was implicated as a common region for feelings of guilt with interaction between the IPS and RBS. Additionally, the neural networks including the IPL were associated with empathy and with regions implicated in moral reasoning (AI and vmPFC), and punishment (AI). Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

When do we believe experts? The power of the unorthodox view.

PubMed

Alison, Laurence; Almond, Louise; Christiansen, Paul; Waring, Sara; Power, Nicola; Villejoubert, Gaëlle

2012-01-01

This paper examines the extent to which orthodoxy (degree of typicality) and congruence (degree of similarity with own opinion) mediate the influence of expert advice on decision makers' judgments. Overall, 227 members of the public and 60 police officers completed an online questionnaire involving an investigation into a child sex offence. Participants were asked to first (i) formulate their own "profile" of a likely offender then (ii) estimate the guilt of two presented suspect descriptions (orthodox vs. unorthodox), and, following the presentation of an "expert's" profile that matched either the orthodox or the unorthodox suspect, (iii) re-evaluate their guilt judgments of the two suspects based on this new advice. Finally, (iv) the perceived similarity (congruence) between the participants' own and the expert profile was assessed. Results revealed two key findings. First, expert profiles that matched a suspect's description elevated perceptions of guilt in that suspect, whilst also, simultaneously, very significantly decreasing the perception of guilt of the alternative suspect. This suggests a powerful rejection and downward revision of the other suspect. Second, perceived similarity of the profile (to one's own profile) was only a significant factor in increasing guilt judgments when assigning guilt to the unorthodox (as opposed to orthodox) suspect. Comparisons of lay judgments with those of police officers revealed few significant differences in effects. The finding that advice is most influential when unorthodox and incongruent suggests that decision makers are more likely to reevaluate judgments when expert advice contributes novel information that contradicts their beliefs. The practical implications of these findings are discussed for profilers, police, and decision research in general. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The Well Siblings of Schizophrenics.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Samuels, Laurel; Chase, Laura

1979-01-01

Explores the impact of having a schizophrenic sibling. Subjects functioned at high levels of adjustment. Separated from their families, there followed a period of reinvolvement, including responsibility for the ill sibling. Younger siblings expressed guilt over being well, whereas older siblings expressed guilt over earlier sibling rivalry.…

A Componential IRT Model for Guilt.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smits, Dirk J. M.; De Boeck, Paul

2003-01-01

Studied the process structure of guilt with an adaptation of the Model with Internal Restrictions on Item Difficulty (R. Butter and others, 1998) administered to 270 high school students. Findings show that this kind of modeling is appropriate to investigate the structure of other emotions. (SLD)

Moral Emotions and Moral Behavior

PubMed Central

Stuewig, Jeff; Mashek, Debra J.

2011-01-01

Moral emotions represent a key element of our human moral apparatus, influencing the link between moral standards and moral behavior. This chapter reviews current theory and research on moral emotions. We first focus on a triad of negatively valenced “self-conscious” emotions—shame, guilt, and embarrassment. As in previous decades, much research remains focused on shame and guilt. We review current thinking on the distinction between shame and guilt, and the relative advantages and disadvantages of these two moral emotions. Several new areas of research are highlighted: research on the domain-specific phenomenon of body shame, styles of coping with shame, psychobiological aspects of shame, the link between childhood abuse and later proneness to shame, and the phenomena of vicarious or “collective” experiences of shame and guilt. In recent years, the concept of moral emotions has been expanded to include several positive emotions—elevation, gratitude, and the sometimes morally relevant experience of pride. Finally, we discuss briefly a morally relevant emotional process—other-oriented empathy. PMID:16953797

Surviving at Any Cost: Guilt Expression Following Extreme Ethical Conflicts in a Virtual Setting

PubMed Central

Cristofari, Cécile; Guitton, Matthieu J.

2014-01-01

Studying human behavior in response to large-scale catastrophic events, particularly how moral challenges would be undertaken under extreme conditions, is an important preoccupation for contemporary scientists and decision leaders. However, researching this issue was hindered by the lack of readily available models. Immersive virtual worlds could represent a solution, by providing ways to test human behavior in controlled life-threatening situations. Using a massively multi-player zombie apocalypse setting, we analysed spontaneously reported feelings of guilt following ethically questionable actions related to survival. The occurrence and magnitude of guilt depended on the nature of the consequences of the action. Furthermore, feelings of guilt predicted long-lasting changes in behavior, displayed as compensatory actions. Finally, actions inflicting immediate harm to others appeared mostly prompted by panic and were more commonly regretted. Thus, extreme conditions trigger a reduction of the impact of ethical norms in decision making, although awareness of ethicality is retained to a surprising extent. PMID:25007261

Assessing Jail Inmates’ Proneness to Shame and Guilt: Feeling Bad About the Behavior or the Self?

PubMed Central

Tangney, June P.; Stuewig, Jeffrey; Mashek, Debra; Hastings, Mark

2011-01-01

This study of 550 jail inmates (379 male and 171 female) held on felony charges examines the reliability and validity of the Test of Self Conscious Affect –Socially Deviant Version (TOSCA-SD; Hanson & Tangney, 1996) as a measure of offenders’ proneness to shame and proneness to guilt. Discriminant validity (e.g., vis-à-vis self-esteem, negative affect, social desirability/impression management) and convergent validity (e.g., vis-à-vis correlations with empathy, externalization of blame, anger, psychological symptoms, and substance use problems) was supported, paralleling results from community samples. Further, proneness to shame and guilt were differentially related to widely used risk measures from the field of criminal justice (e.g., criminal history, psychopathy, violence risk, antisocial personality). Guilt-proneness appears to be a protective factor, whereas there was no evidence that shame-proneness serves an inhibitory function. Subsequent analyses indicate these findings generalize quite well across gender and race. Implications for intervention and sentencing practices are discussed. PMID:21743757

Surviving at any cost: guilt expression following extreme ethical conflicts in a virtual setting.

PubMed

Cristofari, Cécile; Guitton, Matthieu J

2014-01-01

Studying human behavior in response to large-scale catastrophic events, particularly how moral challenges would be undertaken under extreme conditions, is an important preoccupation for contemporary scientists and decision leaders. However, researching this issue was hindered by the lack of readily available models. Immersive virtual worlds could represent a solution, by providing ways to test human behavior in controlled life-threatening situations. Using a massively multi-player zombie apocalypse setting, we analysed spontaneously reported feelings of guilt following ethically questionable actions related to survival. The occurrence and magnitude of guilt depended on the nature of the consequences of the action. Furthermore, feelings of guilt predicted long-lasting changes in behavior, displayed as compensatory actions. Finally, actions inflicting immediate harm to others appeared mostly prompted by panic and were more commonly regretted. Thus, extreme conditions trigger a reduction of the impact of ethical norms in decision making, although awareness of ethicality is retained to a surprising extent.

Characteristics of the postcounseling reproductive decision-making process: an explorative study.

PubMed

Frets, P G; Verhage, F; Niermeijer, M F

1991-09-01

An in-depth, recorded interview of 30 couples 2-3 years after genetic counseling explored the characteristics of the postcounseling decision-making process, including the role of guilt feelings towards the proband. The study concerned couples with an affected child, sib, or spouse. Results were evaluated by 2 to 4 judges. In contrast to other studies, a generally unstructured decision-making process was found whereby guilt feelings played a significant role in more than half the couples. Guilt feelings were more predominant in couples with an affected sib than in those with an affected spouse. Lack of structure did not seem to complicate the decision-making process. Therefore, authors do not advocate promotion of structuring the decision-making process. Genetic counselors might focus on understanding counselees' feelings concerning the reproductive decision. Acceptance of apparently irrational considerations is particularly important, because these feelings indicate the influence of unconscious motives. Another important aspect of supporting counselees is to understand the role played by guilt feelings toward parents or an affected sib.

Moral emotions and moral behavior.

PubMed

Tangney, June Price; Stuewig, Jeff; Mashek, Debra J

2007-01-01

Moral emotions represent a key element of our human moral apparatus, influencing the link between moral standards and moral behavior. This chapter reviews current theory and research on moral emotions. We first focus on a triad of negatively valenced "self-conscious" emotions-shame, guilt, and embarrassment. As in previous decades, much research remains focused on shame and guilt. We review current thinking on the distinction between shame and guilt, and the relative advantages and disadvantages of these two moral emotions. Several new areas of research are highlighted: research on the domain-specific phenomenon of body shame, styles of coping with shame, psychobiological aspects of shame, the link between childhood abuse and later proneness to shame, and the phenomena of vicarious or "collective" experiences of shame and guilt. In recent years, the concept of moral emotions has been expanded to include several positive emotions-elevation, gratitude, and the sometimes morally relevant experience of pride. Finally, we discuss briefly a morally relevant emotional process-other-oriented empathy.

Moral emotions associated with prosocial and antisocial behavior in school-aged children.

PubMed

Ortiz Barón, María J; Etxebarria Bilbao, Itziar; Apodaca Urquijo, Pedro; Conejero López, Susana; Pascual Jimeno, Aitziber

2018-02-01

The present study aims to explore the main effects and interactive effects of empathy, guilt, shame, pride (authentic and hubristic), and moral pride, on prosocial and antisocial behavior in children. The sample group comprised 351 children aged between 10 and 14 selected from four schools in the Basque Country (Spain). Hierarchical multiple regression models were used in the statistical analyses. Prosocial behavior was found to be predicted by the additive interaction between empathy and moral pride, by guilt and, to a lesser extent and negatively, by shame. In relation to antisocial behavior, children with a strong disposition to guilt scored lower for antisocial behavior, regardless of their empathy levels. Nevertheless, the combination of low empathy and low guilt levels was associated with highest antisocial behavior scores. As regards shame, this emotion was moderately associated with antisocial behavior. By exploring interactions the present study provided a more nuanced view of the emotional factors associated with children´s prosocial and antisocial behavior.

Sweetened blood sweetens behavior. Ego depletion, glucose, guilt, and prosocial behavior.

PubMed

Xu, Hanyi; Bègue, Laurent; Sauve, Laure; Bushman, Brad J

2014-10-01

Although guilt feels bad to the individual, it is good for society because guilty feelings can prompt people to perform good deeds. Previous research shows that fatigue decreases guilty feelings and helpful behavior. This present research tests whether glucose restores guilty feelings and increases helpful behavior. Depleted participants watched a movie about butchering animals for their meat or skin and were told to express no emotions, whereas non-depleted participants watched the same movie, but could express their emotions. Afterwards they drank a glucose or placebo beverage. Having participants play a game in which another person was punished for their errors induced guilt. Finally, participants played a dictator game in which they could leave lottery tickets for the next participant. Depleted participants felt less guilty and helped less than non-depleted participants, and those who consumed a placebo beverage felt less guilt and helped less than those who consumed a glucose beverage. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The paradox of group-based guilt: modes of national identification, conflict vehemence, and reactions to the in-group's moral violations.

PubMed

Roccas, Sonia; Klar, Yechiel; Liviatan, Ido

2006-10-01

The authors examined the relationships between 2 modes of national identification (attachment to the in-group and the in-group's glorification) and reactions to the in-group's moral violations among Israeli students. Data were collected during a period of relative calm in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as well as during a period of great intensification of this conflict. As expected, in Study 1, the 2 modes of identification had contrasting relationships with group-based guilt: Attachment was positively related whereas glorification was negatively related to group-based guilt for in-group's past infractions. Glorification suppressed the attachment effect but not vice versa. Both relationships were mediated by the use of exonerating cognitions. In Study 2, group-based guilt for the in-group's current wrongdoings was increased by priming critical rather than conventional attachment to the in-group, suggesting a causal effect of mode of identification on the experience of negative group-based emotions. 2006 APA, all rights reserved

Remembering historical victimization: collective guilt for current ingroup transgressions.

PubMed

Wohl, Michael J A; Branscombe, Nyla R

2008-06-01

The authors examined the consequences of remembering historical victimization for emotional reactions to a current adversary. In Experiment 1, Jewish Canadians who were reminded of the Holocaust accepted less collective guilt for their group's harmful actions toward the Palestinians than those not reminded of their ingroup's past victimization. The extent to which the conflict was perceived to be due to Palestinian terrorism mediated this effect. Experiment 2 illustrated that reminding Jewish people, but not non-Jewish people, of the Holocaust decreased collective guilt for current harm doing compared with when the reminder concerned genocide committed against another group (i.e., Cambodians). In Experiments 3 and 4, Americans experienced less collective guilt for their group's harm doing in Iraq following reminders of either the attacks on September 11th, 2001 or the 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor compared with a historical victimization reminder that was irrelevant to the ingroup. The authors discuss why remembering the ingroup's past affects responses to outgroups in the present. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved).

Use of parental guilt induction among depressed parents.

PubMed

Rakow, Aaron; Forehand, Rex; Haker, Kelly; McKee, Laura G; Champion, Jennifer E; Potts, Jennifer; Hardcastle, Emily; Roberts, Lorinda; Compas, Bruce E

2011-02-01

This study builds on prior research by Rakow et al. (2009) by examining the role of parental guilt induction in the association between parent depressive symptoms and child internalizing problems in a sample of parents with a history of major depressive disorder. One hundred and two families with 129 children (66 males; Mage = 11.42 years) were studied. The association of parental depressive symptoms with child internalizing problems was accounted for by parental guilt induction, which was assessed by behavioral observations and child report. Implications of the findings for parenting programs are discussed and future research directions are considered. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved.

The Association of Parental Depressive Symptoms with Child Internalizing Problems: The Role of Parental Guilt Induction

PubMed Central

Rakow, Aaron; Forehand, Rex; Haker, Kelly; McKee, Laura G.; Champion, Jennifer E.; Potts, Jennifer; Hardcastle, Emily; Roberts, Lorinda; Compas, Bruce E.

2010-01-01

This study builds on prior research by Rakow et al. (2009) by examining the role of parental guilt induction in the association between parent depressive symptoms and child internalizing problems in a sample of parents with a history of major depressive disorder. One hundred and two families with 129 children (66 males; Mage = 11.42 years) were studied. The association of parental depressive symptoms with child internalizing problems was accounted for by parental guilt induction, which was assessed by behavioral observations and child report. Implications of the findings for parenting programs are discussed and future research directions are considered. PMID:21355654

Motives in Sexual Aggression: The Chinese Context.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tang, Catherine So-Kum; And Others

1993-01-01

Compared sexual and aggressive motives for sexual aggression in Chinese college students. Male undergraduates (N=146) completed self-report measures. Results suggest that sex guilt and aggressive guilt acted as inhibitors for their respective drives and sexual aggression resulted from aggressive, rather than sexual, motives. Sexual aggression may…

Depression, Guilt, Anger: Know the Signs of PTSD | NIH MedlinePlus the Magazine

MedlinePlus

... Anger: Know the Signs of PTSD Follow us Depression, Guilt, Anger: Know the Signs of PTSD People who experience traumatic situations react in different ways. In general, people often ... symptoms include: Depression: Feeling sad most of the time or losing ...

Economic games quantify diminished sense of guilt in patients with damage to the prefrontal cortex

PubMed Central

Krajbich, Ian; Adolphs, Ralph; Tranel, Daniel; Denburg, Natalie L.; Camerer, Colin F.

2009-01-01

Damage to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC) impairs concern for other people, as reflected in the dysfunctional real-life social behavior of patients with such damage, as well as their abnormal performances on tasks ranging from moral judgment to economic games. Despite these convergent data, we lack a formal model of how, and to what degree, VMPFC lesions affect an individual’s social decision-making. Here we provide a quantification of these effects using a formal economic model of choice that incorporates terms for the disutility of unequal payoffs, with parameters that index behaviors normally evoked by guilt and envy. Six patients with focal VMPFC lesions participated in a battery of economic games that measured concern about payoffs to themselves and to others: dictator, ultimatum, and trust games. We analyzed each task individually, but also derived estimates of the guilt and envy parameters from aggregate behavior across all of the tasks. Compared to control subjects, the patients donated significantly less and were less trustworthy, and overall our model found a significant insensitivity to guilt. Despite these abnormalities, the patients had normal expectations about what other people would do, and they also did not simply generate behavior that was more noisy. Instead, the findings argue for a specific insensitivity to guilt, an abnormality that we suggest characterizes a key contribution made by the VMPFC to social behavior. PMID:19228971

Economic games quantify diminished sense of guilt in patients with damage to the prefrontal cortex.

PubMed

Krajbich, Ian; Adolphs, Ralph; Tranel, Daniel; Denburg, Natalie L; Camerer, Colin F

2009-02-18

Damage to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC) impairs concern for other people, as reflected in the dysfunctional real-life social behavior of patients with such damage, as well as their abnormal performances on tasks ranging from moral judgment to economic games. Despite these convergent data, we lack a formal model of how, and to what degree, VMPFC lesions affect an individual's social decision-making. Here we provide a quantification of these effects using a formal economic model of choice that incorporates terms for the disutility of unequal payoffs, with parameters that index behaviors normally evoked by guilt and envy. Six patients with focal VMPFC lesions participated in a battery of economic games that measured concern about payoffs to themselves and to others: dictator, ultimatum, and trust games. We analyzed each task individually, but also derived estimates of the guilt and envy parameters from aggregate behavior across all of the tasks. Compared with control subjects, the patients donated significantly less and were less trustworthy, and overall our model found a significant insensitivity to guilt. Despite these abnormalities, the patients had normal expectations about what other people would do, and they also did not simply generate behavior that was more noisy. Instead, the findings argue for a specific insensitivity to guilt, an abnormality that we suggest characterizes a key contribution made by the VMPFC to social behavior.

Who copes well? Obesity-related coping and its associations with shame, guilt, and weight loss.

PubMed

Conradt, Matthias; Dierk, Jan-Michael; Schlumberger, Pia; Rauh, Elisabeth; Hebebrand, Johannes; Rief, Winfried

2008-10-01

The relationship among weight-related coping, guilt, and shame was investigated in a sample of 98 obese German individuals over a 6-month period. In terms of the objectives, the study explored the kind and frequency of typical coping situations in which obese individuals become aware of being obese. Furthermore, the study sought to determine the predictive utility of weight-related shame and guilt concerning coping responses, and to establish whether there is an association between coping responses and weight change. A longitudinal examination over a 6-month period was chosen with two measurement points. As typical distressing coping situations, individuals reported mostly negative evaluations through others/self, physical exercise situations, or environmental hazards (mainly shopping for clothes). Weight-related shame at baseline was a significant negative predictor for problem-focused engagement coping, whereas weight-related guilt was a significant positive predictor for problem-focused engagement strategies and dietary restraint at follow-up. Although Body Mass Index showed no substantial association with the coping measures, weight loss was accompanied by a substantial drop in problem-focused disengagement coping (wishful thinking, problem avoidance). Discussion of these findings focuses on the issue of possible effects of weight-related feelings of guilt and shame on coping behavior, the link between weight loss and disengaging coping strategies, and the possible use of the findings for cognitive-behavioral therapy for obesity. Copyright 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Transitions of male partners of women with breast cancer: hope, guilt, and quality of life.

PubMed

Duggleby, Wendy; Thomas, Jasmine; Montford, Kelly; Thomas, Roanne; Nekolaichuk, Cheryl; Ghosh, Sunita; Cumming, Ceiwen; Tonkin, Katia

2015-03-01

To (a) describe the types of transitions experienced by male spousal caregivers of women with breast cancer and the strategies used by male spouses to deal with these transitions and (b) examine factors related to their quality of life, including demographic variables, self-efficacy, caregiver guilt, hope, the quality of life of their partner with breast cancer, and transitions. Cross-sectional, transformational, mixed-methods approach. Participants' homes. 105 dyads of male spouses and their female partners diagnosed with stages I-III breast cancer. 600 surveys were mailed to women with breast cancer and their male partners. Significant variables were entered into a multivariate model. Male caregiver quality of life. The quality of life of male spouse participants was positively influenced by hope (p < 0.01). It was negatively influenced by caregiver guilt scores (p < 0.01) and the method of dealing with their transitions by "doing what needs to be done" (p = 0.04). The male caregivers with higher quality-of-life scores reported higher hope and lower caregiver guilt scores. They reported lower quality-of-life scores if they dealt with transitions by "doing what needs to be done."
 Strategies to support male spouses of women with breast cancer should involve ways to foster hope, reduce feelings of guilt, and encourage male caregivers to engage more in supporting their spouses.

Guilt, shame and expressed emotion in carers of people with long-term mental health difficulties: A systematic review.

PubMed

Cherry, Mary Gemma; Taylor, Peter James; Brown, Stephen Lloyd; Rigby, Jake Wilfred; Sellwood, William

2017-03-01

Expressed emotion (EE) is a global index of familial emotional climate, whose primary components are emotional over-involvement (EOI) and critical comments (CC)/hostility. There is a strong theoretical rationale for hypothesising that carers' guilt and shame may be differentially associated with their EOI and CC/hostility respectively. This systematic review investigates the magnitude of these theorised associations in carers of people with long-term mental health difficulties. Electronic searches (conducted in May 2016 across Medline, CINAHL, Embase, PsycINFO and ProQuest) were supplemented with iterative hand searches. Ten papers, reporting data from eight studies, were included. Risk of bias was assessed using a standardised checklist. Relevant data were extracted and synthesised narratively. EOI was positively associated with both guilt and shame, whereas CC/hostility was positively associated with shame. The strength of associations varied depending on whether or not guilt and shame were assessed within the context of the caring relationship. Based on these data, an argument can be made for the refinement, development and evaluation of systemic and individual interventions designed to target carers' guilt and shame. However, more research is needed to clarify the strength of these associations and their direction of effect before firm conclusions can be drawn. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Sex Knowledge, Sex Guilt and Sexual Behavior among University Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Idalyn S.; Pollack, Robert H.

Previous research has suggested a high level of sexual activity among students, often involving unprotected intercourse. To better understand what factors contribute to consistent use of effective contraception, the relationship between sexual knowledge and sexual behavior and the relationship of sex guilt to sex knowledge were investigated in a…

Shame and Guilt as Behaviour Regulators: Relationships with Bullying, Victimization and Prosocial

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Menesini, Ersilia; Camodeca, Marina

2008-01-01

Abstract: This study aimed at investigating intentional and non-intentional situations eliciting shame and guilt in relation to children's involvement in bullying, victimization and prosocial behaviour. We used the contextual model designed by Olthof, Schouten, Kuiper, Stegge, and Jennekens-Schinkel (2000) according to which certain situations…

"The Guilt Thing": Balancing Domestic and Professional Roles

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Guendouzi, Jackie

2006-01-01

Women's representation in the workforce has increased dramatically over the past 30 years; yet, women "take a greater responsibility for the care of children" (Equal Opportunities Commission, 2006). Research has suggested working mothers may experience guilt resulting from the social constrictions of a traditional model of intensive mothering (B.…

Pregnant Field Students' Guilt

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baum, Nehami

2006-01-01

This study examined guilt feelings among social work students who were pregnant for the first time during field work training. Semi-structured interviews were conducted either in the 9th month (n=5) or 2-12 months after delivery (n=5). Content analysis revealed 6 main triggers, illustrated by excerpts, which stimulated field students' guilt…

Vividness in judgements of guilt.

PubMed

Bensi, L; Nori, R; Strazzari, E; Giusberti, F

2003-12-01

This study investigated the vividness variable in legal decision-making. It was hypothesised that different verdicts regarding the same legal case can be obtained by simply varying the vividness of phrases, without changing any probative element. 53 participants read Original (26) or Vivid (27) versions of testimonies to a homicide case, then made a decision as to the defendant's guilt. Results support the hypothesis: participants' judgements significantly differ between the two conditions; that is, participants who read the Original version consider the homicide as unintentional while participants who read the Vivid one are not able to choose between intentional or unintentional homicide. Therefore we can infer that vividness influenced the process by which guilt is attributed.

Everyday mood and emotions after eating a chocolate bar or an apple.

PubMed

Macht, Michael; Dettmer, Dorothee

2006-05-01

Emotional changes after eating chocolate were examined in everyday life. Thirty-seven healthy, normal-weight women ate a chocolate bar, an apple or nothing and rated their subjective state 5, 30, 60 and 90min after eating. Both chocolate and the apple reduced hunger, elevated mood and increased activation, but the effects of the chocolate were stronger. Eating chocolate was also followed by joy and, in some women, by guilt. Guilt responders experienced less intense positive emotions. Whereas positive emotional responses appear to be due to sensory pleasure and it's anticipation and may also be related to reduced hunger, guilt responses are probably induced by negative food-related cognitions.

Grief counseling.

PubMed Central

Borins, M.

1995-01-01

Patients grieve the loss of loved ones, jobs, marriages, or even functioning. They seek comfort, understanding, respect, and especially hope. The "work of grief" progresses through stages. Mixed with the sadness can be feelings of anger, fear, and guilt. Psychotherapy can relieve self-destructive anger and guilt, advance the recovery phase, and stimulate psychological strength and personality growth. PMID:7647626

Kierkegaardian Implications of Punishment, Guilt, and Forgiveness for Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Senyshyn, Yaroslav

1998-01-01

Explores Soren Kierkegaard's notion of punishment, which should interest educators because it provides a way to avoid the pitfalls of unjust punishment by viewing it in conjunction with the implications of guilt and forgiveness. The paper notes the need to question the notion of punishment closely and seek to understand its implications. (SM)

Coping with Guilt and Shame: A Narrative Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Silfver, Mia

2007-01-01

Autobiographical narratives (N = 97) of guilt and shame experiences were analysed to determine how the nature of emotion and context relate to ways of coping in such situations. The coding categories were created by content analysis, and the connections between categories were analysed with optimal scaling and log-linear analysis. Two theoretical…

Confirming the Multidimensionality of Psychologically Controlling Parenting among Chinese-American Mothers: Love Withdrawal, Guilt Induction, and Shaming

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yu, Jing; Cheah, Charissa S. L.; Hart, Craig H.; Sun, Shuyan; Olsen, Joseph A.

2015-01-01

Despite the theoretical conceptualization of parental psychological control as a multidimensional construct, the majority of previous studies have examined psychological control as a unidimensional scale. Moreover, the conceptualization of shaming and its associations with love withdrawal and guilt induction are unclear. The current study aimed to…

A Mediating Model of Relational Aggression, Narcissistic Orientations, Guilt Feelings, and Perceived Classroom Norms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Onishi, Ayako; Kawabata, Yoshito; Kurokawa, Masayuki; Yoshida, Toshikazu

2012-01-01

The purpose of the present study was to examine the relation between narcissistic orientations (grandiose sense of self-importance, interpersonal exploitation, and narcissistic rage) and relational aggression (self-satisfactory and punishment type) and the mediating effects of guilt feelings toward and perceived classroom norms against relational…

Pride, Pity, Anger, Guilt: Thought-Affect Sequences in the Classroom.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weiner, Bernard

A set of prevalent emotions, including pity, anger, guilt, pride (self-esteem), gratitude, and resignation, shares a common characteristic, i.e., causal attributions appear to be sufficient antecedents for their elicitation. Research in the field of emotions has shown that the underlying properties or dimensions of attributions are the significant…

Body Guilt: Preliminary Evidence for a Further Subjective Experience of Self-Objectification

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Calogero, Rachel M.; Pina, Afroditi

2011-01-01

Two studies investigated body guilt (i.e., feeling regret and remorse over how the body looks and a desire for reparative action to "fix" the body) within the framework of objectification theory among predominantly White British undergraduate women. In Study 1 (N = 225), participants completed self-report measures of interpersonal sexual…

Got Guilt? Consultant Guilt in the Writing Center Community

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nicklay, Jennifer

2012-01-01

During class discussions, the author's fellow consultants would often lament consultations that could have gone better if they had only known the "rules" of how to handle the situation. They perceived that there were acceptable and unacceptable ways to approach certain situations, rather than a range of flexible choices. The author began to…

Roasting on Earth: A Rhetorical Analysis of Eco-Comedy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fisher, Alison Aurelia

2009-01-01

Environmentalists are accustomed to using the rhetorical appeals of guilt and sacrifice to advocate their agendas. I argue that the motivations of guilt and sacrifice do not mirror the goals of sustainability, and are easy for anthropocentric-resourcist ideology (ARI) agendas to counter. When it comes to actual environmental policy change,…

Gender Role Stress in Relation to Shame, Guilt, and Externalization.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Efthim, Paul W.; Kenny, Maureen E.; Mahalik, James R.

2001-01-01

Explores how gender role stress variables are related to shame-proneness, guilt-proneness, and externalization. Analyses revealed three significant roots for the male sample accounting for 50% of the total variance between gender role stress and self-conscious emotions, and 1 significant root for the female sample accounting for 31% of the…

Body checking is associated with weight- and body-related shame and weight- and body-related guilt among men and women.

PubMed

Solomon-Krakus, Shauna; Sabiston, Catherine M

2017-12-01

This study examined whether body checking was a correlate of weight- and body-related shame and guilt for men and women. Participants were 537 adults (386 women) between the ages of 17 and 74 (M age =28.29, SD=14.63). Preliminary analyses showed women reported significantly more body-checking (p<.001), weight- and body-related shame (p<.001), and weight- and body-related guilt (p<.001) than men. In sex-stratified hierarchical linear regression models, body checking was significantly and positively associated with weight- and body-related shame (R 2 =.29 and .43, p<.001) and weight- and body-related guilt (R 2 =.34 and .45, p<.001) for men and women, respectively. Based on these findings, body checking is associated with negative weight- and body-related self-conscious emotions. Intervention and prevention efforts aimed at reducing negative weight- and body-related self-conscious emotions should consider focusing on body checking for adult men and women. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Disappointment expression evokes collective guilt and collective action in intergroup conflict: the moderating role of legitimacy perceptions.

PubMed

Solak, Nevin; Reifen Tagar, Michal; Cohen-Chen, Smadar; Saguy, Tamar; Halperin, Eran

2017-09-01

Research on intergroup emotions has largely focused on the experience of emotions and surprisingly little attention has been given to the expression of emotions. Drawing on the social-functional approach to emotions, we argue that in the context of intergroup conflicts, outgroup members' expression of disappointment with one's ingroup induces the complementary emotion of collective guilt and correspondingly a collective action protesting ingroup actions against the outgroup. In Study 1 conducted immediately after the 2014 Gaza war, Jewish-Israeli participants received information about outgroup's (Palestinians) expression of emotions (disappointment, fear, or none). As predicted, outgroup's expression of disappointment increased collective guilt and willingness to participate in collective action, but only among those who saw the intergroup situation as illegitimate. Moreover, collective guilt mediated the relationship between disappointment expression and collective action, moderated, again, by legitimacy perception. In Study 2, we replicated these results in the context of racial tension between Black and White Americans in the US. We discuss the theoretical and applied implications of the findings.

Navigating Guilt, Shame, and Fear of Appearing Racist: A Conceptual Model of Antiracist White Feminist Identity Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Linder, Chris

2015-01-01

In this study, I employed narrative inquiry supported by intersectionality theory to explore the experiences of 6 antiracist, White, feminist undergraduate women. A conceptual model of antiracist identity development emerged from the data. Participants described vivid experiences with guilt, shame, and fear that kept them from engaging in allied…

Aboriginal Self-Determination in Australia: The Effects of Minority-Majority Frames and Target Universalism on Majority Collective Guilt and Compensation Attitudes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reid, Scott A.; Gunter, Helen N.; Smith, Joanne R.

2005-01-01

In the context of Aboriginal-Anglo Australian relations, we tested the effect of framing (multiculturalism versus separatism) and majority group members' social values (universalism) on the persuasiveness of Aboriginal group rhetoric, majority collective guilt, attitudes toward compensation, and reparations for Aboriginals. As predicted, Anglo…

How Do Personality Traits Effect Shame and Guilt?: An Evaluation of the Turkish Culture

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Erden, Seval; Akbag, Müge

2015-01-01

Problem Statement: Feelings of shame and guilt as negative social emotions have a deep and continuous impact throughout our lives, particularly on our behaviors in both intrapersonal and interpersonal relationships. It was widely accepted that these feelings originate from a person's early period of life's interpersonal experiences in the family…

The Mystique of First Intercourse among College Youth: The Role of Partners, Contraceptive Practices, and Psychological Reactions.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Darling, Carol Anderson; And Others

1992-01-01

First sexual intercourse of 94 male and 114 female college undergraduates was studied as it relates to gender differences in sexual behaviors, partner's role, contraceptive use, and sexual guilt and satisfaction. Sexual intercourse initiation is often characterized by contraceptive nonuse, pressure to become sexually involved, guilt, and sexual…

Gender, Discrimination Beliefs, Group-Based Guilt, and Responses to Affirmative Action for Australian Women

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boeckmann, Robert J.; Feather, N. T.

2007-01-01

Views of a selection committee's decision to promote a woman over a man on the basis of affirmative action were studied in a random sample of Australians (118 men and 111 women). The relations between perceptions of workplace gender discrimination, feelings of collective responsibility and guilt for discrimination, and judgments of entitlement to…

Approaching Parental Guilt, Shame, and Blame in a Helping Relationship: Multiple Methods for Teaching and Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bentley, Kia J.; Cohen-Filipic, Katherine; Cummings, Cory R.

2016-01-01

Social workers often feel ill-prepared to effectively engage parents in conversations about guilt, shame, and blame related to their children's mental health or substance use challenges. To address that problem, we suggest that specific content should be integrated into social work courses to teach students how to acknowledge and sensitively…

Spirituality as a Predictor of Guilt and Shame among Lesbian and Gay Adults

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oliver, Jonie

2016-01-01

The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship among constructs related to spirituality (religious/spiritual practice, religious/spiritual belief, sense of purpose/connection, and sense of hope/control) and reported degree of likelihood to feel guilt and shame among individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or queer. If clear…

Tales from the Ethnographic Field: Navigating Feelings of Guilt and Privilege in the Research Process

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

DeLuca, Jaime R.; Maddox, Callie Batts

2016-01-01

This article explores questions of reflexivity, positionality, identity, and emotion within the process of ethnographic research. We reflect on our feelings of privilege and guilt in and through our ethnographic fieldwork and discuss the ways in which these experiences encouraged reflexive thinking and a crucial interrogation of the place of the…

Proneness to Self-Conscious Emotions in Adults with and without Autism Traits

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davidson, Denise; Vanegas, Sandra B.; Hilvert, Elizabeth

2017-01-01

Self-conscious emotions, such as shame, guilt and pride, facilitate our social interactions by motivating us to adhere to social norms and external standards. In this study, we examined proneness to shame, guilt, hubristic pride and authentic pride in adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder traits (ASD-T) and in neurotypical (NT) adults. Relations…

The effect of victim information on causality judgments in a rape trial scenario.

PubMed

Rempala, Daniel M; Geers, Andrew L

2009-08-01

D. M. Rempala and F. B. Bernieri (2005) showed that in a date-rape trial scenario, increasing the amount of neutral, nondiagnostic information (i.e., information unrelated to the case) about the rape victim decreases the percentage of guilt verdicts. The authors attempted to determine the causal mechanism for this phenomenon. Participants read 1 of 4 rape trial scenarios (which differed only in the amount of non diagnostic information about the defendant and victim), then provided a verdict and rated the targets on several dimensions. The authors replicated pattern of guilt verdicts in the Rempala and Bernieri study (p < .05), and a path analysis indicated that increased victim information altered causality judgments, which then affected guilt verdicts.

Effects of Shame and Guilt on Error Reporting Among Obstetric Clinicians.

PubMed

Zabari, Mara Lynne; Southern, Nancy L

2018-04-17

To understand how the experiences of shame and guilt, coupled with organizational factors, affect error reporting by obstetric clinicians. Descriptive cross-sectional. A sample of 84 obstetric clinicians from three maternity units in Washington State. In this quantitative inquiry, a variant of the Test of Self-Conscious Affect was used to measure proneness to guilt and shame. In addition, we developed questions to assess attitudes regarding concerns about damaging one's reputation if an error was reported and the choice to keep an error to oneself. Both assessments were analyzed separately and then correlated to identify relationships between constructs. Interviews were used to identify organizational factors that affect error reporting. As a group, mean scores indicated that obstetric clinicians would not choose to keep errors to themselves. However, bivariate correlations showed that proneness to shame was positively correlated to concerns about one's reputation if an error was reported, and proneness to guilt was negatively correlated with keeping errors to oneself. Interview data analysis showed that Past Experience with Responses to Errors, Management and Leadership Styles, Professional Hierarchy, and Relationships With Colleagues were influential factors in error reporting. Although obstetric clinicians want to report errors, their decisions to report are influenced by their proneness to guilt and shame and perceptions of the degree to which organizational factors facilitate or create barriers to restore their self-images. Findings underscore the influence of the organizational context on clinicians' decisions to report errors. Copyright © 2018 AWHONN, the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Selective functional integration between anterior temporal and distinct fronto-mesolimbic regions during guilt and indignation

PubMed Central

Green, Sophie; Lambon Ralph, Matthew A.; Moll, Jorge; Stamatakis, Emmanuel A.; Grafman, Jordan; Zahn, Roland

2010-01-01

It has been hypothesized that the experience of different moral sentiments such as guilt and indignation is underpinned by activation in temporal and fronto-mesolimbic regions and that functional integration between these regions is necessary for the differentiated experience of these moral sentiments. A recent fMRI study revealed that the right superior anterior temporal lobe (ATL) was activated irrespective of the context of moral feelings (guilt or indignation). This region has been associated with context-independent conceptual social knowledge which allows us to make fine-grained differentiations between qualities of social behaviours (e.g. “critical” and “faultfinding”). This knowledge is required to make emotional evaluations of social behaviour. In contrast to the context-independent activation of the ATL, there were context-dependent activations within different fronto-mesolimbic regions for guilt and indignation. However, it is unknown whether functional integration occurs between these regions and whether regional patterns of integration are distinctive for the experience of different moral sentiments. Here, we used fMRI and psychophysiological interaction analysis, an established measure of functional integration to investigate this issue. We found selective functional integration between the right superior ATL and a subgenual cingulate region during the experience of guilt and between the right superior ATL and the lateral orbitofrontal cortex for indignation. Our data provide the first evidence for functional integration of conceptual social knowledge representations in the right superior ATL with representations of different feeling contexts in fronto-mesolimbic regions. We speculate that this functional architecture allows for the conceptually differentiated experience of moral sentiments in healthy individuals. PMID:20493953

Negative Affect Prior to and Following Overeating-Only, Loss of Control Eating-Only, and Binge Eating Episodes in Obese Adults

PubMed Central

Berg, Kelly C.; Crosby, Ross D.; Cao, Li; Crow, Scott J.; Engel, Scott G.; Wonderlich, Stephen A.; Peterson, Carol B.

2015-01-01

Objective The objective was to examine the trajectory of five types of negative affect (global negative affect, fear, guilt, hostility, sadness) prior to and following three types of eating episodes (overeating in the absence of loss of control [OE-only], loss of control eating in the absence of overeating [LOC-only], and binge eating) among obese adults using ecological momentary assessment (EMA). Method Fifty obese adults (84% female) completed a two-week EMA protocol during which they were asked to record all eating episodes and rate each episode on continua of overeating and loss of control. Momentary measures of global negative affect, fear, guilt, hostility, and sadness were assessed using an abbreviated version of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). Trajectories for each of the five types of negative affect were modeled prior to and following episodes of OE-only, LOC-only, and binge eating. Results Consistent with previous findings, global negative affect and Guilt increased prior to and decreased following binge eating episodes (all ps<.05). Guilt also decreased following OE-only episodes (p<.05). Discussion These results are consistent with the affect regulation model of binge eating and suggest that binge eating may function to regulate global negative affect, and more specifically, guilt among obese adults. These data suggest that the relationship between negative affect and binge eating may not be unique to individuals with clinical eating disorders and indicate that targeting negative affect may be an effective strategy for the treatment of binge eating in the context of obesity. PMID:25808854

Negative affect prior to and following overeating-only, loss of control eating-only, and binge eating episodes in obese adults.

PubMed

Berg, Kelly C; Crosby, Ross D; Cao, Li; Crow, Scott J; Engel, Scott G; Wonderlich, Stephen A; Peterson, Carol B

2015-09-01

The objective was to examine the trajectory of five types of negative affect (global negative affect, fear, guilt, hostility, sadness) prior to and following three types of eating episodes (overeating in the absence of loss of control [OE-only], loss of control eating in the absence of overeating [LOC-only], and binge eating) among obese adults using ecological momentary assessment (EMA). Fifty obese adults (84% female) completed a two-week EMA protocol during which they were asked to record all eating episodes and rate each episode on continua of overeating and loss of control. Momentary measures of global negative affect, fear, guilt, hostility, and sadness were assessed using an abbreviated version of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). Trajectories for each of the five types of negative affect were modeled prior to and following episodes of OE-only, LOC-only, and binge eating. Consistent with previous findings, global negative affect and Guilt increased prior to and decreased following binge eating episodes (all ps < .05). Guilt also decreased following OE-only episodes (p < .05). These results are consistent with the affect regulation model of binge eating and suggest that binge eating may function to regulate global negative affect, and more specifically, guilt among obese adults. These data suggest that the relationship between negative affect and binge eating may not be unique to individuals with clinical eating disorders and indicate that targeting negative affect may be an effective strategy for the treatment of binge eating in the context of obesity. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Brain activation associated with pride and shame.

PubMed

Roth, Lilian; Kaffenberger, Tina; Herwig, Uwe; Brühl, Annette B

2014-01-01

Self-referential emotions such as shame/guilt and pride provide evaluative information about persons themselves. In addition to emotional aspects, social and self-referential processes play a role in self-referential emotions. Prior studies have rather focused on comparing self-referential and other-referential processes of one valence, triggered mostly by external stimuli. In the current study, we aimed at investigating the valence-specific neural correlates of shame/guilt and pride, evoked by the remembrance of a corresponding autobiographical event during functional magnetic resonance imaging. A total of 25 healthy volunteers were studied. The task comprised a negative (shame/guilt), a positive (pride) and a neutral condition (expecting the distractor). Each condition was initiated by a simple cue, followed by the remembrance and finished by a distracting picture. Pride and shame/guilt conditions both activated typical emotion-processing circuits including the amygdala, insula and ventral striatum, as well as self-referential brain regions such as the bilateral dorsomedial prefrontal cortex. Comparing the two emotional conditions, emotion-processing circuits were more activated by pride than by shame, possibly due to either hedonic experiences or stronger involvement of the participants in positive self-referential emotions due to a self-positivity bias. However, the ventral striatum was similarly activated by pride and shame/guilt. In the whole-brain analysis, both self-referential emotion conditions activated medial prefrontal and posterior cingulate regions, corresponding to the self-referential aspect and the autobiographical evocation of the respective emotions. Autobiographically evoked self-referential emotions activated basic emotional as well as self-referential circuits. Except for the ventral striatum, emotional circuits were more active with pride than with shame.

Social and Spatial Disparities in Emotional Responses to Education: Feelings of "Guilt" among Student-Parents

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brooks, Rachel

2015-01-01

This article explores the emotional responses to higher education of students with dependent children, and draws on 68 in-depth interviews conducted with student-parents in universities in the UK and Denmark. By focussing on one specific emotion--guilt--it contends that emotions are important in helping to understand the way in which particular…

Trauma-Informed Guilt Reduction (TrIGR) Intervention

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-10-01

AWARD NUMBER: W81XWH-15-1-0331 TITLE: Trauma- Informed Guilt Reduction (TrIGR) Intervention PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Christy Capone, PhD...Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instructions...searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing this collection of information . Send comments

From neurotic guilt to existential guilt as grief: the road to interiority, agency, and compassion through mourning. Part II.

PubMed

Kavaler-Adler, Susan

2006-12-01

This study is a continuation of an article that was published in the previous issue of The American Journal of Psychoanalysis (Volume 66, Number 3, September 2006). The case of Helen is illustrated in terms of the analysand's developmental mourning, countertransference, interiority, antilibidinal ego, and transformation of aggression into self-agency.

Anticipated Guilt as Behavioral Motivation: An Examination of Appeals to Help Unknown Others through Bone Marrow Donation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lindsey, Lisa L. Massi

2005-01-01

The current study posits that messages used to elicit behaviors to help unknown others must present substantial perceptions of a threat and efficacy to be successful. Given that many prosocial helping messages depict a threat to unknown others, the current investigation proposed that anticipated guilt is a motivating force behind individuals'…

Children's Identification of Self-Reflective Emotions as Likely Responses to Moral and Competence Domain Successes and Failures.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shorr, David; Wallace, Randall; Gann, Cory

While research on prosocial behavior has dramatically increased during the last 20 years, there are few studies examining the role of self-evaluative emotions such as pride and guilt as consequences of and motivations for helping others. This study examined how children attribute pride and guilt for actions germane to the moral or competence…

Impact of Norm Perceptions and Guilt on Audience Response to Anti-Smoking Norm PSAs: The Case of Korean Male Smokers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Hyegyu; Paek, Hye-Jin

2013-01-01

Objective: To examine how norm appeals and guilt influence smokers' behavioural intention. Design: Quasi-experimental design. Setting: South Korea. Method: Two hundred and fifty-five male smokers were randomly assigned to descriptive, injunctive, or subjective anti-smoking norm messages. After they viewed the norm messages, their norm perceptions,…

Emotion Regulation and Negative Emotionality Moderate the Effects of Moral (Dis)Engagement on Aggression

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roos, Sanna; Salmivalli, Christina; Hodges, Ernest V. E.

2015-01-01

The effects of guilt, shame, and externalization of blame on aggressive behavior were investigated among a total of 307 Finnish fifth and sixth graders (M[subscript age] = 11.9 years). Self-reported proneness to feel guilt and shame was expected to reduce levels of peer-reported aggressive behavior, whereas self-reported externalization of blame…

Humiliated Self, Bad Self or Bad Behavior? The Relations between Moral Emotional Appraisals and Moral Motivation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Silfver-Kuhalampi, Mia; Figueiredo, Ana; Sortheix, Florencia; Fontaine, Johnny

2015-01-01

It has often been found in the literature that guilt motivates reparative behavior and that shame elicits aggressive reactions. However, recent research suggests that it is not the experience of shame, but rather the experience of humiliation that triggers aggressive reactions. The present study focuses on the role of shame, guilt and humiliation…

Children's Sympathy, Guilt, and Moral Reasoning in Helping, Cooperation, and Sharing: A 6-Year Longitudinal Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Malti, Tina; Ongley, Sophia F.; Peplak, Joanna; Chaparro, Maria P.; Buchmann, Marlis; Zuffianò, Antonio; Cui, Lixian

2016-01-01

This study examined the role of sympathy, guilt, and moral reasoning in helping, cooperation, and sharing in a 6-year, three-wave longitudinal study involving 175 children (M[subscript age] 6.10, 9.18, and 12.18 years). Primary caregivers reported on children's helping and cooperation; sharing was assessed behaviorally. Child sympathy was assessed…

Why Does the “Sinner” Act Prosocially? The Mediating Role of Guilt and the Moderating Role of Moral Identity in Motivating Moral Cleansing

PubMed Central

Ding, Wan; Xie, Ruibo; Sun, Binghai; Li, Weijian; Wang, Duo; Zhen, Rui

2016-01-01

Numerous studies have found that people tend to commit prosocial acts subsequent to previous immoral acts, as a response to the latter. This phenomenon is called moral cleansing or moral compensation. However, the specific mechanism how previous immoral acts motivate moral compensatory behaviors is still not fully understood. This study aimed to examine the roles of guilt and moral identity in the relation between previous immoral acts and subsequent prosocial behaviors to clarify the mechanism. Based on the extant research, the current study proposed a moderated mediation model to illustrate the process of moral cleansing. Specifically, a previous immoral act motivates guilt, which further leads to subsequent prosocial behaviors, while moral identity facilitates this process. The participants were primed by a recalling task (immoral act vs. a neutral event). The results support the hypothesized model and provide a framework that explains moral cleansing by integrating the roles of guilt and moral identity. These findings highlight the dynamic nature of people’s morality with regard to how people adapt moral behaviors to protect their moral self-image. PMID:27660617

Guilty repair sustains cooperation, angry retaliation destroys it

PubMed Central

Skatova, Anya; Spence, Alexa; Leygue, Caroline; Ferguson, Eamonn

2017-01-01

Sustained cooperative social interactions are key to successful outcomes in many real-world contexts (e.g., climate change and energy conservation). We explore the self-regulatory roles of anger and guilt, as well as prosocial or selfish social preferences in a repeated social dilemma game framed around shared electricity use at home. We explore the proposal that for sustained cooperation, guilty repair needs to override angry retaliation. We show that anger is damaging to cooperation as it leads to retaliation and an increase of defection, while, through guilt, cooperation is repaired resulting in higher levels of cooperation. We demonstrate a disconnect between the experience of anger and subsequent retaliation which is a function of participants’ social preferences. While there is no difference in reports of anger between prosocial and selfish individuals after finding out that others use more energy from the communal resource, prosocials are less likely to act on their anger and retaliate. Selfish individuals are motivated by anger to retaliate but not motivated by guilt to repair and contribute disproportionately to the breakdown of cooperation over repeated interactions. We suggest that guilt is a key emotion to appeal to when encouraging cooperation. PMID:28447613

Proneness to Self-Conscious Emotions in Adults With and Without Autism Traits.

PubMed

Davidson, Denise; Vanegas, Sandra B; Hilvert, Elizabeth

2017-11-01

Self-conscious emotions, such as shame, guilt and pride, facilitate our social interactions by motivating us to adhere to social norms and external standards. In this study, we examined proneness to shame, guilt, hubristic pride and authentic pride in adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder traits (ASD-T) and in neurotypical (NT) adults. Relations between proneness to self-conscious emotions and theory of mind (ToM), fear of negative evaluation, and social functioning were also assessed. Adults with ASD-T showed greater proneness to shame, and less proneness to guilt and pride than NT adults. Both ToM and fear of negative evaluation predicted proneness to self-conscious emotions in ASD-T. These findings are discussed in terms of understanding complex emotion processing in adults with ASD-T.

Responsibility, guilt, and decision under risk.

PubMed

Mancini, Francesco; Gangemi, Amelia

2003-12-01

We hypothesize that individuals' choices (risk-seeking/risk-aversion) depend on moral values and, in particular, on how subjects evaluate themselves as guilty or as victims of a wrong rather than on the descriptions of the outcomes as given in the options and evaluated accordingly as gains or losses (framing effect). People who evaluate themselves as victims are expected to show a risk-seeking preference (context of innocence). People who evaluate themselves as guilty are expected to show a risk-averse preference (context of guilt). Responses of 232 participants to a decision problem were compared in four different conditions involving two-story formats (innocence/guilt) and two-question-options formats (gain/loss). Regardless of the format of the question options, the story format appears to be an important determinant of individuals' preferences.

Shaming, Blaming, and Maiming: Functional Links Among the Moral Emotions, Externalization of Blame, and Aggression

PubMed Central

Stuewig, Jeffrey; Tangney, June P.; Heigel, Caron; Harty, Laura; McCloskey, Laura

2010-01-01

Theory suggests that shame should be positively related to aggression while guilt may serve as a protective factor. Little research has examined mediators between the moral emotions and aggression. Results using path analyses in four diverse samples were consistent with a model of no direct relationship between shame-proneness and aggression. There was, however, a significant indirect relationship through externalization of blame, but mostly when aggression was measured using self-report. Guilt-proneness, on the other hand, showed a direct negative relationship to aggression whether using self-report or other reports of aggression. Guilt was also inversely related to aggression indirectly through externalization of blame and empathy. Identifying these differing mechanisms may be useful in developing more effective interventions for aggressive individuals. PMID:20369025

Do body-related shame and guilt mediate the association between weight status and self-esteem?

PubMed

Pila, Eva; Sabiston, Catherine M; Brunet, Jennifer; Castonguay, Andree L; O'Loughlin, Jennifer

2015-05-01

Individuals who are overweight or obese report body image concerns and lower self-esteem. However, little is known about the mechanisms underpinning these associations. The objective of this study was to test body-related shame and guilt as mediators in the association between weight status and self-esteem. Young adult participants (n = 790) completed assessments of self-esteem and body-related guilt and shame, and weight status indicators were measured by trained technicians. Findings from multiple mediation analyses suggest that body-related shame mediates the relationship between weight status and self-esteem. If replicated in longitudinal studies, these findings suggest that reducing body-related emotions may have important implications for improving self-esteem in clinical weight management. © The Author(s) 2015.

Indirect Relations Between Transgressive Acts and General Combat Exposure and Moral Injury.

PubMed

Frankfurt, Sheila B; Frazier, Patricia; Engdahl, Brian

2017-11-01

Moral injury describes the deleterious effects of acts of commission (e.g., killing noncombatants), omission (e.g., failing to prevent a massacre), or betrayal (i.e., by a trusted authority figure) during military service that transgress accepted behavioral boundaries and norms. Transgressive acts are proposed to lead to a guilt- and shame-based syndrome consisting of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, demoralization, self-handicapping, and self-injury. In this study, we tested a frequently cited model of moral injury and assessed the associations between potentially transgressive acts, moral injury outcomes, and guilt and fear. Additionally, we sought to clarify the relative contribution of transgressive and nontransgressive/general combat exposure to moral injury. On the basis of previous research and theory, we anticipated that the transgressive acts would be related to outcomes through guilt and that nontransgressive combat exposure would be related to outcomes through fear. Secondary analysis was conducted on data from a sample of combat-exposed male veterans at a Midwestern Veterans Affairs (VA) medical center (N = 190) who participated in a larger parent study on postdeployment readjustment. Structural equation modeling was used to test the pathways from transgressive and nontransgressive combat exposure to PTSD symptoms and suicidality through combat-related guilt and combat-related fear. The institutional review boards of the Midwestern VA medical center and the university of the affiliated researchers approved the study. In total, 38% (n = 72) of the sample reported a potentially transgressive act as one of their three worst traumatic events. The most common potentially transgressive act was killing an enemy combatant (17%; n = 32). In structural equation modeling analyses. potentially transgressive acts were indirectly related to both suicidality (β = 0.09, p < 0.01) and PTSD symptoms (β = 0.06, p < 0.05) through guilt. General combat exposure was indirectly related to PTSD through fear, β = 0.19, p < 0.01. Combat exposure was not directly or indirectly related to suicidality. Overall, these findings suggest that veterans with a history of potentially transgressive acts may present to the VA with a constellation of symptoms that are associated with combat-related guilt. Transgressive acts were identified using a qualitative approach, allowing a broader sampling of this domain. Results were limited by the use of self-report data and by gathering data from participants who were Veterans seeking compensation and pension evaluations for PTSD. The clinical implications suggest that focusing on fear-related outcomes and ignoring guilt- and shame-based reactions may lead to an incomplete case conceptualization. Clinicians working with veterans with moral injury are encouraged to prepare themselves for the discomfiting therapeutic experiences of bearing witness to and empathizing with clients' memories of their actions, which may include atrocities. Effective and empathic treatments that address the guilt and shame associated with transgressive acts are needed to adequately care for returning veterans. Reprint & Copyright © 2017 Association of Military Surgeons of the U.S.

Trauma Informed Guilt Reduction (TrIGR) Intervention

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-10-01

AWARD NUMBER: W81XWH-15-1-0330 TITLE: Trauma- Informed Guilt Reduction (TrIGR) Intervention PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Sonya Norman, PhD CONTRACTING...Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instructions...searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing this collection of information . Send comments

The Moderating Effects of Parenting Styles in the Association between Behavioral Inhibition and Parent-Reported Guilt and Empathy in Preschool Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cornell, Amy H.; Frick, Paul J.

2007-01-01

This study investigated interactions between children's temperament and parenting styles in their association with measures of guilt and empathy. Participants were 87 predominantly Caucasian, middle-class mothers and their children between the ages of 3 and 5 (M = 4.39, SD = 0.51). Children nominated by their preschool teachers as being…

Stability and Change of Outsider Behavior in School Bullying: The Role of Shame and Guilt in a Longitudinal Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mazzone, Angela; Camodeca, Marina; Salmivalli, Christina

2018-01-01

We analyzed developmental changes in outsider behavior, testing whether the likelihood that it turns into bullying or defending over time depends on the individual proneness to feel shame or guilt. Participants were 155 preadolescents (72 boys and 83 girls; [X-bar][subscript age] at T1 = 10.74 years). Bullying, defending, and outsider behaviors…

Perceived Culpability in Critical Multicultural Education: Understanding and Responding to Race Informed Guilt and Shame to Further Learning Outcomes among White American College Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Estrada, Fernando; Matthews, Geneva

2016-01-01

In this investigation we explored among a U.S. sample of White college students the effect of perceived race-informed culpability--conceptualized as the self-conscious emotions known as White guilt and shame--on two critical multicultural education outcomes: modern prejudicial attitudes and demonstrated anti-racist knowledge. Interaction effects…

You and me: Investigating the role of self-evaluative emotion in preschool prosociality.

PubMed

Ross, Josephine

2017-03-01

Self-evaluative emotions depend on internalized social standards and motivate social action. However, there is a lack of empirical research documenting the impact of self-evaluative emotion on 3- and 4-year-olds' prosociality. Extant research relates children's experiences of guilt to empathetic concern and making amends. However, the relationship between guilt and both concern and making amends is potentially reductive. Empathetic concern involves similar bodily expressions to guilt, and amend making is used to distinguish guilt from shame in children. This is the first study to relate the development of both positive and negative self-evaluative emotions to empathetic concern and prosocial choice (making amends and spontaneous help). Results confirm that the broad capacity for self-evaluative emotion is established during the preschool years and relates to empathetic concern. Moreover, these social emotions can be used to predict prosocial choice. Making amends was best predicted by empathetic concern and by children's responses to achievement (pride following success and lack of shame following failure). Alongside moral pride, pride in response to achievement and resilience to shame was also the best predictor of spontaneous help. The data support the idea that young children's prosocial choices may be partially driven by the affective drive to maintain an "ideal" self. Psychologists have emphasized that in order to be adaptive, self-evaluative emotion should be guilt oriented rather than shame oriented. However, the adaptive role of pride has been neglected. We call on future research to redress the focus on negative self-evaluation in moral development and further explore the prosocial potential of pride. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Guilty pleasures: The effect of perceived overeating on food addiction attributions and snack choice.

PubMed

Ruddock, Helen K; Hardman, Charlotte A

2018-02-01

Despite being widely debated throughout the scientific community, the concept of food addiction remains a popular explanation for overeating and obesity amongst the lay public. Overeating is often accompanied by feelings of guilt and dietary concern, and this may lead people to attribute their eating to an addiction in order to minimise personal responsibility. Research also indicates that food addiction attributions and dietary concern may lead people to limit their exposure to tempting foods. To test these ideas, we examined the effect of perceived overeating on food addiction attributions and snack choice. Subjective ratings of guilt and dietary concern were indirectly manipulated by leading female participants (N=90) to believe they had eaten more than (overeating condition), less than (undereating condition), or roughly the same (control condition) amount of palatable foods in relation to their own estimated consumption and to previous participants. Participants then rated the relative importance of a list of explanations for their eating (including "the foods were really addictive") and selected a snack to take home with them. Ratings of guilt and dietary concern were highest in the overeating condition, and lowest in the undereating condition, indicating that the manipulation had been successful. However, findings revealed no effect of condition on food addiction attributions. As predicted, participants in the overeating condition selected less tempting snacks than in the undereating condition. However, this effect was not mediated by guilt/dietary concern. There was also no association between food-addiction attributions and snack choice. These findings suggest that perceived overeating affects snack choice but not food addiction attributions. Future research should investigate whether food addiction attributions may be driven by feelings of guilt and dietary concern following longer-term disinhibited eating patterns. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Do not play God: contrasting effects of deontological guilt and pride on decision-making

PubMed Central

Mancini, Alessandra; Mancini, Francesco

2015-01-01

Recent accounts support the existence of two distinct feelings of guilt: altruistic guilt (AG), arising from the appraisal of not having been altruistic toward a victim and deontological guilt (DG), emerging from the appraisal of having violated an intuitive moral rule. Neuroimaging data has shown that the two guilt feelings trigger different neural networks, with DG selectively activating the insula, a brain area involved in the processing of disgust and self-reproach. Thus, insula activation could reflect the major involvement of self-reproach in DG rather than in AG. However, only a few studies have empirically tested whether and how DG and AG differently affect decision making and none have compared enhanced self-worth. Here we asked three groups of participants, respectively, induced with either pride, DG or AG, to participate in a third-party version of the ultimatum game in which they were asked to decide on behalf of others to accept or reject economic offers with several degrees of fairness. Results revealed that only deontological participants had higher median acceptances of Moderately Unfair offers as compared to proud participants. However fairness judgments were not different between groups, suggesting that deontological participants’ moral standards had not decreased. Crucially, a higher increase in DG was associated with an increase in the odds of accepting 30:70 offers. The opposite effects that DG and pride exert on self-worth can account for these results. Specifically, proud participants felt entitled enough to take action in order to restore equity, while deontological participants followed the “Do not play God” principle, which limited their decisional autonomy, not allowing them to decide on behalf of others. PMID:26379584

Do not play God: contrasting effects of deontological guilt and pride on decision-making.

PubMed

Mancini, Alessandra; Mancini, Francesco

2015-01-01

Recent accounts support the existence of two distinct feelings of guilt: altruistic guilt (AG), arising from the appraisal of not having been altruistic toward a victim and deontological guilt (DG), emerging from the appraisal of having violated an intuitive moral rule. Neuroimaging data has shown that the two guilt feelings trigger different neural networks, with DG selectively activating the insula, a brain area involved in the processing of disgust and self-reproach. Thus, insula activation could reflect the major involvement of self-reproach in DG rather than in AG. However, only a few studies have empirically tested whether and how DG and AG differently affect decision making and none have compared enhanced self-worth. Here we asked three groups of participants, respectively, induced with either pride, DG or AG, to participate in a third-party version of the ultimatum game in which they were asked to decide on behalf of others to accept or reject economic offers with several degrees of fairness. Results revealed that only deontological participants had higher median acceptances of Moderately Unfair offers as compared to proud participants. However fairness judgments were not different between groups, suggesting that deontological participants' moral standards had not decreased. Crucially, a higher increase in DG was associated with an increase in the odds of accepting 30:70 offers. The opposite effects that DG and pride exert on self-worth can account for these results. Specifically, proud participants felt entitled enough to take action in order to restore equity, while deontological participants followed the "Do not play God" principle, which limited their decisional autonomy, not allowing them to decide on behalf of others.

Selective functional integration between anterior temporal and distinct fronto-mesolimbic regions during guilt and indignation.

PubMed

Green, Sophie; Ralph, Matthew A Lambon; Moll, Jorge; Stamatakis, Emmanuel A; Grafman, Jordan; Zahn, Roland

2010-10-01

It has been hypothesized that the experience of different moral sentiments such as guilt and indignation is underpinned by activation in temporal and fronto-mesolimbic regions and that functional integration between these regions is necessary for the differentiated experience of these moral sentiments. A recent fMRI study revealed that the right superior anterior temporal lobe (ATL) was activated irrespective of the context of moral feelings (guilt or indignation). This region has been associated with context-independent conceptual social knowledge which allows us to make fine-grained differentiations between qualities of social behaviours (e.g. "critical" and "faultfinding"). This knowledge is required to make emotional evaluations of social behaviour. In contrast to the context-independent activation of the ATL, there were context-dependent activations within different fronto-mesolimbic regions for guilt and indignation. However, it is unknown whether functional integration occurs between these regions and whether regional patterns of integration are distinctive for the experience of different moral sentiments. Here, we used fMRI and psychophysiological interaction analysis, an established measure of functional integration to investigate this issue. We found selective functional integration between the right superior ATL and a subgenual cingulate region during the experience of guilt and between the right superior ATL and the lateral orbitofrontal cortex for indignation. Our data provide the first evidence for functional integration of conceptual social knowledge representations in the right superior ATL with representations of different feeling contexts in fronto-mesolimbic regions. We speculate that this functional architecture allows for the conceptually differentiated experience of moral sentiments in healthy individuals. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Attachment styles, grief responses, and the moderating role of coping strategies in parents bereaved by the Sewol ferry accident

PubMed Central

Huh, Hyu Jung; Kim, Kyung Hee; Lee, Hee-Kyung; Chae, Jeong-Ho

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT Background: Previous studies on the influence of different types of attachment on grief responses have yielded contradictory outcomes. Little research has been conducted to identify the psychological processes that moderate the relationship between attachment representations and patterns of grief in disaster-related grief. Objective: The present study examines the effects of different attachment types on the grief responses of parents bereaved by loss of a child in a ferry accident, along with the moderating role of coping strategies. Methods: Bereaved parents (n = 81) completed self-report questionnaires evaluating attachment, coping strategies, complicated grief, and shame/guilt. We performed correlational analyses to examine the associations among variables. We also conducted hierarchical regression analyses and simple slope analyses to examine the moderation effects of coping strategies. Results: Anxious attachment was associated with severe shame/guilt, and avoidant attachment correlated with complicated grief. Anxious attachment was positively associated with all types of coping strategies, and avoidant attachment was negatively related to problem- and emotion-focused coping. The use of problem-focused coping strategies was a significant moderator of the relationship between the avoidant attachment dimension and shame/guilt. Avoidant attachment had a significant effect on shame/guilt in groups with a high level of problem-focused coping. In contrast, none of the coping strategies significantly moderated the relationship between anxious attachment and grief response. Conclusions: The results suggest that people with highly avoidant attachment might be overwhelmed by shame and guilt when they try to use problem-focused coping strategies. This finding suggests that grief interventions should be organized with consideration of individual differences in attachment representations. PMID:29372009

Attachment styles, grief responses, and the moderating role of coping strategies in parents bereaved by the Sewol ferry accident.

PubMed

Huh, Hyu Jung; Kim, Kyung Hee; Lee, Hee-Kyung; Chae, Jeong-Ho

2017-01-01

Background : Previous studies on the influence of different types of attachment on grief responses have yielded contradictory outcomes. Little research has been conducted to identify the psychological processes that moderate the relationship between attachment representations and patterns of grief in disaster-related grief. Objective : The present study examines the effects of different attachment types on the grief responses of parents bereaved by loss of a child in a ferry accident, along with the moderating role of coping strategies. Methods : Bereaved parents ( n  = 81) completed self-report questionnaires evaluating attachment, coping strategies, complicated grief, and shame/guilt. We performed correlational analyses to examine the associations among variables. We also conducted hierarchical regression analyses and simple slope analyses to examine the moderation effects of coping strategies. Results : Anxious attachment was associated with severe shame/guilt, and avoidant attachment correlated with complicated grief. Anxious attachment was positively associated with all types of coping strategies, and avoidant attachment was negatively related to problem- and emotion-focused coping. The use of problem-focused coping strategies was a significant moderator of the relationship between the avoidant attachment dimension and shame/guilt. Avoidant attachment had a significant effect on shame/guilt in groups with a high level of problem-focused coping. In contrast, none of the coping strategies significantly moderated the relationship between anxious attachment and grief response. Conclusions : The results suggest that people with highly avoidant attachment might be overwhelmed by shame and guilt when they try to use problem-focused coping strategies. This finding suggests that grief interventions should be organized with consideration of individual differences in attachment representations.

Gender differences in self-conscious emotional experience: a meta-analysis.

PubMed

Else-Quest, Nicole M; Higgins, Ashley; Allison, Carlie; Morton, Lindsay C

2012-09-01

The self-conscious emotions (SCE) of guilt, shame, pride, and embarrassment are moral emotions, which motivate adherence to social norms and personal standards and emerge in early childhood following the development of self-awareness. Gender stereotypes of emotion maintain that women experience more guilt, shame, and embarrassment but that men experience more pride. To estimate the magnitude of gender differences in SCE experience and to determine the circumstances under which these gender differences vary, we meta-analyzed 697 effect sizes representing 236,304 individual ratings of SCE states and traits from 382 journal articles, dissertations, and unpublished data sets. Guilt (d = -0.27) and shame (d = -0.29) displayed small gender differences, whereas embarrassment (d = -0.08), authentic pride (d = -0.01), and hubristic pride (d = 0.09) showed gender similarities. Similar to previous findings of ethnic variations in gender differences in other psychological variables, gender differences in shame and guilt were significant only for White samples or samples with unspecified ethnicity. We found larger gender gaps in shame with trait (vs. state) scales, and in guilt and shame with situation- and scenario-based (vs. adjective- and statement-based) items, consistent with predictions that such scales and items tend to tap into global, nonspecific assessments of the self and thus reflect self-stereotyping and gender role assimilative effects. Gender differences in SCE about domains such as the body, sex, and food or eating tended to be larger than gender differences in SCE about other domains. These findings contribute to the literature demonstrating that blanket stereotypes about women's greater emotionality are inaccurate. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).

Guilt, shame and need for a container: a study of post-traumatic stress among ambulance personnel.

PubMed

Jonsson, Anders; Segesten, Kerstin

2004-10-01

Post-traumatic stress symptoms among ambulance personnel are regarded as a natural behaviour and reaction to working with the severely injured, suicides, injured children and dead people. The findings show that post-traumatic stress symptoms, guilt, shame and self-reproach are common after duty-related traumatic events. To handle these overwhelming feelings it is necessary to talk about them with fellow workers, friends or family members. By using another person as a container it is possible to internalise the traumatic experience. Poor and un-emphatic behaviour towards a patient and their relatives can have its origin in untreated traumatic experiences. Personnel in ambulance organisations who perform defusing, debriefing and counselling have to be informed of the importance that the roll of guilt and shame may play in the developing of post-traumatic stress symptoms.

Predictors of psychological morbidity in parents of children with intellectual disabilities.

PubMed

Gallagher, Stephen; Phillips, Anna C; Oliver, Christopher; Carroll, Douglas

2008-01-01

This study examined predictors of excess psychological morbidity in parents of children with intellectual disabilities. Thirty-two parents of children with intellectual disabilities and 29 parents of typically developing children completed the Hospital Depression and Anxiety Scale, and measures of social support, child problem behaviors, sleep quality, and perceived caregiver burden. Parents of children with intellectual disabilities registered high depression and anxiety scores, and the majority met the criteria for possible clinical depression and/or anxiety. The strongest predictor of psychological morbidity was caregiver burden. Analyses of its component dimensions indicated that feelings of guilt held the greatest consequence for depression and anxiety. Caregiver burden, in general, and its guilt component, in particular, predicted symptoms of depression and anxiety in parents of children with intellectual disabilities. Assisting such parents to resolve their feelings of guilt should benefit their psychological status.

Changes in eating pathology and associated symptoms among chronically ill adults attending a brief psychoeducational group.

PubMed

von Ranson, Kristin M; Stevenson, Andrea S; Cannon, Colleen K; Shah, Wendy

2010-08-01

Two quasi-experimental pilot studies examined eating pathology, eating self-efficacy, shame, guilt, and pride in adults with chronic illness before and after participating in brief cognitive-behavioral psychoeducational groups addressing eating concerns. In Study 1, 60 adults completed assessments before and after a series of two groups; in Study 2, 21 adults also completed an assessment five weeks prior to the first group to identify time-related changes in symptoms. Study 1 participants improved across domains, whereas Study 2 analyses also examining time-related changes showed improvements in eating self-efficacy, shame, guilt, and pride, but not in eating pathology. Psychoeducational groups may help improve symptoms including eating pathology, eating self-efficacy, shame, guilt, and pride among chronically-ill adults with eating concerns. 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Conscience as a Regulatory Function: Empathy, Shame, Pride, Guilt, and Moral Orientation in Delinquent Adolescents.

PubMed

Schalkwijk, Frans; Stams, Geert Jan; Stegge, Hedy; Dekker, Jack; Peen, Jaap

2016-05-01

This study examines an emotion-based theory of the conscience, which provides forensic practitioners tools for assessing the state of the conscience. It is operationalized as an emotion-regulating function, making use of empathy, self-conscious emotions, such as shame, pride or guilt, and moral judgment. This was put to test in a questionnaire survey with 59 delinquent and 275 non-delinquent juveniles. As was hypothesized, the functioning of the conscience of these groups differed, with offenders having lower levels of some aspects of empathic capacity, being less prone to experiencing shame and guilt, being more prone to experiencing pride, and being more punishment oriented than victim oriented. The research confirmed that operationalization of the conscience in terms of empathy, self-conscious emotions, and moral orientation is feasible. © The Author(s) 2014.

Assessing guilt toward the former spouse.

PubMed

Wietzker, Anne; Buysse, Ann

2012-09-01

Divorce is often accompanied by feelings of guilt toward the former spouse. So far, no scale has been available to measure such feelings. For this purpose, the authors developed the Guilt in Separation Scale (GiSS). Content validity was assured by using experts and lay experts to generate and select items. Exploratory analyses were run on samples of 214 divorced individuals and confirmatory analyses on 458 individuals who were in the process of divorcing. Evidence was provided for the reliability and construct validity of the GiSS. The internal consistency was high (α = .91), as were the 6-month and 12-month test-retest reliabilities (r = .72 and r = .76, respectively). The GiSS was related to shame, regret, compassion, locus of cause of the separation, unfaithfulness, and psychological functioning. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved.

Advance Warning and Risk Evaluator (AWARE): Background, Preliminary Findings, and Way Ahead

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-02-12

in press). Guilt, shame , and suicidal ideation in a military outpatient clinical sample. Depression and Anxiety. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of...Instruction 1308.3., DoD Physical Fitness and Body Fat Programs Procedures, November 5, 2002. DoD Instruction 1325.06., Handling Dissident and...press). Guilt, shame , and suicidal ideation in a military outpatient clinical sample. Depression and Anxiety. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

Cyberdeterrence Between Nation-States: Plausible Strategy Or A Pipe Dream?

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-01-01

those attempting to conduct the trace.5 It is important to appreciate that no single technical attribution tech- nique provides a panacea . Most...conducted diplomatic, economic, or military initiatives. This might be enough to convince the defending state’s leaders of the adversary state’s guilt ...probable guilt , even if based solely on circumstantial evidence, could prove extremely damaging to the aggressor state’s diplomatic and informational

Biogenetic models of psychopathology, implicit guilt, and mental illness stigma.

PubMed

Rüsch, Nicolas; Todd, Andrew R; Bodenhausen, Galen V; Corrigan, Patrick W

2010-10-30

Whereas some research suggests that acknowledgment of the role of biogenetic factors in mental illness could reduce mental illness stigma by diminishing perceived responsibility, other research has cautioned that emphasizing biogenetic aspects of mental illness could produce the impression that mental illness is a stable, intrinsic aspect of a person ("genetic essentialism"), increasing the desire for social distance. We assessed genetic and neurobiological causal attributions about mental illness among 85 people with serious mental illness and 50 members of the public. The perceived responsibility of persons with mental illness for their condition, as well as fear and social distance, was assessed by self-report. Automatic associations between Mental Illness and Guilt and between Self and Guilt were measured by the Brief Implicit Association Test. Among the general public, endorsement of biogenetic models was associated with not only less perceived responsibility, but also greater social distance. Among people with mental illness, endorsement of genetic models had only negative correlates: greater explicit fear and stronger implicit self-guilt associations. Genetic models may have unexpected negative consequences for implicit self-concept and explicit attitudes of people with serious mental illness. An exclusive focus on genetic models may therefore be problematic for clinical practice and anti-stigma initiatives. Copyright © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Gender as a predictor of posttraumatic stress symptoms and externalizing behavior problems in sexually abused children

PubMed Central

Gauthier-Duchesne, Amélie; Daspe, Marie-Ève

2017-01-01

Despite the proliferation of studies documenting outcomes in sexually abused victims, gender differences remain understudied. The bulk of studies have relied on retrospective samples of adults with insufficient representation of male victims to explore gender specificities. This study examined differential outcomes among boy and girl victims of sexual abuse. A predictive model of outcomes including abuse characteristics and sense of guilt as mediators was proposed. Path analysis was conducted with a sample of 447 sexually abused children (319 girls and 128 boys), aged 6 to 12. Being a girl was a predictor of posttraumatic stress symptoms, while being a boy was a predictor of externalizing problems. Being a boy was also associated with more severe abuse, which in turn predicted posttraumatic stress symptoms. Child’s gender was not related to perpetrator’s relationship to the child or sense of guilt. However, sense of guilt predicted posttraumatic stress symptoms and externalizing problems while perpetrator’s relationship to the child predicted externalizing problems. Gender specificities should be further studied among sexually abused children, as boys and girls appear to manifest different outcomes. Sense of guilt should be a target in intervention for sexually abused children, as results highlight its link to heightened negative outcomes. PMID:28040616

Guilt by Association-Based Discovery of Botnet Footprints

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-11-01

our fast flux database using our Fast Flux Monitor ( FFM ); a Web service application designed to detect whether a domain exhibits fast flux (FF) or...double flux (DF) behaviour. The primary technical components of FFM include: (1) sensors which perform real-time detection of FF service networks...sensors for our FFM active sensors: (1) FF Activity Index, (2) Footprint Index, and (3) Time To Live (TTL), and (4) Guilt by Association Score. In

Punishing hypocrisy: the roles of hypocrisy and moral emotions in deciding culpability and punishment of criminal and civil moral transgressors.

PubMed

Laurent, Sean M; Clark, Brian A M; Walker, Stephannie; Wiseman, Kimberly D

2014-01-01

Three experiments explored how hypocrisy affects attributions of criminal guilt and the desire to punish hypocritical criminals. Study 1 established that via perceived hypocrisy, a hypocritical criminal was seen as more culpable and was punished more than a non-hypocritical criminal who committed an identical crime. Study 2 expanded on this, showing that negative moral emotions (anger and disgust) mediated the relationships between perceived hypocrisy, criminal guilt, and punishment. Study 3 replicated the emotion finding from Study 2 using new scenarios where group agents were clearly aware of the hypocrisy of their actions, yet acted anyway. Again, perceived hypocrisy worked through moral emotions to affect criminal guilt and punishment. The current studies provide empirical support for theories relating hypocrisy and moral transgressions to moral emotions, also informing the literature on the role of moral emotions in moral reasoning and legal decision making.

Evidence of change in men's versus women's emotional reactions to first sexual intercourse: a 23-year study in a human sexuality course at a midwestern university.

PubMed

Sprecher, Susan

2014-01-01

With a large sample (N = 5,769) of university students obtained over a 23-year period (1990-2012), which represented three decades of first sexual intercourse experiences, the present study examined gender differences in pleasure, anxiety, and guilt in response to first intercourse. Men reported more pleasure and anxiety than women, and women reported more guilt than men. Anxiety decreased over the three decades for men; pleasure increased and guilt decreased for women. As a result of these changes, the differences between men and women in emotional reactions decreased slightly over time. The magnitude of the gender differences overall and in the most recent years of data collection, however, suggests that emotional responses to first sexual intercourse should be included in a small list of sexuality variables that are exceptions to Hyde's ( 2005 ) gender similarities hypothesis.

The emotional and attitudinal consequences of religious hypocrisy: experimental evidence using a cognitive dissonance paradigm.

PubMed

Yousaf, Omar; Gobet, Fernand

2013-01-01

We explored the emotional and attitudinal consequences of personal attitude-behavior discrepancies using a religious version of the hypocrisy paradigm. We induced cognitive dissonance in participants (n = 206) by making them feel hypocritical for advocating certain religious behaviors that they had not recently engaged in to their own satisfaction. In Experiment 1, this resulted in higher levels of self-reported guilt and shame compared to the control condition. Experiment 2 further showed that a religious self-affirmation task eliminated the guilt and shame. In Experiment 3, participants boosted their religious attitudes as a result of dissonance, and both religious and non-religious self-affirmation tasks eliminated this effect. The findings provide evidence that dissonance induced through religious hypocrisy can result in guilt and shame as well as an attitude bolstering effect, as opposed to the attitude reconciliation effect that is prevalent in previous dissonance research.

Context effects and the (mal)adaptive nature of guilt and shame in children.

PubMed

Ferguson, T J; Stegge, H; Eyre, H L; Vollmer, R; Ashbaker, M

2000-08-01

Symptoms of internalization were examined in relation to children's self-reports of three emotions in situations that were either ambiguous or unambiguous as to the child's responsibility for various standard violations. Children ranging in age from 6 to 13 years were drawn from elementary schools (61 boys, 79 girls, mean age = 8.7) and from a community mental health center (23 boys, 18 girls, mean age = 8.5) to which they had been referred for problems related to internalization or externalization. Shame proneness was consistently linked to internalizing symptoms across contexts. Guilt proneness, in response to ambiguous scenarios, was also associated with internalization, whereas pride responses were unrelated to symptoms. Few age- or gender-related differences were found. The results cast doubt on notions that self-conscious emotions, such as guilt, are necessarily adaptive or maladaptive. Systematic research is needed to understand which features of any emotion contribute to children's psychological adjustment.

Small or big in the eyes of the other: on the developmental psychopathology of self-conscious emotions as shame, guilt, and pride.

PubMed

Muris, Peter; Meesters, Cor

2014-03-01

The self-conscious emotions of guilt, shame, and pride typically occur when people evaluate their own self through the eyes of another person. This article will first of all discuss the nature and function of self-conscious emotions, and describe their developmental course in children and adolescents. Then, a number of variables are discussed that are thought to increase young people's proneness to experience self-conscious emotions. Following this, the empirical evidence on the relationships between guilt, shame, and pride and various types of psychopathology in children and adolescents will be summarized. A model is presented to explain why these self-conscious emotions are associated with a diversity of psychopathological outcomes. Finally, recommendations for clinical practice are made in terms of assessment and interventions targeting the origins and sequelae of self-conscious emotions.

Narcissism: its function in modulating self-conscious emotions.

PubMed

Uji, Masayo; Nagata, Toshiaki; Kitamura, Toshinori

2012-01-01

This study focused on the functional aspects of narcissism in regulating self-conscious emotions (guilt, shame, hubristic pride, and achievement-oriented pride) as well as two other attribution styles (externalization and detachment). The authors investigated Japanese university students (N = 452) with regard to their self-conscious emotions using the Test of Self-Conscious Affect-3 (TOSCA-3) and their narcissistic personality using the short version of Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI-S). Structural equation modeling was used for the analysis. The authors found that narcissism led individuals to feel achievement-oriented pride, hubristic pride, externalization, and detachment, but inhibited feelings of shame. It did not have a significant effect on guilt. Shame-proneness prompted hubristic pride and externalization. Guilt-proneness inclined an individual toward achievement-oriented pride, but deterred externalization. In this article, the authors present and interpret these results in detail and then discuss how they can be utilized in psychotherapy.

Mastering moral misery: Emotional and coping responses to intragroup morality (vs. competence) evaluations.

PubMed

van der Lee, Romy; Ellemers, Naomi; Scheepers, Daan

2016-01-01

In social groups, individuals are often confronted with evaluations of their behaviour by other group members and are motivated to adapt their own behaviour accordingly. In two studies we examine emotional responses towards, and perceived coping abilities with, morality vs. competence evaluations individuals receive from other in-group members. In Study 1, we show that evaluations of one's immoral behaviour primarily induce guilt, whereas evaluations of incompetent behaviour raise anger. In Study 2, we elaborate on the psychological process associated with these emotional responses, and demonstrate that evaluations of immorality, compared to incompetence, diminish group members' perceived coping abilities, which in turn intensifies feelings of guilt. However, when anticipating an opportunity to restore one's self-image as a moral group member, perceived coping abilities are increased and the experience of guilt is alleviated. Together these studies demonstrate how group members can overcome their moral misery when restoring their self-image.

Do peritraumatic emotions differentially predict PTSD symptom clusters? Initial evidence for emotion specificity.

PubMed

Dewey, Daniel; Schuldberg, David; Madathil, Renee

2014-08-01

This study investigated whether specific peritraumatic emotions differentially predict PTSD symptom clusters in individuals who have experienced stressful life events. Hypotheses were developed based on the SPAARS model of PTSD. It was predicted that the peritraumatic emotions of anger, disgust, guilt, and fear would significantly predict re-experiencing and avoidance symptoms, while only fear would predict hyperarousal. Undergraduate students (N = 144) participated in this study by completing a packet of self-report questionnaires. Multiple regression analyses were conducted with PCL-S symptom cluster scores as dependent variables and peritraumatic fear, guilt, anger, shame, and disgust as predictor variables. As hypothesized, peritraumatic anger, guilt, and fear all significantly predicted re-experiencing. However, only fear predicted avoidance, and anger significantly predicted hyperarousal. Results are discussed in relation to the theoretical role of emotions in the etiology of PTSD following the experience of a stressful life event.

Prolonged Exposure for Guilt and Shame in a Veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom

PubMed Central

Paul, Lisa A.; Gros, Daniel F.; Strachan, Martha; Worsham, Glenna; Foa, Edna B.; Acierno, Ron

2014-01-01

Morally injurious events appear capable of producing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), even though they may not involve actual or perceived life-threat or a response of fear, horror, or helplessness. Researchers have questioned whether exposure therapies can address these events. The current report presents evidence of the effectiveness of this treatment approach for addressing posttraumatic symptoms related to a morally injurious event through an illustrative case of an Operation Iraqi Freedom veteran with PTSD characterized by symptoms of guilt and shame. The veteran was successfully treated with nine sessions of prolonged exposure therapy, reporting minimal PTSD symptoms one week post-treatment and at a six-month follow-up assessment. Implications for the treatment of veterans with significant guilt and shame using exposure-based therapies, and with respect to the recent changes to the diagnostic criteria for PTSD, are discussed. PMID:25505798

Gang membership and substance use: guilt as a gendered causal pathway

PubMed Central

Coffman, Donna L.; Melde, Chris; Esbensen, Finn-Aage

2014-01-01

Objectives We examine whether anticipated guilt for substance use is a gendered mechanism underlying the noted enhancement effect of gang membership on illegal drug use. We also demonstrate a method for making stronger causal inferences when assessing mediation in the presence of moderation and time-varying confounding. Methods We estimate a series of inverse propensity weighted models to obtain unbiased estimates of mediation in the presence of confounding of the exposure (i.e., gang membership) and mediator (i.e., anticipated guilt) using three waves of data from a multi-site panel study of a law-related education program for youth (N=1,113). Results The onset of gang membership significantly decreased anticipated substance use guilt among both male and female respondents. This reduction was significantly associated with increased frequency of substance use only for female respondents, however, suggesting that gender moderates the mechanism through which gang membership influences substance use. Conclusions Criminologists are often concerned with identifying causal pathways for antisocial and/or delinquent behavior, but confounders of the exposure, mediator, and outcome often interfere with efforts to assess mediation. Many new approaches have been proposed for strengthening causal inference for mediation effects. After controlling for confounding using inverse propensity weighting, our results suggest that interventions aimed at reducing substance use by current and former female gang members should focus on the normative aspects of these behaviors. PMID:26190954

A psychoanalytic approach to ethics.

PubMed

Breen, H J

1986-04-01

The paper addresses some of the problems of the relationship between ethics and psychology. Philosophical assumptions which are considered are shown to bear directly on the source of the conviction that one ought to behave in some particular way. The choice of an "empirical" ethic, i.e., an epistomology which rests on psychology, is perceived to be a confusing pseudo-scientific error, which has developed in response to increasing guilt. Guilt is seen to play a central role in the evolution of the superego and the self, considered from both an ontological and and phylogenetic basis. These problems, first presented in Civilization and Its Discontents (Freud, 1930), are considered from the standpoint of what is known about normal superego development, the influence of social and historical forces on such development, and pathological superego development. The Kantian assumption of a transcendent moral authority is shown to be related to the earliest symbiotic unity of mother and child, in the context of the first internalized constraints on the aggressive and libidinal drives. The burden of such constraints is seen to be guilt, increasingly less tolerable through the interaction of social, historical, and psychological influences. The response to this guilt is a major influence in the denial of a transcendent moral authority, and the shift toward fewer constraints on the drives. The more obvious social and political consequences are considered.

'I know it's wrong, but...': a qualitative investigation of low-income parents' feelings of guilt about their child-feeding practices.

PubMed

Pescud, Melanie; Pettigrew, Simone

2014-07-01

In the developed world, child overweight and obesity rates are highest among the disadvantaged. This has resulted in calls for more research with low socio-economic families to better understand their experiences with disadvantage and how they might lead to poorer weight outcomes. The present study, conducted in Australia, adopted a qualitative approach to investigate the factors affecting low socio-economic parents' child-feeding practices. Methods used to collect data were introspections, interviews and focus groups. In total, 37 parents of overweight or obese children aged between 5 and 9 years took part in the 6-month study. Guilt emerged as an emotion that parents regularly experienced when allowing their children to consume too much food or foods high in fat, salt and/or sugar. Parents attributed their guilt-inducing child-feeding practices to both external and internal factors. Time scarcity and cost were factors that were primarily characterized by an external locus of control. The factors characterized by an internal locus of control were fear of their children experiencing hunger, the perceived need to secure their children's affection through the provision of treat foods, perceptions of their ability to balance their children's diets across eating situations and perceived laziness. Recommendations are provided for addressing guilt-inducing child-feeding practices. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Gang membership and substance use: guilt as a gendered causal pathway.

PubMed

Coffman, Donna L; Melde, Chris; Esbensen, Finn-Aage

2015-03-01

We examine whether anticipated guilt for substance use is a gendered mechanism underlying the noted enhancement effect of gang membership on illegal drug use. We also demonstrate a method for making stronger causal inferences when assessing mediation in the presence of moderation and time-varying confounding. We estimate a series of inverse propensity weighted models to obtain unbiased estimates of mediation in the presence of confounding of the exposure (i.e., gang membership) and mediator (i.e., anticipated guilt) using three waves of data from a multi-site panel study of a law-related education program for youth ( N =1,113). The onset of gang membership significantly decreased anticipated substance use guilt among both male and female respondents. This reduction was significantly associated with increased frequency of substance use only for female respondents, however, suggesting that gender moderates the mechanism through which gang membership influences substance use. Criminologists are often concerned with identifying causal pathways for antisocial and/or delinquent behavior, but confounders of the exposure, mediator, and outcome often interfere with efforts to assess mediation. Many new approaches have been proposed for strengthening causal inference for mediation effects. After controlling for confounding using inverse propensity weighting, our results suggest that interventions aimed at reducing substance use by current and former female gang members should focus on the normative aspects of these behaviors.

Who Am I, and Who Do I Strive to Be? Applying a Theory of Self-Conscious Emotions to Medical Education.

PubMed

Bynum, William E; Artino, Anthony R

2018-06-01

The self-conscious emotions of shame, guilt, and pride are a distinct set of cognitively complex, powerful, and ubiquitous emotions that arise when an individual engages in self-evaluation. Currently, little is known about the influence or outcomes of self-conscious emotions in medical learners. In this article, the authors present a leading theory of self-conscious emotions that outlines the appraisals and attributions that give rise to and differentiate shame, guilt, and two forms of pride. The authors then apply the theory to three relevant topics in medical education: perfectionism, professional identity formation, and motivation. In doing so, the authors present novel ways of viewing these topics through the lens of self-conscious emotion, suggest areas of future research, and outline a framework for emotional resilience training. Ultimately, the goal of this article is to highlight the fundamental nature of shame, guilt, and pride, which the authors believe are underappreciated and understudied in medical education, and to inform future empirical study on the role that these emotions might play in medical education. Additionally, from a practical standpoint, this article aims to encourage educators and learners to recognize self-conscious emotions in themselves and their colleagues, and to begin developing more resilient approaches to learning-approaches that acknowledge and confront shame, guilt, and pride in medical education.

Body-related self-conscious emotions relate to physical activity motivation and behavior in men.

PubMed

Castonguay, Andree L; Pila, Eva; Wrosch, Carsten; Sabiston, Catherine M

2015-05-01

The aim of this study was to examine the associations between the body-related self-conscious emotions of shame, guilt, and pride and physical activity motivation and behavior among adult males. Specifically, motivation regulations (external, introjected, indentified, intrinsic) were examined as possible mediators between each of the body-related self-conscious emotions and physical activity behavior. A cross-sectional study was conducted with adult men (N = 152; Mage = 23.72, SD = 10.92 years). Participants completed a questionnaire assessing body-related shame, guilt, authentic pride, hubristic pride, motivational regulations, and leisure-time physical activity. In separate multiple mediation models, body-related shame was positively associated with external and introjected regulations and negatively correlated with intrinsic regulation. Guilt was positively linked to external, introjected, and identified regulations. Authentic pride was negatively related to external regulation and positively correlated with both identified and intrinsic regulations and directly associated with physical activity behavior. Hubristic pride was positively associated with intrinsic regulation. Overall, there were both direct and indirect effects via motivation regulations between body-related self-conscious emotions and physical activity (R(2) shame = .15, guilt = .16, authentic pride = .18, hubristic pride = .16). These findings highlight the importance of targeting and understanding self-conscious emotions contextualized to the body and links to motivation and positive health behavior among men. © The Author(s) 2014.

Shame and guilt in social anxiety disorder: effects of cognitive behavior therapy and association with social anxiety and depressive symptoms.

PubMed

Hedman, Erik; Ström, Peter; Stünkel, Angela; Mörtberg, Ewa

2013-01-01

Social anxiety disorder (SAD), characterized by fear of being scrutinized by others, has features that that are closely linked to the concept of shame. Despite this, it remains to be investigated whether shame is elevated in persons with SAD, and if cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) for SAD could reduce shame experience. In the present study, we focused on internal shame, i.e. the type of shame that pertains to how we judge ourselves. Although guilt is distinctly different from shame, we also viewed it as important to investigate its role in SAD as the two emotions are highly correlated. The aim of this study was to investigate: (I) if persons with SAD differ from healthy controls on shame and guilt, (II) if shame, guilt, depressive symptoms, and social anxiety are associated in persons with SAD, and (III) if CBT can reduce internal shame in patients with SAD. Firstly, we conducted a case-control study comparing a sample with SAD (n = 67) with two samples of healthy controls, a main sample (n = 72) and a replication sample (n = 22). Secondly, all participants with SAD were treated with CBT and shame, measured with the Test of Self-Conscious affect, was assessed before and after treatment. The results showed that shame was elevated in person with SAD compared to the control replication sample, but not to the main control sample. In addition, shame, social anxiety, and depressive symptoms were significantly associated among participants with SAD. After CBT, participants with SAD had significantly reduced their shame (Cohen's d = 0.44). Guilt was unrelated to social anxiety. We conclude that shame and social anxiety are associated and that it is likely that persons with SAD are more prone to experience shame than persons without SAD. Also, CBT is associated with shame reduction in the treatment of SAD.

Shame and Guilt in Social Anxiety Disorder: Effects of Cognitive Behavior Therapy and Association with Social Anxiety and Depressive Symptoms

PubMed Central

Hedman, Erik; Ström, Peter; Stünkel, Angela; Mörtberg, Ewa

2013-01-01

Social anxiety disorder (SAD), characterized by fear of being scrutinized by others, has features that that are closely linked to the concept of shame. Despite this, it remains to be investigated whether shame is elevated in persons with SAD, and if cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) for SAD could reduce shame experience. In the present study, we focused on internal shame, i.e. the type of shame that pertains to how we judge ourselves. Although guilt is distinctly different from shame, we also viewed it as important to investigate its role in SAD as the two emotions are highly correlated. The aim of this study was to investigate: (I) if persons with SAD differ from healthy controls on shame and guilt, (II) if shame, guilt, depressive symptoms, and social anxiety are associated in persons with SAD, and (III) if CBT can reduce internal shame in patients with SAD. Firstly, we conducted a case-control study comparing a sample with SAD (n = 67) with two samples of healthy controls, a main sample (n = 72) and a replication sample (n = 22). Secondly, all participants with SAD were treated with CBT and shame, measured with the Test of Self-Conscious affect, was assessed before and after treatment. The results showed that shame was elevated in person with SAD compared to the control replication sample, but not to the main control sample. In addition, shame, social anxiety, and depressive symptoms were significantly associated among participants with SAD. After CBT, participants with SAD had significantly reduced their shame (Cohen's d = 0.44). Guilt was unrelated to social anxiety. We conclude that shame and social anxiety are associated and that it is likely that persons with SAD are more prone to experience shame than persons without SAD. Also, CBT is associated with shame reduction in the treatment of SAD. PMID:23620782

Destruction and guilt: splitting and reintegration in the analysis of a traumatised patient.

PubMed

Henningsen, Franziska

2005-04-01

The author traces in detail how, in the analytic relationship, she was slowly able to read aspects of the trauma as 'quotations' and gradually, through transference, transform them into a symbolic language. Split-off aggression and guilt feelings became progressively accessible to interpretation through transferential projective identifications. During his analysis, the patient discovered he was the child of Nazi criminals: on his mother's side they were the third generation; on his father's side, the second.

Emotional Sequelae of Elective Abortion: The Role of Guilt and Shame.

PubMed

Whitney, Donna Krupkin

2017-06-01

Although estimates vary, many women experience long-term emotional, spiritual, psychological and interpersonal difficulties following abortion, including complicated grief, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and relationship disturbances. Developmental, drive, object-relations and narcissism models for perinatal loss also illuminate the dynamics of post-abortion syndromes. Guilt and shame play important roles in generating and concealing post-abortion sequelae. Pastoral care and healthcare providers can increase their awareness of post-abortion sequelae and provide effective care for women experiencing these syndromes.

The Needs of Family Members of Cancer Patients

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-01-01

suffering in addition to feelings of powerlessness, guilt , anger, ambivalence, and fear for the patient and themselves. Another task for the family is...patients had breast cancer, five patients had lung cancer, five more had cancer of the gastrointestinal tract, three had cancer of the liver or pancreas ...the patient 3.03 1.07 E 14. To talk about feelings such as anger or guilt 3.03 1.07 E 15. To have comfortable furniture in the waiting room 2.82 0.90 P

Shame, Guilt, and Suicide Ideation among Bondage and Discipline, Dominance and Submission, and Sadomasochism Practitioners: Examining the Role of the Interpersonal Theory of Suicide.

PubMed

Roush, Jared F; Brown, Sarah L; Mitchell, Sean M; Cukrowicz, Kelly C

2017-04-01

To date, no study has examined rates of suicide ideation or theory-based risk factors for suicide ideation among bondage and discipline, dominance and submission, and sadomasochism (BDSM) practitioners. Participants were 321 adults that endorsed BDSM involvement. Thirty-seven percent of the sample indicated a nonzero level of suicide ideation. Thwarted belongingness and perceived burdensomeness (PB) were positively associated with suicide ideation and their interactive effect predicted additional variance in suicide ideation after adjusting for depressive symptoms. Overall, shame and guilt were positively associated with suicide ideation and these relations were mediated by thwarted belongingness and PB in parallel adjusting for depressive symptoms; however, there were some differences between demographic subgroups. Among BDSM practitioners, stigma-related internalized feelings (i.e., shame and guilt) may be associated with increased thwarted belongingness and PB, which are associated with suicide ideation. © 2016 The American Association of Suicidology.

A dual-motive model of scapegoating: displacing blame to reduce guilt or increase control.

PubMed

Rothschild, Zachary K; Landau, Mark J; Sullivan, Daniel; Keefer, Lucas A

2012-06-01

The authors present a model that specifies 2 psychological motives underlying scapegoating, defined as attributing inordinate blame for a negative outcome to a target individual or group, (a) maintaining perceived personal moral value by minimizing feelings of guilt over one's responsibility for a negative outcome and (b) maintaining perceived personal control by obtaining a clear explanation for a negative outcome that otherwise seems inexplicable. Three studies supported hypotheses derived from this dual-motive model. Framing a negative outcome (environmental destruction or climate change) as caused by one's own harmful actions (value threat) or unknown sources (control threat) both increased scapegoating, and these effects occurred indirectly through feelings of guilt and perceived personal control, respectively (Study 1), and were differentially moderated by affirmations of moral value and personal control (Study 2). Also, scapegoating in response to value threat versus control threat produced divergent, theoretically specified effects on self-perceptions and behavioral intentions (Study 3). 2012 APA, all rights reserved

Negative and positive pretrial publicity affect juror memory and decision making.

PubMed

Ruva, Christine L; McEvoy, Cathy

2008-09-01

The experiment examined the effects of exposure to pretrial publicity (PTP) and delay on juror memory and decision-making. Mock jurors read news articles containing negative PTP, positive PTP, or unrelated articles. Five days later, they viewed a videotaped murder trial, after which they made decisions about guilt. Finally, all participants independently attributed specific information as having been presented during the trial or in the news articles. Half of the jurors rendered their verdicts and completed the source-memory test immediately after the trial, while the other half did so after a 2-day delay. Exposure to PTP significantly affected guilty verdicts, perceptions of defendant credibility, juror ratings of the prosecuting and defense attorneys, and misattributions of PTP as having been presented as trial evidence. Similar effects were obtained for negative and positive PTP. Delay significantly increased source-memory errors but did not influence guilt ratings. Defendant's credibility and juror ratings of prosecuting and defense attorneys significantly mediated the effect of PTP on guilt ratings. (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved.

Two Faces of Shame: Understanding Shame and Guilt in the Prediction of Jail Inmates’ Recidivism

PubMed Central

Tangney, June P.; Stuewig, Jeffrey; Martinez, Andres G.

2014-01-01

Psychological research using mostly cross-sectional methods calls into question the presumed function of shame as inhibitor of immoral or illegal behavior. In a longitudinal study of 476 jail inmates, we assessed shame-proneness, guilt-proneness, and externalization of blame shortly upon incarceration. Participants (n = 332) were interviewed one year following release into the community and official arrest records were accessed (n = 446). Guilt-proneness negatively, and directly, predicted re-offense in the first year post-release; shame-proneness did not. Further mediational modeling showed that shame-proneness positively predicted recidivism via its robust link to externalization of blame. There remained a direct effect of shame on recidivism, however, such that shame – unimpeded by defensive externalization of blame – inhibited recidivism. Items assessing a motivation to hide were primarily responsible for this pattern. Overall, results suggest that the pain of shame may have two faces – one with destructive and the other with constructive potential. PMID:24395738

The role of self-regulatory efficacy, moral disengagement and guilt on doping likelihood: A social cognitive theory perspective.

PubMed

Ring, Christopher; Kavussanu, Maria

2018-03-01

Given the concern over doping in sport, researchers have begun to explore the role played by self-regulatory processes in the decision whether to use banned performance-enhancing substances. Grounded on Bandura's (1991) theory of moral thought and action, this study examined the role of self-regulatory efficacy, moral disengagement and anticipated guilt on the likelihood to use a banned substance among college athletes. Doping self-regulatory efficacy was associated with doping likelihood both directly (b = -.16, P < .001) and indirectly (b = -.29, P < .001) through doping moral disengagement. Moral disengagement also contributed directly to higher doping likelihood and lower anticipated guilt about doping, which was associated with higher doping likelihood. Overall, the present findings provide evidence to support a model of doping based on Bandura's social cognitive theory of moral thought and action, in which self-regulatory efficacy influences the likelihood to use banned performance-enhancing substances both directly and indirectly via moral disengagement.

Symbolic hate: intention to intimidate, political ideology, and group association.

PubMed

Wiener, Richard L; Richter, Erin

2008-12-01

In Virginia v. Black (123 S.Ct. 1536, 2003), the Supreme Court ruled that the First Amendment did not bar statutes that prohibit cross burnings in which defendants acted with intention to intimidate others. Using a variety of symbols including cross burnings, swastikas, confederate flags, and skin fists, the current research tested how mock jurors used alternative actor intentions to judge culpability in symbolic hate speech cases. Only partially validating the Court's assumptions, participants rated guilt certainty highest when they believed the speakers conveyed direct threats, sometimes regardless of whether defendants intended to intimidate others. Further, results showed the level of perceived intimidation only partially mediated the relationship between type of fact pattern and guilt certainty ratings. While alternative intentions did produce different levels of intention to intimidate, path analysis showed that the participants' ratings of the defendant's intention to convey a direct threat influenced guilt certainty ratings in all cases. Perceived intimidation levels predicted culpability in only some of the cases and not for cross burning on private property.

Advantaged group's emotional reactions to intergroup inequality: the dynamics of pride, guilt, and sympathy.

PubMed

Harth, Nicole Syringa; Kessler, Thomas; Leach, Colin Wayne

2008-01-01

Three studies establish intergroup inequality to investigate how it is emotionally experienced by the advantaged. Studies 1 and 2 examine psychology students' emotional experience of their unequal job situation with worse-off pedagogy students. When inequality is ingroup focused and legitimate, participants experience more pride. However, when inequality is ingroup focused and illegitimate, participants experience more guilt. Sympathy is increased when inequality is outgroup focused and illegitimate. These emotions have particular effects on behavioral tendencies. In Study 2 group-based pride predicts greater ingroup favoritism in a resource distribution task, whereas group-based sympathy predicts less ingroup favoritism. Study 3 replicates these findings in the context of students' willingness to let young immigrants take part in a university sport. Pride predicts less willingness to let immigrants take part whereas sympathy predicts greater willingness. Guilt is a weak predictor of behavioral tendencies in all studies. This shows the specificity of emotions experienced about intergroup inequality.

Shame, guilt, and depression in men and women in recovery from addiction.

PubMed

O'Connor, L E; Berry, J W; Inaba, D; Weiss, J; Morrison, A

1994-01-01

Men and women in recovery from addiction were compared on levels of depression and self-conscious affect including proneness to shame, guilt, externalization, detachment, and pride. The sample consisted of 130 subjects (88 men and 42 women; mean age 33.04), 90 of whom were active participants in a 12-step recovery program, and 40 of whom were in a residential treatment community. Subjects completed The Beck Depression Inventory and The Test of Self-Conscious Affect. Significant differences between the sexes were found for proneness to shame, detachment, and depression. Women were significantly higher on shame and depression; men were significantly higher on detachment. The subjects were compared to subjects who were not chemically dependent. It was found that these recovering drug-addicted subjects scored significantly higher in proneness to shame and externalization and significantly lower on proneness to guilt. Treatment implications of proneness to shame in the drug-addicted population, and particularly in women, are discussed. The use of confrontational drug treatment strategies may be contraindicated.

Daily Deviations in Anger, Guilt, and Sympathy: A Developmental Diary Study of Aggression.

PubMed

Colasante, Tyler; Zuffianò, Antonio; Malti, Tina

2016-11-01

With a diary study of 4- and 8-year-olds, we tested the association between daily deviations in anger and aggressive behavior, and whether this link was moderated by feelings of guilt and sympathy. Caregivers reported their children's anger and aggression for 10 consecutive days (470 records; N = 80, 53 % girls). To calculate daily anger deviations from average anger levels, we subtracted each child's average anger score (i.e., across 10 days) from his/her daily anger scores. Children reported their guilty feelings in response to vignettes depicting intentional harm, as well as their dispositional sympathy levels. Multilevel modeling indicated that within-child spikes in daily anger were associated with more aggression, above and beyond between-child differences in average anger levels. However, this association was weaker for children who reported higher levels of guilt. Sympathy did not moderate the anger-aggression link. We discuss potential implications for affective-developmental models of aggression and interventions that target anger-related aggression.

Feelings of shame, embarrassment and guilt and their neural correlates: A systematic review.

PubMed

Bastin, Coralie; Harrison, Ben J; Davey, Christopher G; Moll, Jorge; Whittle, Sarah

2016-12-01

This systematic review aimed to provide a comprehensive summary of the current literature on the neurobiological underpinnings of the experience of the negative moral emotions: shame, embarrassment and guilt. PsycINFO, PubMed and MEDLINE were used to identify existing studies. Twenty-one functional and structural magnetic resonance imaging and positron emission tomography studies were reviewed. Although studies differed considerably in methodology, their findings highlight both shared and distinct patterns of brain structure/function associated with these emotions. Shame was more likely to be associated with activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate cortex and sensorimotor cortex; embarrassment was more likely to be associated with activity in the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex and amygdala; guilt was more likely to be associated with activity in ventral anterior cingulate cortex, posterior temporal regions and the precuneus. Although results point to some common and some distinct neural underpinnings of these emotions, further research is required to replicate findings. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Mood modulation by food: an exploration of affect and cravings in 'chocolate addicts'.

PubMed

Macdiarmid, J I; Hetherington, M M

1995-02-01

To test the hypothesis that some foods are eaten to alter mood, the relationship between mood and intake of chocolate was investigated in 40 women. Twenty self-identified chocolate 'addicts' and 20 controls rated hunger, mood, intensity of craving and amount of chocolate eaten in a diary for seven consecutive days. The 'addicts' reported a significantly greater number of eating episodes and consumed a larger amount of chocolate than controls. 'Addicts' also rated depression, guilt and craving higher and feeling content and relaxed as lower before eating than controls. However, eating chocolate resulted in increased feelings of guilt in the 'addicts' and no significant changes in feeling depressed or relaxed. On indices of disordered eating and depression, 'addicts' scored significantly higher than controls; however, eating chocolate did not improve mood. Although chocolate is a food which provides pleasure, for those who consider intake of this food to be excessive, any pleasure experienced is short lived and accompanied by feelings of guilt.

Cognitive neuroscience of social emotions and implications for psychopathology: examining embarrassment, guilt, envy, and schadenfreude.

PubMed

Jankowski, Kathryn F; Takahashi, Hidehiko

2014-05-01

Social emotions are affective states elicited during social interactions and integral for promoting socially appropriate behaviors and discouraging socially inappropriate ones. Social emotion-processing deficits significantly impair interpersonal relationships, and play distinct roles in the manifestation and maintenance of clinical symptomatology. Elucidating the neural correlates of discrete social emotions can serve as a window to better understanding and treating neuropsychiatric disorders. Moral cognition and social emotion-processing broadly recruit a fronto-temporo-subcortical network, supporting empathy, perspective-taking, self-processing, and reward-processing. The present review specifically examines the neural correlates of embarrassment, guilt, envy, and schadenfreude. Embarrassment and guilt are self-conscious emotions, evoked during negative evaluation following norm violations and supported by a fronto-temporo-posterior network. Embarrassment is evoked by social transgressions and recruits greater anterior temporal regions, representing conceptual social knowledge. Guilt is evoked by moral transgressions and recruits greater prefrontal regions, representing perspective-taking and behavioral change demands. Envy and schadenfreude are fortune-of-other emotions, evoked during social comparison and supported by a prefronto-striatal network. Envy represents displeasure in others' fortunes, and recruits increased dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, representing cognitive dissonance, and decreased reward-related striatal regions. Schadenfreude represents pleasure in others' misfortunes, and recruits reduced empathy-related insular regions and increased reward-related striatal regions. Implications for psychopathology and treatment design are discussed. © 2014 The Authors. Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences © 2014 Japanese Society of Psychiatry and Neurology.

The advent of guilt feelings as a common depressive symptom: a historical comparison on two continents.

PubMed

Murphy, H B

1978-08-01

Historical shifts in the symptomatology of mental disease are surprisingly overlooked but common phenomena that should cast considerable light on the relation between social and intrapsychic processes. The enormous increase in chronicity and mortality in mental hospitals during the second half of the 19th century, and the shift from the shell-shock of the first World War to the battle fatigue of the second are examples which have been well documented but not well explained. The advent of guilt feelings in depression or melancholia is a lesser known instance but one with perhaps greater theoretical significance. Melancholia has been known almost throughout recorded history, but until the 16th century the number of recorded cases exhibiting exaggerated guilt feelings and self-accusations was very small, and the old physicians did not include them in their descriptions of the condition. In Asia and in Africa, moreover, it is claimed that these symptoms are rare even today, except among the Westernized. If we fully understood the other features of the disease or if the symptoms had no relevance to course and treatment, these facts might be treated simply as curiosities; but neither is the case. Depression is still not adequately understood, and some theories on it derive largely from the exaggerated guilt feelings and the psychic structure which is supposed to produce the latter. Hence it could be instructive to examine under what conditions these symptoms first became common in different societies.

Muslim women having abortions in Canada

PubMed Central

Wiebe, Ellen; Najafi, Roya; Soheil, Naghma; Kamani, Alya

2011-01-01

Abstract Objective To improve understanding of the attitudes, beliefs, and experiences of Muslim patients presenting for abortion. Design Exploratory study in which participants completed questionnaires about their attitudes, beliefs, and experiences. Setting Two urban, free-standing abortion clinics. Participants Fifty-three self-identified Muslim patients presenting for abortion. Main outcome measures Women’s background, beliefs, and attitudes toward their religion and toward abortion; levels of anxiety, depression, and guilt, scored on a scale of 0 to 10; and degree of pro-choice or anti-choice attitude toward abortion, assessed by having respondents identify under which circumstances a woman should be able to have an abortion. Results The 53 women in this study were a diverse group, aged 17 to 47 years, born in 17 different countries, with a range of beliefs and attitudes toward abortion. As found in previous studies, women who were less pro-choice (identified fewer acceptable reasons to have an abortion) had higher anxiety and guilt scores than more pro-choice women did: 6.9 versus 4.9 (P = .01) and 6.9 versus 3.6 (P = .004), respectively. Women who said they strongly agreed that abortion was against Islamic principles also had higher anxiety and guilt scores: 9.3 versus 5.9 (P = .03) and 9.5 versus 5.3 (P = .03), respectively. Conclusion Canadian Muslim women presenting for abortion come from many countries and schools of Islam. The group of Muslim women that we surveyed was so diverse that no generalizations can be made about them. Their attitudes toward abortion ranged from being completely pro-choice to believing abortion is wrong unless it is done to save a woman’s life. Many said they found their religion to be a source of comfort as well as a source of guilt, turning to prayer and meditation to cope with their feelings about the abortion. It is important that physicians caring for Muslim women understand that their patients come from a variety of backgrounds and can have widely differing beliefs. It might be helpful to be aware that patients who hold more anti-choice beliefs are likely to experience more anxiety and guilt related to their abortion than pro-choice patients do. PMID:21626898

Anterior Insula Volume and Guilt

PubMed Central

Belden, Andy C.; Barch, Deanna M.; Oakberg, Timothy J.; April, Laura M.; Harms, Michael P.; Botteron, Kelly N.; Luby, Joan L.

2016-01-01

IMPORTANCE This is the first study to date to examine volumetric alterations in the anterior insula (AI) as a potential biomarker for the course of childhood major depressive disorder (MDD). OBJECTIVES To examine whether children with a history of preschool-onset (PO) MDD show reduced AI volume, whether a specific symptom of PO MDD (pathological guilt) is related to AI volume reduction (given the known relationship between AI and guilt processing), and whether AI volumes predict subsequent likelihood of having an episode of MDD. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS In a prospective longitudinal study, 306 children (age range, 3.00–5.11 years) and caregivers completed DSM diagnostic assessments at 6 annual time points during 10 years as part of the Preschool Depression Study. Magnetic resonance imaging was completed on a subset of 145 school-age children (age range, 6.11–12.11 years). MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Whole-brain–adjusted AI volume measured using magnetic resonance imaging at school age and children’s diagnosis of MDD any time after their imaging. RESULTS Compared with children without a history of PO MDD, school-age children previously diagnosed as having PO MDD had smaller left and right AI volumes (Wilks Λ = 0.94, F2,124 = 3.37, P = .04, Cohen d = 0.23). However, the effect of PO MDD on reduced AI volumes was better explained by children’s experience of pathological guilt during preschool (Λ = 0.91, F2,120 = 6.17, P = .003, d = .30). When covarying for children’s lifetime history of MDD episodes, their experience of pathological guilt during preschool, as well as their sex and age at the time of imaging, schoolchildren’s right-side AI volume was a significant predictor of being diagnosed as having an MDD episode after imaging (odds ratio, 0.96; 95% CI, 0.01–0.75; P = .03). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE These results provide evidence that structural abnormalities in AI volume are related to the neurobiology of depressive disorders starting in early childhood. The present findings are consistent with mounting research in adult MDD suggesting that insula function and structure may be a target biomarker for major depression. PMID:25390502

Anterior insula volume and guilt: neurobehavioral markers of recurrence after early childhood major depressive disorder.

PubMed

Belden, Andy C; Barch, Deanna M; Oakberg, Timothy J; April, Laura M; Harms, Michael P; Botteron, Kelly N; Luby, Joan L

2015-01-01

This is the first study to date to examine volumetric alterations in the anterior insula (AI) as a potential biomarker for the course of childhood major depressive disorder (MDD). To examine whether children with a history of preschool-onset (PO) MDD show reduced AI volume, whether a specific symptom of PO MDD (pathological guilt) is related to AI volume reduction (given the known relationship between AI and guilt processing), and whether AI volumes predict subsequent likelihood of having an episode of MDD. In a prospective longitudinal study, 306 children (age range, 3.00-5.11 years) and caregivers completed DSM diagnostic assessments at 6 annual time points during 10 years as part of the Preschool Depression Study. Magnetic resonance imaging was completed on a subset of 145 school-age children (age range, 6.11-12.11 years). Whole-brain-adjusted AI volume measured using magnetic resonance imaging at school age and children's diagnosis of MDD any time after their imaging. Compared with children without a history of PO MDD, school-age children previously diagnosed as having PO MDD had smaller left and right AI volumes (Wilks Λ = 0.94, F2,124 = 3.37, P = .04, Cohen d = 0.23). However, the effect of PO MDD on reduced AI volumes was better explained by children's experience of pathological guilt during preschool (Λ = 0.91, F2,120 = 6.17, P = .003, d = .30). When covarying for children's lifetime history of MDD episodes, their experience of pathological guilt during preschool, as well as their sex and age at the time of imaging, schoolchildren's right-side AI volume was a significant predictor of being diagnosed as having an MDD episode after imaging (odds ratio, 0.96; 95% CI, 0.01-0.75; P = .03). These results provide evidence that structural abnormalities in AI volume are related to the neurobiology of depressive disorders starting in early childhood. The present findings are consistent with mounting research in adult MDD suggesting that insula function and structure may be a target biomarker for major depression.

The Role of Self-Blaming Moral Emotions in Major Depression and Their Impact on Social-Economical Decision Making

PubMed Central

Pulcu, Erdem; Zahn, Roland; Elliott, Rebecca

2013-01-01

People with major depressive disorder (MDD) are more prone to experiencing moral emotions related to self-blame, such as guilt and shame. DSM-IV-TR recognizes excessive or inappropriate guilt as one of the core symptoms of current MDD, whereas excessive shame is not part of the criteria for MDD. However, previous studies specifically assessing shame suggested its involvement in MDD. In the first part of this review, we will consider literature discussing the role of self-blaming moral emotions in MDD. These self-blaming moral emotions have been purported to influence people when they make social and financial decisions in cognitive studies, particularly those using neuroeconomical paradigms. Such paradigms aim to predict social behavior in activities of daily living, by using important resource tangibles (especially money) in laboratory conditions. Previous literature suggests that guilt promotes altruistic behavior via acting out reparative tendencies, whereas shame reduces altruism by means of increasing social and interpersonal distance. In the second part of this review, we will discuss the potential influence of self-blaming moral emotions on overt behavior in MDD, reviewing clinical and experimental studies in social and financial decision-making, in which guilt, and shame were manipulated. This is not a well-established area in the depression literature, however in this opinion paper we will argue that studies of moral emotions and their impact on behavioral decision-making are of potential importance in the clinical field, by linking specific symptoms of a disorder to a behavioral outcome which may lead to stratification of clinical diagnoses in the future. PMID:23750148

The role of self-blaming moral emotions in major depression and their impact on social-economical decision making.

PubMed

Pulcu, Erdem; Zahn, Roland; Elliott, Rebecca

2013-01-01

People with major depressive disorder (MDD) are more prone to experiencing moral emotions related to self-blame, such as guilt and shame. DSM-IV-TR recognizes excessive or inappropriate guilt as one of the core symptoms of current MDD, whereas excessive shame is not part of the criteria for MDD. However, previous studies specifically assessing shame suggested its involvement in MDD. In the first part of this review, we will consider literature discussing the role of self-blaming moral emotions in MDD. These self-blaming moral emotions have been purported to influence people when they make social and financial decisions in cognitive studies, particularly those using neuroeconomical paradigms. Such paradigms aim to predict social behavior in activities of daily living, by using important resource tangibles (especially money) in laboratory conditions. Previous literature suggests that guilt promotes altruistic behavior via acting out reparative tendencies, whereas shame reduces altruism by means of increasing social and interpersonal distance. In the second part of this review, we will discuss the potential influence of self-blaming moral emotions on overt behavior in MDD, reviewing clinical and experimental studies in social and financial decision-making, in which guilt, and shame were manipulated. This is not a well-established area in the depression literature, however in this opinion paper we will argue that studies of moral emotions and their impact on behavioral decision-making are of potential importance in the clinical field, by linking specific symptoms of a disorder to a behavioral outcome which may lead to stratification of clinical diagnoses in the future.

Predictors of binge eating in male and female youths in the United Arab Emirates.

PubMed

Schulte, Sabrina J

2016-10-01

Binge eating is a health-risk behavior associated with obesity, eating disorders and many other diseases. However, binge eating research remains narrow especially in Arab countries where obesity is a primary health concern but studies on psychological factors of compulsive overeating are rare. The present study addressed this gap by examining prevalence rates and key predictors of binge eating among youths in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Binge eating was assessed together with stress levels, emotional eating, body-related shame and guilt, obsessive-compulsiveness and depression in 254 youths using standardized self-report measures. The study comprised three online-based assessments over a 3-month period. Moderate to severe binge eating was reported by one-third of participants. Emotional eating and body-related guilt were the most consistent and powerful positive binge eating predictors. While stress levels and body-related shame were statistically significant predictors at follow up, neither obsessive-compulsiveness nor depressive symptomatology predicted binge eating in this study. Findings highlight binge eating as a common concern among youths in the UAE with prevalence rates similar to Western samples. Furthermore, the data suggest that binge eating may operate as a maladaptive coping strategy by alleviating negative emotions including boredom and loneliness. The finding that body-related guilt predicted binge eating is important as until now inconsistencies persist as to the relationship between body-related guilt and eating pathology. The study points towards multifactorial risk and maintenance factors of binge eating and extends our understanding within a population where until now research is poor. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Shame predicts revictimization in victims of childhood violence: A prospective study of a general Norwegian population sample.

PubMed

Aakvaag, Helene Flood; Thoresen, Siri; Strøm, Ida Frugård; Myhre, Mia; Hjemdal, Ole Kristian

2018-05-10

Victims of childhood violence often experience new victimization in adult life. However, risk factors for such revictimization are poorly understood. In this longitudinal study, we investigated whether violence-related shame and guilt were associated with revictimization. Young adults (age = 17-35) exposed to childhood violence (n = 505) were selected from a (Country) population study of 6,589 persons (Wave 1), and reinterviewed by telephone 12-18 months later (Wave 2). Wave 1 measures included shame, guilt, social support, posttraumatic stress, and binge drinking frequency, as well as childhood violence. Logistic regression was used to estimate associations between Wave 1 risk factors and Wave 2 revictimization (physical or sexual violence, or controlling partner behavior). In total, 31.5% (n = 159) had been revictimized during the period between Wave 1 and 2. Of these, 12.9% (n = 65) had experienced sexual assault, 22% (n = 111) had experienced physical assault and 7.1% (n = 36) had experienced controlling behavior from partner. Both shame and guilt were associated with revictimization, and withstood adjustment for other potentially important risk factors. In mutually adjusted models, guilt was no longer significant, leaving shame and binge drinking frequency as the only factors uniquely associated with revictimization. Violence-prevention aimed at victims of childhood violence should be a goal for practitioners and policymakers. This could be achieved by targeting shame, both on both on the individual level (clinical settings) and the societal level (changing the stigma of violence). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Body weight, shame, guilt and oral health: a path analysis model in undergraduate students.

PubMed

Dumitrescu, Alexandrina L; Dogaru, Carmen Beatrice; Duţă, Carmen; Manolescu, B

2011-01-01

The purpose of the present study was to answer the question of whether experiences of shame, guilt and body investment can explain such the association between BMI, oral health behaviours and status in an undergraduate student population-based sample. The study was performed on a sample of 150 first year medical students (19.62 +/- 2.62 years old). Data were collected through a self-administered questionnaire, Weight- and Body-Related Shame and Guilt Scale and Body Investment Scale. 61.3% of students were of normal weight, 21.3% were underweight and 11.3% were overweight. Statistically significant differences were observed between males and females regarding the body mass index (P < 0.0001) and WEB-shame (P < 0.0001). Among females, statically significant higher values of WEB-Shame, WEB-Guilt and lower levels of Body investment were noted among normal weight compared with under-weight students (P < 0.05). The normal-weight female and underweight participants reported statistically significant different frequency of gingival involvement (P < 0.05). Among males, WEB-S was correlated with satisfaction by appearance of own teeth, current extracted teeth and self-reported gum bleeding, while WEB-G, self-reported current extracted teeth, toothbrushing and mouthrinse frequency were also correlated. Among females, WEB-S was correlated with flossing and dental visit frequency. The structural equation model demonstrated a good fit among female students but not among males. These findings highlight the importance of targeting and understanding the realm of body-related self-conscious emotions and the associated links to regulations and health investment behavior.

The quality of life of male spouses of women with breast cancer: hope, self-efficacy, and perceptions of guilt.

PubMed

Duggleby, Wendy; Doell, Heather; Cooper, Dan; Thomas, Roanne; Ghosh, Sunita

2014-01-01

The quality of life of male spouses of partners with breast cancer may determine the support they are able to give their wives. Little is known about the factors associated with their quality of life. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of the quality of life of male spouses of partners with breast cancer with the following factors: (a) demographic variables of male spouses and their partners, (b) levels of hope of male spouses and their partners, (c) self-efficacy and loss and grief of male spouses, and (d) quality of life of partners with breast cancer. Six hundred surveys were mailed to women with breast cancer (stage 1-3) and their male spouses. A total of 110 surveys were completed. With the use of generalized linear modeling, participating male spouses with higher quality of life scores: (a) were older (P = .01), (b) had higher hope scores (P = .01), (c) had lower feelings of guilt scores (P < .01) (subscale of loss and grief), (d) had higher general self-efficacy scores (P < .01), and (e) had partners with breast cancer with higher quality of life scores (P < .01). Hope, self-efficacy, feelings of guilt, age, and their partners' quality of life were significantly related to quality of life of the male spouses of women with breast cancer. The findings underscore the importance of assessing for and fostering hope and self-efficacy as well as decreasing guilt in male spouses of women with breast cancer to improve their quality of life.

Comparing shame in clinical and nonclinical populations: Preliminary findings.

PubMed

Dyer, Kevin F W; Dorahy, Martin J; Corry, Mary; Black, Rebecca; Matheson, Laura; Coles, Holly; Curran, David; Seager, Lenaire; Middleton, Warwick

2017-03-01

To conduct a preliminary study comparing different trauma and clinical populations on types of shame coping style and levels of state shame and guilt. A mixed independent groups/correlational design was employed. Participants were recruited by convenience sampling of 3 clinical populations-complex trauma (n = 65), dissociative identity disorder (DID; n = 20), and general mental health (n = 41)-and a control group of healthy volunteers (n = 125). All participants were given (a) the Compass of Shame Scale, which measures the four common shame coping behaviors/styles of "withdrawal," "attack self," "attack other," and "avoidance," and (b) the State Shame and Guilt Scale, which assesses state shame, guilt, and pride. The DID group exhibited significantly higher levels of "attack self," "withdrawal," and "avoidance" relative to the other groups. The complex trauma and general mental health groups did not differ on any shame variable. All three clinical groups had significantly greater levels of the "withdrawal" coping style and significantly impaired shame/guilt/pride relative to the healthy volunteers. "Attack self" emerged as a significant predictor of increased state shame in the complex trauma, general mental health, and healthy volunteer groups, whereas "withdrawal" was the sole predictor of state shame in the DID group. DID emerged as having a different profile of shame processes compared to the other clinical groups, whereas the complex trauma and general mental health groups had comparable shame levels and variable relationships. These differential profiles of shame coping and state shame are discussed with reference to assessment and treatment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Evolution of Cooperation in Continuous Prisoner's Dilemma Games on Barabasi—Albert Networks with Degree-Dependent Guilt Mechanism

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Xian-Jia; Quan, Ji; Liu, Wei-Bing

2012-05-01

This paper studies the continuous prisoner's dilemma games (CPDG) on Barabasi—Albert (BA) networks. In the model, each agent on a vertex of the networks makes an investment and interacts with all of his neighboring agents. Making an investment is costly, but which benefits its neighboring agents, where benefit and cost depend on the level of investment made. The payoff of each agent is given by the sum of payoffs it receives in its interactions with all its neighbors. Not only payoff, individual's guilty emotion in the games has also been considered. The negative guilty emotion produced in comparing with its neighbors can reduce the utility of individuals directly. We assume that the reduction amount depends on the individual's degree and a baseline level parameter. The group's cooperative level is characterized by the average investment of the population. Each player makes his investment in the next step based on a convex combination of the investment of his best neighbors in the last step, his best history strategies in the latest steps which number is controlled by a memory length parameter, and a uniformly distributed random number. Simulation results show that this degree-dependent guilt mechanism can promote the evolution of cooperation dramatically comparing with degree-independent guilt or no guilt cases. Imitation, memory, uncertainty coefficients and network structure also play determinant roles in the cooperation level of the population. All our results may shed some new light on studying the evolution of cooperation based on network reciprocity mechanisms.

Perceived causal relations between anxiety, posttraumatic stress and depression: extension to moderation, mediation, and network analysis.

PubMed

Frewen, Paul A; Schmittmann, Verena D; Bringmann, Laura F; Borsboom, Denny

2013-01-01

Previous research demonstrates that posttraumatic memory reexperiencing, depression, anxiety, and guilt-shame are frequently co-occurring problems that may be causally related. The present study utilized Perceived Causal Relations (PCR) scaling in order to assess participants' own attributions concerning whether and to what degree these co-occurring problems may be causally interrelated. 288 young adults rated the frequency and respective PCR scores associating their symptoms of posttraumatic reexperiencing, depression, anxiety, and guilt-shame. PCR scores were found to moderate associations between the frequency of posttraumatic memory reexperiencing, depression, anxiety, and guilt-shame. Network analyses showed that the number of feedback loops between PCR scores was positively associated with symptom frequencies. Results tentatively support the interpretation of PCR scores as moderators of the association between different psychological problems, and lend support to the hypothesis that increased symptom frequencies are observed in the presence of an increased number of causal feedback loops between symptoms. Additionally, a perceived causal role for the reexperiencing of traumatic memories in exacerbating emotional disturbance was identified.

Parents of terror victims. A longitudinal study of parental mental health following the 2011 terrorist attack on Utøya Island.

PubMed

Thoresen, Siri; Jensen, Tine K; Wentzel-Larsen, Tore; Dyb, Grete

2016-03-01

Little is known about parents' health following their children's exposure to trauma. We investigated the mental health of parents of young terrorist survivors and assessed parental distress and guilt as potential predictors of mental health. Mothers and fathers (N=531) participated in two study waves 4-5 and 14-15 months after the shooting. Posttraumatic stress reactions (PTSS) and anxiety/depression were compared with age- and gender-adjusted expected scores that were calculated from a concurrent population study. Mixed effects models investigated the associations between parental distress, parental guilt, and mental health. Parents' level of anxiety/depression was three times higher and PTSS was five times higher than that of the general population. Parental distress and guilt about their child's traumatic experience contributed uniquely to symptoms at both time points. Parents of traumatized youth constitute a vulnerable group that has been overlooked in the literature. Intervention strategies following trauma should include both survivors and their parents. Copyright © 2016 Z. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Shame and guilt/self-blame as predictors of expressed emotion in family members of patients with schizophrenia

PubMed Central

Wasserman, Stephanie; Weisman de Mamani, Amy; Suro, Giulia

2012-01-01

Expressed emotion (EE) is a measure of the family environment reflecting the amount of criticism and emotional over-involvement expressed by a key relative towards a family member with a disorder or impairment. Patients from high EE homes have a poorer illness prognosis than do patients from low EE homes. Despite EE's well-established predictive validity, questions remain regarding why some family members express high levels of EE attitudes while others do not. Based on indirect evidence from previous research, the current study tested whether shame and guilt/self-blame about having a relative with schizophrenia serve as predictors of EE. A sample of 72 family members of patients with schizophrenia completed the Five Minute Speech Sample to measure EE, along with questionnaires assessing self-directed emotions. In line with the hypotheses, higher levels of both shame and guilt/self-blame about having a relative with schizophrenia predicted high EE. Results of the current study elucidate the EE construct and have implications for working with families of patients with schizophrenia. PMID:22357355

From neurotic guilt to existential guilt as grief: the road to interiority, agency, and compassion through mourning. Part I.

PubMed

Kavaler-Adler, Susan

2006-09-01

This study proposes through a case illustration that psychoanalytic patients who can process both aggression and loss through a mourning process are able to free themselves from pathological self attack when the object relations work of attachment, psychic holding, and separation transpires. In the case of Helen discussed here, transformation through a "developmental mourning process" results in the evolution of powerful psychological capacities for interiority, self agency, and interpersonal compassion. This developmental mourning process is endowed with the assimilation and psychic fantasy symbolization of aggression.

Keep your bias to yourself: How deliberating with differently biased others affects mock-jurors' guilt decisions, perceptions of the defendant, memories, and evidence interpretation.

PubMed

Ruva, Christine L; Guenther, Christina C

2017-10-01

This experiment explored how mock-jurors' (N = 648) guilt decisions, perceptions of the defendant, memories, and evidence interpretation varied as a function of jury type and pretrial publicity (PTP); utilizing a 2 (jury type: pure-PTP vs. mixed-PTP) × 3 (PTP: defendant, victim, and irrelevant) factorial design. Mock-juries (N = 126) were composed of jurors exposed to the same type of PTP (pure-PTP; e.g., defendant-PTP) or different types of PTP (mixed-PTP; e.g., half exposed to defendant-PTP and half to irrelevant-PTP). Before deliberations jurors exposed to defendant-PTP were most likely to vote guilty; while those exposed to victim-PTP were least likely. After deliberations, jury type and PTP affected jurors' guilt decisions. Specifically, jurors deliberating on pure-PTP juries had verdict distributions that closely resembled the predeliberation distributions. The verdict distributions of jurors on mixed-PTP juries suggested that jurors were influenced by those they deliberated with. Jurors not exposed to PTP appeared to incorporate bias from PTP-exposed jurors. Only PTP had significant effects on postdeliberation measures of memory and evidence interpretation. Mediation analyses revealed that evidence interpretation and defendant credibility assessments mediated the effect of PTP on guilt ratings. Taken together these findings suggest that during deliberations PTP bias can spread to jurors not previously exposed to PTP. In addition, juries composed of jurors exposed to different PTP slants, as opposed to a single PTP slant, can result in less biased decisions. Finally, deliberating with others who do not share similar biases may have little, if any, impact on biased evidence interpretation or memory errors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Gender Differences in Self-Conscious Emotions and Motivation to Quit Gambling.

PubMed

Kushnir, Vladyslav; Godinho, Alexandra; Hodgins, David C; Hendershot, Christian S; Cunningham, John A

2016-09-01

Considerable gender differences have been previously noted in the prevalence, etiology, and clinical features of problem gambling. While differences in affective states between men and women in particular, may explain differential experiences in the process of gambling, the role of affect in motivations for quitting gambling and recovery has not been thoroughly explored. The aim of this study was to examine gender differences within a sample of problem gamblers motivated to quit with or without formal treatment, and further, to explore the interactions between gender, shame and guilt-proneness, and autonomous versus controlled reasons for change. Motivation for change and self-conscious emotional traits were analyzed for 207 adult problem gamblers with an interest in quitting or reducing their gambling (96.6 % not receiving treatment). Overall, gender differences were not observed in clinical and demographic characteristics. However, women exhibited greater shame [F(1,204) = 12.11, p = 0.001] and guilt proneness [F(1,204) = 14.16, p < 0.001] compared to men, whereas men scored higher on trait detachment [F(1,204) = 7.08, p = 0.008]. Controlling for demographic and clinical characteristics, general linear models revealed that autonomous motivation for change was associated with higher guilt-proneness, greater problem gambling severity, and the preparation stage of change; whereas controlled forms of motivation were significantly associated with higher shame-proneness and greater problem gambling severity. No gender effects were observed for either motivation for change. These findings suggest that the process of change can be different for shame-prone and guilt-prone problem gamblers, which may impact behavioral outcomes.

Self-conscious emotions and criminal offending.

PubMed

Tibbetts, Stephen G

2003-08-01

This study examined the relation of personality traits--shame-proneness, guilt-proneness, and pride--on offending behavior. Using survey data from a sample of 224 college students, the construct and criterion-related validity of scales of the Shame Proneness Scale, the Test of Self-conscious Affect, and the Personality Feelings Questionnaire-2 were assessed. Regression analyses showed that self-conscious emotions are important in the etiology of criminal offending. Specifically, rated pride was positively correlated with self-reported criminal activity, whereas ratings of guilt were negatively associated with offending. The relation of shame with criminality varied depending on the type of measure used to indicate proneness to shame.

The biological evolution of guilt, shame and anxiety: A new theory of negative legacy emotions.

PubMed

Breggin, Peter R

2015-07-01

Human beings are the most social and the most violent creatures on Earth. The combination of cooperation and aggression enabled us to dominate our ecosystem. However, the existence of violent impulses would have made it difficult or impossible for humans to live in close-knit families and clans without destroying each other. Nature's answer was the development of guilt, shame and anxiety-internal emotional inhibitions or restraints specifically against aggressive self-assertion within the family and other close relationships. The theory of negative legacy emotions proposes the first unitary concept for the biopsychosocial function of guilt, shame and anxiety, and seeks their origin in biological evolution and natural selection. Natural selection favored individuals with built-in emotional restraints that reduced conflicts within their family and tribal unit, optimizing their capacity to survive and reproduce within the protection of their small, intimate societies, while maintaining their capacity for violence against outsiders. Unfortunately, these negative legacy emotions are rudimentary and often ineffective in their psychosocial and developmental function. As a result, they produce many unintended untoward effects, including the frequent breakdown of restraints in the family and the uninhibited unleashing of violence against outsiders. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Shame on Me! Self-Conscious Emotions and Big Five Personality Traits and Their Relations to Anxiety Disorders Symptoms in Young, Non-Clinical Adolescents.

PubMed

Muris, Peter; Meesters, Cor; van Asseldonk, Mike

2018-04-01

This study explored the relations between self-conscious emotions, personality traits, and anxiety disorders symptoms in non-clinical youths. One-hundred-and-eighteen adolescents aged 12-15 years completed the brief shame and guilt questionnaire for children (BSGQ-C) and items of the youth self-report (YSR) to measure shame and guilt, the big five personality questionnaire for children, and the youth anxiety measure for DSM-5. Results for shame indicated that this self-conscious emotion-either measured by the BSGQ-C or the YSR-was uniquely and positively associated with a broad range of anxiety disorders symptoms, and correlated positively with neuroticism and negatively with extraversion. Guilt did not show significant associations with anxiety disorders symptoms once controlling for the influence of shame, and links with personality traits varied dependent on the assessment instrument that was used (BSGQ-C or YSR). Finally, when controlling for neuroticism and extraversion, shame consistently remained a significant correlate of anxiety disorders symptoms. Altogether, these results add to the growing body of evidence indicating that high levels of shame are clearly associated with anxiety pathology.

Effect of criminal defendant's history of childhood sexual abuse and personality disorder diagnosis on juror decision making.

PubMed

Butler, Ebony; Jacquin, Kristine

2014-08-01

This study investigated whether a defendant's history of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and/or personality disorder (PD) diagnosis affected juror decision making in a child sexual abuse trial. The PDs in the study were borderline PD and antisocial PD. Participants were 385 college students, 121 men and 264 women, who read a summary of a mock criminal trial and then made various juror decisions. Trial summaries were prepared by the principal investigator and were all uniform in content, length and detail. For the trial, both the defendant's gender and victim's gender were specified. The defendant was male, and the alleged victim was female. When the verdict was assessed, the results yielded that when the defendant's CSA history was presented, juror guilt ratings were higher than when there was no history of CSA. Similarly, when the defendant had a PD diagnosis, there were higher guilt ratings than when there was no PD diagnosis. CSA history and PD diagnosis were significant predictors of guilt ratings, suggesting that jurors perceive defendants more negatively if they have either been sexually abused as a child or have borderline or antisocial PD. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The voice of conscience: neural bases of interpersonal guilt and compensation

PubMed Central

Yu, Hongbo; Hu, Jie; Hu, Li

2014-01-01

People feel bad for inflicting harms upon others; this emotional state is termed interpersonal guilt. In this study, the participant played multiple rounds of a dot-estimation task with anonymous partners while undergoing fMRI. The partner would receive pain stimulation if the partner or the participant or both responded incorrectly; the participant was then given the option to intervene and bear a proportion of pain for the partner. The level of pain voluntarily taken and the activations in anterior middle cingulate cortex (aMCC) and bilateral anterior insula (AI) were higher when the participant was solely responsible for the stimulation (Self_Incorrect) than when both committed an error (Both_Incorrect). Moreover, the gray matter volume in the aMCC predicted the individual’s compensation behavior, measured as the difference between the level of pain taken in the Self_Incorrect and Both_Incorrect conditions. Furthermore, a mediation pathway analysis revealed that activation in a midbrain region mediated the relationship between aMCC activation and the individual’s tendency to compensate. These results demonstrate that the aMCC and the midbrain nucleus not only play an important role in experiencing interpersonal guilt, but also contribute to compensation behavior. PMID:23893848

"You are such a disappointment!": negative emotions and parents' perceptions of adult children's lack of success.

PubMed

Cichy, Kelly E; Lefkowitz, Eva S; Davis, Eden M; Fingerman, Karen L

2013-11-01

Parents' perceptions of their adult children's successes (or lack thereof) may be associated in different ways with discrete negative emotions (e.g., guilt, anger, disappointment, and worry). Furthermore, mothers and fathers may vary in their reactions to children's success in different domains. Participants included 158 mothers and fathers from the same families (N = 316) and their adult child. Mothers and fathers evaluated their adult children's successes in (a) career and (b) relationship domains. Mothers and fathers also reported on several negative emotions in the parent-child tie: guilt, anger, disappointment, and worry. For fathers, perceptions of children's poorer career success were associated with disappointment, anger, and guilt. Mothers' perceptions of children's lack of career success were associated with disappointment and worry. Mothers' perceptions of children's poorer success in relationships were associated with each of the negative emotions, with the exception of anger. Parents experience emotions associated with unmet goals and future concerns in relationships with less successful children. Mothers may respond emotionally to career and relationship success, whereas fathers may respond emotionally primarily to their child's career success. Findings underscore the importance of considering the context of parents' negative emotional experiences in ties to adult children.

Age and the experience of strong self-conscious emotion.

PubMed

Henry, Julie D; von Hippel, William; Nangle, Matthew R; Waters, Michele

2018-04-01

It remains unclear whether there are age-related changes in the experience of strong self-conscious emotion, such as shame, guilt, pride and embarrassment. Because shame and guilt figure prominently in the aetiology of depressive symptoms and other mental health problems, a better understanding of how age affects the strong experience of these two negative self-conscious emotions is of particular importance. Thirty younger, 30 middle-aged and 30 older adults were compared on standardised cognitive assessments, in addition to an interview-based measure that assessed whether there are age differences in the likelihood of strongly experiencing four different types of self-conscious emotion within the past five years (shame, guilt, embarrassment and pride). The three groups did not differ in their likelihood of reporting an event that strongly elicited the positive self-conscious emotion of pride. However, older adults were more likely to report sources of pride that were other (as opposed to self) focused. Older adults were also less likely to report experiencing events that elicited all three negative self-conscious emotions, in particular, shame. Strong negative self-conscious emotion, and in particular shame, appears to be experienced less by older than younger adults.

The Attitudes to Chocolate Questionnaire: psychometric properties and relationship to dimensions of eating.

PubMed

Müller, Jochen; Dettmer, Dorothee; Macht, Michael

2008-01-01

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Attitudes to Chocolate Questionnaire (ACQ). We analyzed the factor structure of the ACQ by conducting exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses in a sample of healthy adults and a sample of dietician students. Further, the relationship between the resulting ACQ factors and dimensions of eating behavior, personality, emotionality, and tests of the pleasantness, sweetness, and intensity of sugar and chocolate was examined. The results yielded a clear two-factor structure of the ACQ: The first factor (guilt) was composed of items concerning negative consequences of chocolate eating including the feeling of guilt. The second factor (craving) comprised items related to craving and emotional chocolate eating. Guilt correlated significantly with "emotional eating", "restrained eating", and with neuroticism. Craving correlated significantly with "emotional eating" and "external eating", with neuroticism, and with the "difficulty identifying feelings" facet of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale; further, it correlated highly with the average reported chocolate consumption and with the ratings of the intensity of taste of sugar. In conclusion, results support the validity of the German version of the ACQ and showed a stable factor structure and a good internal consistency.

The Use of Acceptance to Promote Positive Change by Decreasing Shame and Guilt: A Practice Exemplar.

PubMed

Meltzer, Mary-Ellen

2015-01-01

The use of acceptance by mental health clinicians in the clinical setting is an effective method for providing a safe environment for clients to make positive changes. Acceptance means that mental health clinicians are non-judgmental and acknowledge the clients' situations as they are. When actively used by clinicians, acceptance decreases clients' anxiety and the intensity of their feelings of guilt and shame. Clients are then able to begin to accept themselves as they are. The purpose of this article is to discuss the ways in which mental health clinicians promote clients' acceptance of themselves using the tools of acceptance and commitment therapy and dialectical behavioral therapy.

Regularities in eyewitness identification.

PubMed

Clark, Steven E; Howell, Ryan T; Davey, Sherrie L

2008-06-01

What do eyewitness identification experiments typically show? We address this question through a meta-analysis of 94 comparisons between target-present and target-absent lineups. The analyses showed that: (a) correct identifications and correct-nonidentifications were uncorrelated, (b) suspect identifications were more diagnostic with respect to the suspect's guilt or innocence than any other response, (c) nonidentifications were diagnostic of the suspect's innocence, (d) the diagnosticity of foil identifications depended on lineup composition, and (e) don't know responses were nondiagnostic with respect to guilt or innocence. Results of diagnosticity analyses for simultaneous and sequential lineups varied for full-sample versus direct-comparison analyses. Diagnosticity patterns also varied as a function of lineup composition. Theoretical, forensic, and legal implications are discussed.

Existential challenges experienced by lymphoma survivors: Results from the 2010 LIVESTRONG Survey

PubMed Central

Posluszny, Donna M.; Dew, Mary Amanda; Beckjord, Ellen; Bovbjerg, Dana H.; Schmidt, John E.; Low, Carissa A.; Lowery, Amy; Nutt, Stephanie A.; Arvey, Sarah R.; Rechis, Ruth

2015-01-01

We sought to examine the existential challenges that cancer survivors may experience as they strive to make meaning, regain their self-identity, cope with fear of recurrence, and experience feelings of grief and guilt. Lymphoma survivors (n=429) completed the 2010 LIVESTRONG survey and provided responses about meaning, cancer worry, security, identity, grief, guilt, and perceived functional impairment due to these concerns. Most survivors (73−86%) endorsed existential concerns, with 30−39% reporting related perceived functional impairment. Concerns were associated with being female, younger, unmarried, and having undergone stem cell transplantation. Lymphoma survivors experience existential challenges that impact their life even years after diagnosis. PMID:25845834

Does communicating disappointment in negotiations help or hurt? Solving an apparent inconsistency in the social-functional approach to emotions.

PubMed

Lelieveld, Gert-Jan; Van Dijk, Eric; Van Beest, Ilja; Van Kleef, Gerben A

2013-10-01

On the basis of a social-functional approach to emotion, scholars have argued that expressing disappointment in negotiations communicates weakness, which may evoke exploitation. Yet, it is also argued that communicating disappointment serves as a call for help, which may elicit generous offers. Our goal was to resolve this apparent inconsistency. We develop the argument that communicating disappointment elicits generous offers when it evokes guilt in the target, but elicits low offers when it does not. In 4 experiments using both verbal (Experiments 1-3) and nonverbal (Experiment 4) emotion manipulations, we demonstrate that the interpersonal effects of disappointment depend on (a) the opponent's group membership and (b) the type of negotiation. When the expresser was an outgroup member and in representative negotiations (i.e., when disappointment did not evoke guilt), the weakness that disappointment communicated elicited lower offers. When the expresser was an ingroup member and in individual negotiations (i.e., when disappointment did evoke guilt), the weakness that disappointment communicated elicited generous offers from participants. Thus, in contrast to the common belief that weakness is a liability in negotiations, expressing disappointment can be effective under particular circumstances. We discuss implications for theorizing about the social functions of emotions.

Individual differences in posterior cortical volume correlate with proneness to pride and gratitude

PubMed Central

Zahn, Roland; Garrido, Griselda; Moll, Jorge

2014-01-01

Proneness to specific moral sentiments (e.g. pride, gratitude, guilt, indignation) has been linked with individual variations in functional MRI (fMRI) response within anterior brain regions whose lesion leads to inappropriate behaviour. However, the role of structural anatomical differences in rendering individuals prone to particular moral sentiments relative to others is unknown. Here, we investigated grey matter volumes (VBM8) and proneness to specific moral sentiments on a well-controlled experimental task in healthy individuals. Individuals with smaller cuneus, and precuneus volumes were more pride-prone, whereas those with larger right inferior temporal volumes experienced gratitude more readily. Although the primary analysis detected no associations with guilt- or indignation-proneness, subgenual cingulate fMRI responses to guilt were negatively correlated with grey matter volumes in the left superior temporal sulcus and anterior dorsolateral prefrontal cortices (right >left). This shows that individual variations in functional activations within critical areas for moral sentiments were not due to grey matter volume differences in the same areas. Grey matter volume differences between healthy individuals may nevertheless play an important role by affecting posterior cortical brain systems that are non-critical but supportive for the experience of specific moral sentiments. This may be of particular relevance when their experience depends on visuo-spatial elaboration. PMID:24106333

Memory Errors in Alibi Generation: How an Alibi Can Turn Against Us.

PubMed

Crozier, William E; Strange, Deryn; Loftus, Elizabeth F

2017-01-01

Alibis play a critical role in the criminal justice system. Yet research on the process of alibi generation and evaluation is still nascent. Indeed, similar to other widely investigated psychological phenomena in the legal system - such as false confessions, historical claims of abuse, and eyewitness memory - the basic assumptions underlying alibi generation and evaluation require closer empirical scrutiny. To date, the majority of alibi research investigates the social psychological aspects of the process. We argue that applying our understanding of basic human memory is critical to a complete understanding of the alibi process. Specifically, we challenge the use of alibi inconsistency as an indication of guilt by outlining the "cascading effects" that can put innocents at risk for conviction. We discuss how normal encoding and storage processes can pose problems at retrieval, particularly for innocent suspects that can result in alibi inconsistencies over time. Those inconsistencies are typically misunderstood as intentional deception, first by law enforcement, affecting the investigation, then by prosecutors affecting prosecution decisions, and finally by juries, ultimately affecting guilt judgments. Put differently, despite the universal nature of memory inconsistencies, a single error can produce a cascading effect, rendering an innocent individual's alibi, ironically, proof of guilt. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

“You Are Such a Disappointment!”: Negative Emotions and Parents’ Perceptions of Adult Children’s Lack of Success

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Objectives. Parents’ perceptions of their adult children’s successes (or lack thereof) may be associated in different ways with discrete negative emotions (e.g., guilt, anger, disappointment, and worry). Furthermore, mothers and fathers may vary in their reactions to children’s success in different domains. Method. Participants included 158 mothers and fathers from the same families (N = 316) and their adult child. Mothers and fathers evaluated their adult children’s successes in (a) career and (b) relationship domains. Mothers and fathers also reported on several negative emotions in the parent–child tie: guilt, anger, disappointment, and worry. Results. For fathers, perceptions of children’s poorer career success were associated with disappointment, anger, and guilt. Mothers’ perceptions of children’s lack of career success were associated with disappointment and worry. Mothers’ perceptions of children’s poorer success in relationships were associated with each of the negative emotions, with the exception of anger. Discussion. Parents experience emotions associated with unmet goals and future concerns in relationships with less successful children. Mothers may respond emotionally to career and relationship success, whereas fathers may respond emotionally primarily to their child’s career success. Findings underscore the importance of considering the context of parents’ negative emotional experiences in ties to adult children. PMID:23733857

Ethical dilemmas, work-related guilt, and posttraumatic stress reactions of news journalists covering the terror attack in Norway in 2011.

PubMed

Backholm, Klas; Idås, Trond

2015-04-01

News journalists working on crisis-related assignments may experience dilemmas with regard to how to conduct their work without causing additional harm to first-hand victims. In this study, we investigated how exposure to journalistic ethical dilemmas during the Oslo/Utøya terror attack in 2011 and subsequent work-related guilt were related to the development of posttraumatic stress (PTS) reactions. Norwegian journalists (N = 371) covering the terror attack participated in a web-based survey 8-9 months after the incident. We found that females reported more ethical dilemmas during the assignment than males (n = 356, d = 0.51). We also found that being on the scene was not related to more exposure to dilemmas (n = 311, d = 0.01). Moreover, we discovered that work-related guilt had a significant indirect effect on the relationship between exposure to ethical dilemmas and severity of PTS reactions (n = 344, completely standardized indirect effect size = .11, 95% CI [.04, .19]. The results showed that exposure to ethical dilemmas may affect the development of long-term psychological impairment. We concluded that media organizations can prevent postcrisis impairment by preparing employees for possible exposure to dilemmas during crisis-related assignments. Copyright © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., A Wiley Company.

The neural basis of human social values: evidence from functional MRI.

PubMed

Zahn, Roland; Moll, Jorge; Paiva, Mirella; Garrido, Griselda; Krueger, Frank; Huey, Edward D; Grafman, Jordan

2009-02-01

Social values are composed of social concepts (e.g., "generosity") and context-dependent moral sentiments (e.g., "pride"). The neural basis of this intricate cognitive architecture has not been investigated thus far. Here, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging while subjects imagined their own actions toward another person (self-agency) which either conformed or were counter to a social value and were associated with pride or guilt, respectively. Imagined actions of another person toward the subjects (other-agency) in accordance with or counter to a value were associated with gratitude or indignation/anger. As hypothesized, superior anterior temporal lobe (aTL) activity increased with conceptual detail in all conditions. During self-agency, activity in the anterior ventromedial prefrontal cortex correlated with pride and guilt, whereas activity in the subgenual cingulate solely correlated with guilt. In contrast, indignation/anger activated lateral orbitofrontal-insular cortices. Pride and gratitude additionally evoked mesolimbic and basal forebrain activations. Our results demonstrate that social values emerge from coactivation of stable abstract social conceptual representations in the superior aTL and context-dependent moral sentiments encoded in fronto-mesolimbic regions. This neural architecture may provide the basis of our ability to communicate about the meaning of social values across cultural contexts without limiting our flexibility to adapt their emotional interpretation.

Effects of exposure to direct-to-consumer television advertising for statin drugs on food and exercise guilt.

PubMed

Kruger, Christopher; Niederdeppe, Jeff; Byrne, Sahara; Avery, Rosemary J

2015-09-01

Pharmaceutical direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) is widely prevalent on US television. This study tests the relationship between estimated exposure to DTCA for statin drugs, which often feature mixed messages about the efficacy of diet and exercise in reducing risk of cholesterol and heart disease, and guilty feelings regarding food and exercise. A series of repeated cross-sectional surveys of the US population between 2001 and 2007 (N=106,859 adults aged 18 and older) were combined with data on the frequency of DTCA appearances on national, cable, and local television during the same time period. Adjusting for potential confounders with ordinary least squares (OLS) regression, increased potential exposure to statin DTCA was associated with increased food guilt (in a dose-response pattern) and exercise guilt (in a threshold pattern). This study provides new evidence that DTCA has potential to influence emotional well-being as well as direct behavioral responses emphasized in previous academic research. Health practitioners should be prepared to encounter and counsel patients who are prompted by DTCA to feel guilty about their food and exercise behaviors, feelings which may impact the likelihood of adherence to prescribed behavioral modification for weight management. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Trauma, change in strength of religious faith, and mental health service use among veterans treated for PTSD.

PubMed

Fontana, Alan; Rosenheck, Robert

2004-09-01

One of the most pervasive effects of traumatic exposure is the challenge that people experience to their existential beliefs concerning the meaning and purpose of life. Particularly at risk is the strength of their religious faith and the comfort that they derive from it. The purpose of this study is to examine a model of the interrelationships among veterans' traumatic exposure, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), guilt, social functioning, change in religious faith, and continued use of mental health services. Data are drawn from studies of outpatient (N = 554) and inpatient (N = 831) specialized treatment of PTSD in Department of Veterans Affairs programs. Structural equation modeling is used to estimate the parameters of the model and evaluate its goodness of fit to the data. The model achieved acceptable goodness of fit and suggested that veterans' experiences of killing others and failing to prevent death weakened their religious faith, both directly and as mediated by feelings of guilt. Weakened religious faith and guilt each contributed independently to more extensive use of VA mental health services. Severity of PTSD symptoms and social functioning played no significant role in the continued use of mental health services. We conclude that veterans' pursuit of mental health services appears to be driven more by their guilt and the weakening of their religious faith than by the severity of their PTSD symptoms or their deficits in social functioning. The specificity of these effects on service use suggests that a primary motivation of veterans' continuing pursuit of treatment may be their search for a meaning and purpose to their traumatic experiences. This possibility raises the broader issue of whether spirituality should be more central to the treatment of PTSD, either in the form of a greater role for pastoral counseling or of a wider inclusion of spiritual issues in traditional psychotherapy for PTSD.

Empathy as a “Risky Strength”: A Multilevel Examination of Empathy and Risk for Internalizing Disorders

PubMed Central

Tone, Erin B.; Tully, Erin C.

2015-01-01

Learning to respond to others’ distress with well-regulated empathy is an important developmental task linked to positive health outcomes and moral achievements. However, this important interpersonal skill set may also, paradoxically, confer risk for depression and anxiety when present at extreme levels and in combination with certain individual characteristics or within particular contexts. The purpose of this review is to describe an empirically-grounded theoretical rationale for the hypothesis that empathic tendencies can be “risky strengths”. We propose a model in which typical development of affective and cognitive empathy can be influenced by complex interplay among intraindividual and interindividual moderators that increase risk for empathic personal distress and excessive interpersonal guilt. These intermediate states, in turn, precipitate internalizing problems that map onto empirically-derived fear/arousal and anhedonia/misery subfactors of internalizing disorders. The intraindividual moderators include a genetically-influenced propensity toward physiological hyperarousal, which is proposed to interact with genetic propensity to empathic sensitivity to contribute to neurobiological processes that underlie personal distress responses others’ pain or unhappiness. This empathic personal distress then increases risk for internalizing problems, particularly fear/arousal symptoms. Similarly, interactions between genetic propensities toward negative thinking processes and empathic sensitivity are hypothesized to contribute to excess interpersonal guilt in response to others’ distress. In turn, this interpersonal guilt increases risk for internalizing problems, especially anhedonia/misery symptoms. Interindividual moderators, such as maladaptive parenting or chronic exposure to parents’ negative affect, further interact with these genetic liabilities to amplify risk for personal distress and interpersonal guilt, as well as for consequent internalizing problems. Age-related increases in the heritability of depression, anxiety, and empathy-related constructs are consistent with developmental shifts toward greater influence of intraindividual moderators throughout childhood and adolescence, with interindividual moderators exerting their greatest influence during early childhood. Efforts to modulate neurobiological and behavioral expressions of genetic dysregulation liabilities and to promote adaptive empathic skills must thus begin early in development. PMID:25422978

Foundations for self-awareness: An exploration through autism.

PubMed

Hobson, Peter R; Chidambi, Gayathri; Lee, Anthony; Meyer, Jessica

2006-01-01

Developmental psychopathology holds promise for elucidating the structure of self-awareness. Here we studied social emotions in matched groups of children and adolescents with and without autism. Our aims were to determine whether there are potentially dissociable aspects of self-awareness, and to reconsider how the qualities of young children's engagement with other persons influences the development of their sense of self. Parent interviews yielded evidence that children with autism are limited in social-relational and emotional domains of self-awareness; for example, few were reported to show guilt, embarrassment, or shame. Yet according to parent report, most were affected by the moods of others, showed some degree of pity and concern, and manifested jealousy. When presented with videotaped scenes, participants with autism were similar to those without autism in identifying pride, guilt, and shame, and they were able to describe their own experiences of pride and, more rarely, guilt. In situations designed to elicit emotions, participants with autism were rated as showing pride, but they manifested lesser degrees and atypical qualities of guilt and coyness. Relatively few showed personal forms of self-consciousness when asked to pose for a photograph. We argue that in order for children to achieve depth in self-awareness, and to relate to themselves as occupying a distinctive stance within a framework of mutual self-other relatedness, they need to identify with the attitudes of other people. We interpret the present studies in terms of dissociations among three forms of social emotion: "person-centered" qualities of relational self-awareness that require identification and are specifically limited among children with autism, more diffuse modes of relational self-consciousness, and a third group of social emotions, epitomized by jealousy, situated in a separate developmental line. We propose a rebalancing of emotion theory that gives greater prominence to children's developing forms of interpersonal and intra-psychic relatedness.

Psychological, Relational, and Biological Correlates of Ego-Dystonic Masturbation in a Clinical Setting.

PubMed

Castellini, Giovanni; Fanni, Egidia; Corona, Giovanni; Maseroli, Elisa; Ricca, Valdo; Maggi, Mario

2016-09-01

Attitudes toward masturbation are extremely varied, and this practice is often perceived with a sense of guilt. To evaluate the prevalence of ego-dystonic masturbation (EM), defined as masturbation activity followed by a sense of guilt, in a clinical setting of sexual medicine and the impact of EM on psychological and relational well-being. A series of 4,211 men attending an andrology and sexual medicine outpatient clinic was studied retrospectively. The presence and severity of EM were defined according to ANDROTEST items related to masturbation, determined by the mathematical product of the frequency of masturbation and the sense of guilt after masturbation. Clinical, biochemical, and psychological parameters were studied using the Structured Interview on Erectile Dysfunction, ANDROTEST, and modified Middlesex Hospital Questionnaire. Three hundred fifty-two subjects (8.4%) reported any sense of guilt after masturbation. Subjects with EM were younger than the remaining sample (mean age ± SD = 51.27 ± 13.43 vs 48.31 ± 12.04 years, P < .0001) and had more psychiatric comorbidities. EM severity was positively associated with higher free-floating (Wald = 35.94, P < .001) and depressive (Wald = 16.85, P < .001) symptoms, and subjects with a higher EM score reported less phobic anxiety (Wald = 4.02, P < .05) and obsessive-compulsive symptoms (Wald = 7.6, P < .01). A higher EM score was associated with a higher alcohol intake. Subjects with EM more often reported the partner's lower frequency of climax and more problems achieving an erection during sexual intercourse. EM severity was positively associated with worse relational and intrapsychic domain scores. Clinicians should consider that some subjects seeking treatment in a sexual medicine setting might report compulsive sexual behaviors. EM represents a clinically relevant cause of disability, given the high level of psychological distress reported by subjects with this condition, and the severe impact on quality of life in interpersonal relationships. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Empathy as a "risky strength": a multilevel examination of empathy and risk for internalizing disorders.

PubMed

Tone, Erin B; Tully, Erin C

2014-11-01

Learning to respond to others' distress with well-regulated empathy is an important developmental task linked to positive health outcomes and moral achievements. However, this important interpersonal skill set may also confer risk for depression and anxiety when present at extreme levels and in combination with certain individual characteristics or within particular contexts. The purpose of this review is to describe an empirically grounded theoretical rationale for the hypothesis that empathic tendencies can be "risky strengths." We propose a model in which typical development of affective and cognitive empathy can be influenced by complex interplay among intraindividual and interindividual moderators that increase risk for empathic personal distress and excessive interpersonal guilt. These intermediate states in turn precipitate internalizing problems that map onto empirically derived fear/arousal and anhedonia/misery subfactors of internalizing disorders. The intraindividual moderators include a genetically influenced propensity toward physiological hyperarousal, which is proposed to interact with genetic propensity to empathic sensitivity to contribute to neurobiological processes that underlie personal distress responses to others' pain or unhappiness. This empathic personal distress then increases risk for internalizing problems, particularly fear/arousal symptoms. In a similar fashion, interactions between genetic propensities toward negative thinking processes and empathic sensitivity are hypothesized to contribute to excess interpersonal guilt in response to others' distress. This interpersonal guilt then increases the risk for internalizing problems, especially anhedonia/misery symptoms. Interindividual moderators, such as maladaptive parenting or chronic exposure to parents' negative affect, further interact with these genetic liabilities to amplify risk for personal distress and interpersonal guilt as well as for consequent internalizing problems. Age-related increases in the heritability of depression, anxiety, and empathy-related constructs are consistent with developmental shifts toward greater influence of intraindividual moderators throughout childhood and adolescence, with interindividual moderators exerting their greatest influence during early childhood. Efforts to modulate neurobiological and behavioral expressions of genetic dysregulation liabilities and to promote adaptive empathic skills must thus begin early in development.

[The shame-blame-worry complex in parents of children after craniocerebral trauma].

PubMed

Voll, R

1993-11-01

The care complex of parents of brain damaged children represents a defense mechanism against the parents' shame-guilt-dilemma. The care complex does not meet with a coping behaviour being beneficial to the children, but demands rather too much of such children and adolescents. There is overprotection, a changed emotional acceptance of the child and a changed method of upbringing together with a strict control over achievements at school and therapies still necessary. Variants of the parents' subjective guilt with regard to the child are described in several case vignettes. Methods of the psychotherapeutic treatment of parents are discussed. Finally, an outlook in the consequences of the care complex as regards the self-image and self-acceptance in adolescence are given.

Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate Level Varies Nonlinearly with Symptom Severity in Major Depressive Disorder

PubMed Central

Uh, Dasom; Jeong, Hyun-Ghang; Choi, Kwang-Yeon; Oh, So-Young; Lee, Suji; Kim, Seung-Hyun; Joe, Sook-Haeng

2017-01-01

Objective The pathophysiology of major depressive disorder (MDD) is still not well understood. Conflicting results for surrogate biomarkers in MDD have been reported, which might be a consequence of the heterogeneity of MDD patients. Therefore, we aim to investigate how the severity of depression and various symptom domains are related to the levels of dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-s) in MDD patients. Methods We recruited 117 subjects from a general practice. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Depressive symptoms were divided into three subdomains according to BDI items; somatic symptoms, guilt and failure, and mood and inhibition. Results In subjects with very-mild-to-moderate depression, the DHEA-s level increased as BDI score did. However, the DHEA-s levels in the subjects with severe depression were significantly lower than in subjects with moderate depression (p=0.003). DHEA-s level was correlated with the BDI subscore for guilt and failure in very-mild-to-moderate depression (r=0.365, p=0.006). Conclusion The DHEA-s level appears to be indicative of MDD severity with respect to depressive symptoms, especially regarding guilt and failure. Our findings suggest that the upregulation of DHEA-s may be a part of a compensatory process in very-mild-to-moderate depression, and the failure of this compensation mechanism may underlie the development of severe depression. PMID:28449564

Anna Freud and the Holocaust: mourning and survival guilt.

PubMed

Hartman, John J

2014-12-01

This article explores the period of Anna Freud's life after she was informed of the deaths of her aunts in Nazi concentration camps during World War II. Understanding of this period may be enhanced by consideration of the role of the Holocaust in her complicated mourning process. A series of her dreams is re-examined from the point of view of survivor guilt and the complicated mourning of her father in the context of the Holocaust. It is argued that unconscious reproaches against her father led to an identification with him that included his 'decision' to leave his sisters in Vienna. Survivor guilt in relation to her aunts' murders is seen as one of the complicating factors in the mourning process. In addition the article discusses the possible role of this period, particularly her work with child concentration camp survivors, in her post-war writing. The noted duality in her work between innovation and conservatism is explored in terms of an outcome of the mourning process of this period. It is argued that her views on mourning, trauma, attachment, and the widening scope of indications for psychoanalysis were influenced by the outcome of her mourning process. Finally, an irony is noted in the fact that her attitude about altruism never changed despite the role of the altruism of others in her rescue from the Nazis. Copyright © 2014 Institute of Psychoanalysis.

Suppressed anger, evaluative threat, and cardiovascular reactivity: a tripartite profile approach.

PubMed

Jorgensen, Randall S; Kolodziej, Monika E

2007-11-01

Despite decades of theory and research implicating suppressed anger in the development of cardiovascular disorders involving cardiovascular reactivity (CVR), to date the theoretical components of low anger expression, guilt feelings over agonistic reactions, and defensive strivings to avoid social disapproval have not been used conjointly to profile suppressed anger for the prediction of CVR. The purpose of this study, then, was to cluster analyze measures of anger expression, hostility guilt, and social defensiveness to create a suppressed anger profile (low anger expression, high hostility guilt, high social defensiveness) and a non-suppressed profile from a sample of college males. Social evaluative threat may be a potent stressor for people who defensively suppress anger expression. Thus, to examine the combined effects of suppressed anger and social evaluative threat, participants, prior to telling a story to a Thematic Apperception Card (TAT), were randomly assigned to either a high-threat (story will be compared to stories created by the mentally ill) or a low-threat condition (story used to study effects of talking on cardiovascular responses). Blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) were monitored during a rest period and the subsequent TAT card period. As predicted, suppressed anger males in the high-threat condition showed the highest levels of diastolic BP and HR change from the rest period. The suppressed anger group's systolic BP reactivity was independent of threat manipulation. Research implications are discussed.

Aggression and guilt during mourning by parents who lost an infant.

PubMed

Hasui, Chieko; Kitamura, Toshinori

2004-01-01

The authors conducted in-depth interviews with 38 mothers and fathers who had lost an infant. The focus of the interview was aggression and guilt during mourning work. The participants felt strong shame after separation. Phenomena such as strong irrational guilt, aggression, and hesitation toward others were similar to feelings typical of the paranoid-schizoid position. However, mourners did not lose their sense of reality, continued to do daily chores, and kept taking care of others. In this period, mourners were in disintegration, similar to individuals in the paranoid-schizoid position. Shame may be the feeling in the residue of the paranoid-schizoid position, through which they felt persecuted by others, their partner, relatives, and God. Their aggression was strong, but generally their aggression and impulses came to be used constructively and they progressed to integration. At the moment their children died, mourners fluctuated between disintegration and integration. After a certain interval, fluctuation subsided or integration predominated. In times of fluctuation, containers were very important for mourners to move toward integration. Participants reported changes in their lifestyle after the loss of a child. Mental health professionals should view aggressive impulses among such people during mourning not as an obstacle, but rather as a means to move toward integration. The authors speculate that a psychotherapist can serve as a container for mourners.

Adolescents' emotion attributions and expectations of behavior in situations involving moral conflict.

PubMed

Saelen, Cécile; Markovits, Henry

2008-05-01

This study examined the idea that expectations of behavior in hypothetical situations involving potential moral transgressions are related to emotion attributions relating to both moral and cost-benefit considerations. We asked younger (14 years 5 months) and older (16 years 1 month) female and male adolescents (a) to make predictions about the probability that an adolescent placed in a hypothetical situation where a payoff could be obtained by acting in a nonmoral way would choose to do so and (b) to evaluate adolescents' attributions of moral (guilt) and cost-benefit-related emotions (satisfaction and fear) to the nonmoral action. Two different situations were examined; one looked at the possibility of stealing money from a lost wallet, and the other examined a situation where a contract with another peer could be broken for personal reasons. Results showed that expectations that the nonmoral action would be taken were positively related to the degree of satisfaction and negatively related to the degree of guilt and fear. However, the pattern of relations between emotion attributions and behavioral expectations differed between the two situations. Female and male adolescents had different levels of emotion attributions and behavioral expectations, but the relation between the two was similar for both. Finally, developmental comparisons indicated that older adolescents put more weight on guilt and were more internally consistent in the way that emotions were integrated into behavioral expectations.

Individual differences in posterior cortical volume correlate with proneness to pride and gratitude.

PubMed

Zahn, Roland; Garrido, Griselda; Moll, Jorge; Grafman, Jordan

2014-11-01

Proneness to specific moral sentiments (e.g. pride, gratitude, guilt, indignation) has been linked with individual variations in functional MRI (fMRI) response within anterior brain regions whose lesion leads to inappropriate behaviour. However, the role of structural anatomical differences in rendering individuals prone to particular moral sentiments relative to others is unknown. Here, we investigated grey matter volumes (VBM8) and proneness to specific moral sentiments on a well-controlled experimental task in healthy individuals. Individuals with smaller cuneus, and precuneus volumes were more pride-prone, whereas those with larger right inferior temporal volumes experienced gratitude more readily. Although the primary analysis detected no associations with guilt- or indignation-proneness, subgenual cingulate fMRI responses to guilt were negatively correlated with grey matter volumes in the left superior temporal sulcus and anterior dorsolateral prefrontal cortices (right >left). This shows that individual variations in functional activations within critical areas for moral sentiments were not due to grey matter volume differences in the same areas. Grey matter volume differences between healthy individuals may nevertheless play an important role by affecting posterior cortical brain systems that are non-critical but supportive for the experience of specific moral sentiments. This may be of particular relevance when their experience depends on visuo-spatial elaboration. Published by Oxford University Press 2013. This work is written by US Government employees and is in the public domain in the US.

Depressed or not depressed: untangling symptoms of depression in patients hospitalized with coronary heart disease.

PubMed

McGuire, Anthony W; Eastwood, Jo-Ann; Hays, Ron D; Macabasco-O'Connell, Aurelia; Doering, Lynn V

2014-03-01

Assessing depression in patients hospitalized with coronary heart disease is clinically challenging because depressive symptoms are often confounded by poor somatic health. To identify symptom clusters associated with clinical depression in patients hospitalized with coronary heart disease. Secondary analyses of 3 similar data sets for hospitalized patients with coronary heart disease who had diagnostic screening for depression (99 depressed, 224 not depressed) were done. Depressive symptoms were assessed by using the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale or the Beck Depression Inventory. Hierarchical cluster analysis was performed on 11 symptom variables: anhedonia, dysphoria, loss of appetite, sleep disturbance, fatigue, guilt, suicidal symptoms, hypochondriasis, loss of libido, psychomotor impairment, and nervous irritability. Associations between symptom clusters and presence or absence of clinical depression were estimated by using logistic regression. Fatigue (69%) and sleep disturbance (55%) were the most prevalent symptoms. Guilt (25%) and suicidal symptoms (9%) were the least common. Three symptom clusters (cognitive/affective, somatic/affective, and somatic) were identified. Compared with patients without cognitive/affective symptoms, patients with the cognitive/affective symptom cluster (anhedonia, dysphoria, guilt, suicidal symptoms, nervous irritability) had an odds ratio of 1.41 (P<.001; 95% CI, 1.223-1.631) for clinical depression. Clinicians should be alert for clinical depression in hospitalized patients with coronary heart disease who have the cognitive/affective symptom cluster.

Obesity

MedlinePlus

... quality of life include: Depression Disability Sexual problems Shame and guilt Social isolation Lower work achievement Prevention ... as fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Avoid saturated fat and limit sweets and alcohol. Eat three regular ...

About Survivorship

MedlinePlus

... that the cancer will come back after treatment Guilt about surviving, having lost friends and loved ones ... Cancer Recurrence Healthy Living Living With Chronic Cancer Making a Difference Survivor Artwork Survivorship Resources Trusted, compassionate ...

Psychodynamic Treatment of Combat Veterans with PTSD at Risk for Suicide.

PubMed

Hendin, Herbert

2017-01-01

Posttraumatic stress disorder is a condition associated with suicide in both military personnel and combat veterans. Most veterans with PTSD, however, are not at risk of suicide. The major factor distinguishing those who attempted or were preoccupied with suicide is persistent severe guilt over behavior in combat while emotionally out of control. A 12-session short-term, psychodynamic psychotherapy, presented here, showed promise of success in dissipating the guilt from combat-related actions in veterans of the war in Vietnam. Preliminary work with combat veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan indicates it may be equally successful in treating them. Basic aspects of the psychodynamic approach could also be incorporated into current therapies and should improve their ability to treat veterans with PTSD at risk for suicide. Case examples are provided.

The interrogation decision-making model: A general theoretical framework for confessions.

PubMed

Yang, Yueran; Guyll, Max; Madon, Stephanie

2017-02-01

This article presents a new model of confessions referred to as the interrogation decision-making model . This model provides a theoretical umbrella with which to understand and analyze suspects' decisions to deny or confess guilt in the context of a custodial interrogation. The model draws upon expected utility theory to propose a mathematical account of the psychological mechanisms that not only underlie suspects' decisions to deny or confess guilt at any specific point during an interrogation, but also how confession decisions can change over time. Findings from the extant literature pertaining to confessions are considered to demonstrate how the model offers a comprehensive and integrative framework for organizing a range of effects within a limited set of model parameters. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Bursts of Self-Conscious Emotions in the Daily Lives of Emerging Adults.

PubMed

Conroy, David E; Ram, Nilam; Pincus, Aaron L; Rebar, Amanda L

Self-conscious emotions play a role in regulating daily achievement strivings, social behavior, and health, but little is known about the processes underlying their daily manifestation. Emerging adults (n = 182) completed daily diaries for eight days and multilevel models were estimated to evaluate whether, how much, and why their emotions varied from day-to-day. Within-person variation in authentic pride was normally-distributed across people and days whereas the other emotions were burst-like and characterized by zero-inflated, negative binomial distributions. Perceiving social interactions as generally communal increased the odds of hubristic pride activation and reduced the odds of guilt activation; daily communal behavior reduced guilt intensity. Results illuminated processes through which meaning about the self-in-relation-to-others is constructed during a critical period of development.

Diabetes-Friendly Recipes

MedlinePlus

... if you're dining in an authentic Mexican restaurant! Garlicky Greek Yogurt Dip Whether you serve this ... tastes good enough to be served at a restaurant, but it has been adapted for your guilt- ...

Recovery After Stroke: Coping with Emotions

MedlinePlus

... gain  Being unable to concentrate, remember or make decisions like you used to  Feeling worthless or helpless  Feelings of guilt  Ongoing thoughts of death or suicide, suicide planning ...

Moral reasoning in women with posttraumatic stress disorder related to childhood abuse

PubMed Central

Nazarov, Anthony; Walaszczyk, Victoria; Frewen, Paul; Oremus, Carolina; Lanius, Ruth; McKinnon, Margaret C.

2016-01-01

Background Preliminary evidence suggests that relative to healthy controls, patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) show deficits on several inter-related social cognitive tasks, including theory of mind, and emotion comprehension. Systematic investigations examining other aspects of social cognition, including moral reasoning, have not been conducted in PTSD stemming from childhood trauma. Objective To conduct a comprehensive assessment of moral reasoning performance in individuals with PTSD stemming from childhood abuse. Method Moral reasoning performance was assessed in 28 women with PTSD related to prolonged childhood trauma and 19 matched healthy controls. Performance was assessed using 12 modified moral dilemmas and was queried in three domains: utilitarian/deontological sacrificial dilemmas (personal and impersonal), social order vs. compassion, and altruism vs. self-interest. Participants were asked whether a proposed action was morally acceptable or unacceptable and whether or not they would perform this action under the circumstances described. Results Women with PTSD were less likely to carry out utilitarian actions in personal, sacrificial moral dilemmas, a choice driven primarily by consequential intrapersonal disapproval. Increased concern regarding intrapersonal disapproval was related to higher symptoms of guilt in the PTSD group. Patients with PTSD demonstrated less altruistic moral reasoning, primarily associated with decreased empathic role-taking for beneficiaries. Conclusions Women with PTSD due to childhood trauma show alterations in moral reasoning marked by decreased utilitarian judgment and decreased altruism. Childhood trauma may continue to impact moral choices made into adulthood. Highlights of the article Moral judgment processing was found to be altered in women with PTSD related to chronic childhood trauma. In comparison to healthy women, women with PTSD were less likely to approve utilitarian actions when required to assume their agency in dilemmas involving the infliction of direct physical harm. Decreased likelihood of utilitarian action approval by the PTSD sample was driven by significantly enhanced endorsement of guilt and shame as consequences of such actions. Endorsement of guilt and shame in moral dilemmas was related to increased severity of current clinical symptoms of guilt. PMID:27837580

Defendant Characteristics and Juridic Decisions.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Michelini, Ronald L.; Snodgrass, Stephan R.

1980-01-01

Attractiveness of defendant's traits and their relevance to the likelihood of acting criminally were varied. Results supported a causal inference explanation for deciding guilt and a liking-leniency explanation for deciding punishment. (Author/CS)

Legal Rights

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baril, Cecile; Couchman, Ian S. B.

1976-01-01

The legal processes following a rape charge mortify, denigrate and transfer guilt to the victim. Rape laws reinforce traditional sex roles and restrict the options available to women in defining their personal and sexual careers. (Author/AM)

Signs & Symptoms (of Brain Tumors)

MedlinePlus

... enjoyable, feelings of worthlessness or guilt, insomnia, decreased energy, and even thoughts of suicide. Depression is common ... symptom. It can include: A profound lack of energy Feeling suddenly tired Weakness A heavy feeling in ...

Bereavement

MedlinePlus

... as a mental, physical, social or emotional reaction. Mental reactions can include anger, guilt, anxiety, sadness and despair. Physical reactions can include sleeping problems, changes in appetite, physical problems or illness. How long bereavement lasts can depend on how ...

Encopresis

MedlinePlus

... Starting toilet training when the child was too young Emotional problems, such as oppositional defiant disorder or conduct disorder Whatever the cause, the child may feel shame, guilt, or low self-esteem, and may hide signs of encopresis. Factors that ...

Personality traits in subclinical and non-obsessive-compulsive volunteers and their parents.

PubMed

Frost, R O; Steketee, G; Cohn, L; Griess, K

1994-01-01

Theorists from a variety of perspectives have asserted that obsessive compulsives are more risk-aversive, perfectionistic and guilt-ridden than non-obsessive compulsives, and that these characteristics are central features of the disorder. Furthermore, several have hypothesized that the parents of obsessive compulsives are characterized by risk-aversion, perfectionism, and high levels of criticism. Little research exists which corroborates these hypotheses, however. The present investigation examined these hypotheses among subclinical obsessive compulsives. In two different samples, subclinical obsessive compulsives were found to be more risk-aversive, perfectionistic, and guilt-ridden. Subclinical obsessive compulsives also perceived their parents to be more overprotective. The findings regarding other parental traits were less clear. There was some support for the hypothesis that the parents of subclinical obsessive compulsives are more risk-aversive, and that fathers are more critical and perfectionistic.

An ecological momentary assessment of comparison target as a moderator of the effects of appearance-focused social comparisons.

PubMed

Leahey, Tricia M; Crowther, Janis H

2008-09-01

This research examined whether comparison target moderates the effects of naturally occurring appearance-focused social comparisons on women's affect, appearance esteem, and dieting thoughts. During daily activities, body-satisfied (BS) women and body-dissatisfied (BD) women recorded their comparison targets and reactions to comparison information. For BS women, upward comparisons with peers were associated with more positive affect (PA) and appearance esteem and less guilt than upward comparisons with media images and downward comparisons with peers were associated with less PA than downward comparisons with media images. For BD women, upward comparisons with peers were associated with more appearance esteem and diet thoughts than upward comparisons with media images and downward comparisons with peers were associated with less PA, appearance esteem, and diet thoughts and more guilt than downward comparisons with media images.

Feelings Associated with Being a Carrier and Characteristics of Reproductive Decision Making in Women Known to Be Carriers of X-linked Conditions.

PubMed

Kay, Elizabeth; Kingston, Helen

2002-03-01

Qualitative data were collected from 14 women known to be carriers of an X-linked condition associated with 'serious' disability on feelings about being a carrier and impact on reproductive decisions. Guilt and responsibility were commonly expressed by carriers about issues surrounding pregnancy. Personal experience of the condition influenced their approach to reproductive decisions. Those who had lived with an affected brother were more concrete in their decisions to avoid having an affected child compared to those with less personal experience of the condition. It is concluded that feelings of guilt associated with difficult reproductive decisions are reflected in the strong sense of responsibility attached to being a carrier. Personal experience of the condition has a clear influence on reproductive decisions of X-linked carriers.

Amelioration of sexual fantasies to sexual abuse cues in an adult survivor of childhood sexual abuse: a case study.

PubMed

Wilson, Jane E; Wilson, Keith M

2008-12-01

Although sexual dysfunction of childhood sexual abuse survivors has received considerable attention, other sexual difficulties experienced by survivors of CSA, such as sexual fantasies to cues of sexual abuse, have received less attention. In this A-B design case study, a young adult female survivor of childhood sexual abuse presented for treatment at a Midwest rape crisis center. After successful treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder, she complained of unwanted sexual fantasies to sexual abuse cues and concomitant guilt and shame. Following baseline data collection, treatment consisted of self-applied aversion therapy to unwanted sexual arousal to sexual abuse cues. Decrease in sexual arousal to these cues was concurrent with the introduction of treatment. A concomitant decrease in guilt and shame occurred while self-ratings of control increased.

Shaping beliefs in experimental markets for expert services: Guilt aversion and the impact of promises and money-burning options.

PubMed

Beck, Adrian; Kerschbamer, Rudolf; Qiu, Jianying; Sutter, Matthias

2013-09-01

In a credence goods game with an expert and a consumer, we study experimentally the impact of two devices that are predicted to induce consumer-friendly behavior if the expert has a propensity to feel guilty when he believes that he violates the consumer's payoff expectations: (i) an opportunity for the expert to make a non-binding promise; and (ii) an opportunity for the consumer to burn money. In belief-based guilt aversion theory the first opportunity shapes an expert's behavior if an appropriate promise is made and if it is expected to be believed by the consumer; by contrast, the second opportunity might change behavior even though this option is never used along the predicted path. Experimental results confirm the behavioral relevance of (i) but fail to confirm (ii).

Adolescents' emotions and reasoning in contexts of moral conflict and social exclusion.

PubMed

Malti, Tina; Ongley, Sophia F; Dys, Sebastian P; Colasante, Tyler

2012-01-01

This article explores how adolescents feel and think about contexts of moral conflict and social exclusion. We asked twelve-year-old adolescents how they would feel about intentionally harming another peer, omitting a prosocial duty, and excluding another peer. We then asked them to explain the reasoning behind their feelings and report on levels of sympathy. In all contexts, adolescents anticipated a variety of negative emotions for reasons of fairness and empathy. However, more feelings of guilt were reported in contexts of intentional harm than in other contexts. Adolescents with high levels of sympathy reported more guilt, for reasons of fairness and empathy, than adolescents with low levels of sympathy. These findings provide a window into adolescents' emotions and reasoning regarding moral and social issues. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., A Wiley Company.

Bursts of Self-Conscious Emotions in the Daily Lives of Emerging Adults

PubMed Central

Conroy, David E.; Ram, Nilam; Pincus, Aaron L.; Rebar, Amanda L.

2015-01-01

Self-conscious emotions play a role in regulating daily achievement strivings, social behavior, and health, but little is known about the processes underlying their daily manifestation. Emerging adults (n = 182) completed daily diaries for eight days and multilevel models were estimated to evaluate whether, how much, and why their emotions varied from day-to-day. Within-person variation in authentic pride was normally-distributed across people and days whereas the other emotions were burst-like and characterized by zero-inflated, negative binomial distributions. Perceiving social interactions as generally communal increased the odds of hubristic pride activation and reduced the odds of guilt activation; daily communal behavior reduced guilt intensity. Results illuminated processes through which meaning about the self-in-relation-to-others is constructed during a critical period of development. PMID:25859164

Sexual satisfaction and sexual health among university students in the United States.

PubMed

Higgins, Jenny A; Mullinax, Margo; Trussell, James; Davidson, J Kenneth; Moore, Nelwyn B

2011-09-01

Despite the World Health Organization's definition of sexual health as a state of well-being, virtually no public health research has examined sexual well-being outcomes, including sexual satisfaction. Emerging evidence suggests that sexual well-being indicators are associated with more classic measures of healthy sexual behaviors. We surveyed 2168 university students in the United States and asked them to rate their physiological and psychological satisfaction with their current sexual lives. Many respondents reported that they were either satisfied (approximately half) or very satisfied (approximately one third). In multivariate analyses, significant (P < .05) correlates of both physiological and psychological satisfaction included sexual guilt, sexual self-comfort, self-esteem (especially among men), relationship status, and sexual frequency. To enhance sexual well-being, public health practitioners should work to improve sexual self-comfort, alleviate sexual guilt, and promote longer term relationships.

Positively versus negatively charged moral emotion expectancies in adolescence: the role of situational context and the developing moral self.

PubMed

Krettenauer, Tobias; Johnston, Megan

2011-09-01

The study analyses adolescents' positively charged versus negatively charged moral emotion expectancies. Two hundred and five students (M= 14.83 years, SD= 2.21) participated in an interview depicting various situations in which a moral norm was either regarded or transgressed. Emotion expectancies were assessed for specific emotions (pride, guilt) as well as for overall strength and valence. In addition, self-importance of moral values was measured by a questionnaire. Results revealed that positively charged emotion expectancies were more pronounced in contexts of prosocial action than in the context of moral transgressions, whereas the opposite was true for negatively charged emotions. At the same time, expectations of guilt and pride were substantially related to the self-importance of moral values. ©2010 The British Psychological Society.

The effect of images of thin and overweight body shapes on women's ambivalence towards chocolate.

PubMed

Durkin, Kevin; Rae, Kirsty; Stritzke, Werner G K

2012-02-01

Many women experience ambivalent orientations towards chocolate, both craving for it and having concerns about eating it. The present study investigated the effect of viewing thin and overweight images of models in chocolate advertisements on ambivalent attitudes. Participants were 84 females, aged 17-63, allocated to a thin model condition, an overweight model condition, or a control group. As predicted, following exposure to their respective images, participants in the thin condition had increased avoidance, approach and guilt scores, while participants in the overweight condition had decreased approach and guilt scores, with no change in avoidance. Control participants demonstrated ambivalence, but no changes over time. The findings show that common advertising strategies for chocolate are likely to exacerbate ambivalence in female consumers. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Preserving guilt in the "age of psychology": The curious career of O. Hobart Mowrer.

PubMed

Page, Corbin

2017-02-01

O. Hobart Mowrer had one of the most productive and curious careers of any psychologist in the 20th century, despite struggling with severe mental illness and anxiety about his sexuality. Early in his career, he was one of the country's leading experimental psychologists. During the mid-1940s, he became interested in religion and argued that anxiety was caused by repressed guilt that came from real wrongdoing. By the late 1950s, he had abandoned mainstream psychology, arguing that religion had been corrupted by its embrace of psychology and psychiatry. He claimed that sin was responsible for nearly all psychological problems and that ethical living and confession of wrongdoing could prevent mental illness. During his religious period, Mowrer received an astonishing amount of fawning press attention and was embraced by a public desirous of a path to mental health that did not require jettisoning traditional conceptions of sin, guilt, and human nature. This article examines Mowrer's life and career and situates him among other mid-century skeptics of psychology and psychiatry. Other historians have argued that by the 1950s, the conflict between religion and psychiatry/psychology in the United States had largely abated, with both sides adapting to each other. Mowrer's life and the reception of his work demonstrate that this narrative is overly simplistic; widespread conservative and religious distrust of psychology persisted even into the 1960s. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Trajectories of higher- and lower-order dimensions of negative and positive affect relative to restrictive eating in anorexia nervosa.

PubMed

Haynos, Ann F; Berg, Kelly C; Cao, Li; Crosby, Ross D; Lavender, Jason M; Utzinger, Linsey M; Wonderlich, Stephen A; Engel, Scott G; Mitchell, James E; Le Grange, Daniel; Peterson, Carol B; Crow, Scott J

2017-07-01

Despite robust support for the role of affect in the maintenance of binge eating and purging, the relationship between affect and restrictive eating remains poorly understood. To investigate the relationship between restrictive eating and affect, ecological momentary assessment data from 118 women with anorexia nervosa (AN) were used to examine trajectories of higher-order dimensions of negative affect (NA) and positive affect (PA), as well as lower-order dimensions of NA (Fear, Guilt) and PA (Joviality, Self-Assurance) relative to restrictive eating. Affect trajectories were modeled before and after restrictive eating episodes and AN subtype was examined as a moderator of these trajectories. Across the sample, Guilt significantly increased before and decreased after restrictive eating episodes. Global NA, Global PA, Fear, Joviality, and Self-Assurance did not vary relative to restrictive eating episodes across the sample. However, significant subtype by trajectory interactions were detected for PA indices. Among individuals with AN restricting subtype, Global PA, Joviality, and Self-Assurance decreased prior to and Self-Assurance increased following restrictive eating episodes. In contrast, Global PA and Self-Assurance increased prior to, but did not change following, restrictive eating episodes among individuals with AN binge eating/purging subtype. Results suggest that dietary restriction may function to mitigate guilt across AN subtypes and to enhance self-assurance among individuals with AN restricting subtype. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Experiences of recovery in binge-eating disorder: a qualitative approach using online message boards.

PubMed

Lord, Vanessa M; Reiboldt, Wendy; Gonitzke, Dariella; Parker, Emily; Peterson, Caitlin

2018-02-01

In this study, qualitative methods were employed to analyze secondary data from the anonymous postings of a pro-recovery website in an effort to investigate the changes in thinking of binge-eating disorder (BED) sufferers who were able to recover from the disorder, understand more fully how guilt and self-blame affect recovery, and explore the perceived motivators and challenges to recovery. 681 messages from 65 participants pertaining to BED were analyzed from January 1, 2014-January 1, 2015 through thematic analysis. Coding strategies were employed to reveal patterns within the experiences of the participants. The researchers identified three themes surrounding "changes in thinking" from analysis of the message board postings: admitting the disorder, recognizing unhealthy coping behaviors, and seeing recovery. Further analysis of postings suggested that guilt and self-blame hinder recovery by promoting a feedback cycle of binging, which leads to further guilt and self-blame. The data ultimately identified experiences that resulted in or hindered recovery. The experience of validation appeared to result in recovery; those who experienced validation were less inclined to engage in disordered eating behaviors. Conversely, weight loss or attempts at weight loss hindered recovery by ultimately promoting more disordered eating behaviors. This qualitative analysis of message board postings offers authentic, credible data with a unique perspective. Practitioners working in the field of eating disorders such as registered dietitian nutritionists or therapists might use evidence from the data to guide their practice.

The contribution of caregiver psychosocial factors to distress associated with behavioural and psychological symptoms in dementia.

PubMed

Feast, Alexandra; Orrell, Martin; Russell, Ian; Charlesworth, Georgina; Moniz-Cook, Esme

2017-01-01

The objective of the study is to examine caregiver factors as predictors of BPSD-related distress and their potential mechanisms. Informal caregivers of people with dementia (n = 157) recruited from 28 community mental health teams in six NHS Trusts across England completed questionnaires regarding psychosocial factors (relationship quality, competence, guilt, health-related quality of life in the caregiver and person with dementia, reactivity to behavioural and psychological symptoms in dementia [BPSD] and burden) and frequency of BPSD. Analyses of BPSD-related distress include hierarchical multiple regression, mediation, moderation and path analysis. Caregiver psychosocial factors explained 56% of the variance in BPSD-related distress. After controlling for these factors, frequency of BPSD was not a significant predictor of BPSD-related distress. Caregiver reactivity to BPSD, burden, competence and relationship quality directly influenced BPSD-related distress. Guilt influenced distress indirectly via competence, burden and reactivity to BPSD. The final model accounted for 41% of the variance in BPSD-related distress and achieved a good fit to the data (χ 2  = 23.920, df = 19, p = 0.199). Caregiver psychosocial factors including sense of competence, guilt, burden and reactivity to BPSD contribute to BPSD-related distress. Tailored interventions for managing behaviour problems in family settings could focus on these factors associated with BPSD-related distress to minimise distress in families. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Evolutionary Study of Interethnic Cooperation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kvasnicka, Vladimir; Pospichal, Jiri

The purpose of this communication is to present an evolutionary study of cooperation between two ethnic groups. The used model is stimulated by the seminal paper of J. D. Fearon and D. D. Laitin (Explaining Interethnic Cooperation, American Political Science Review, 90 (1996), pp. 715-735), where the iterated prisoner's dilemma was used to model intra- and interethnic interactions. We reformulated their approach in a form of evolutionary prisoner's dilemma method, where a population of strategies is evolved by applying simple reproduction process with a Darwin metaphor of natural selection (a probability of selection to the reproduction is proportional to a fitness). Our computer simulations show that an application of a principle of collective guilt does not lead to an emergence of an interethnic cooperation. When an administrator is introduced, then an emergence of interethnic cooperation may be observed. Furthermore, if the ethnic groups are of very different sizes, then the principle of collective guilt may be very devastating for smaller group so that intraethnic cooperation is destroyed. The second strategy of cooperation is called the personal responsibility, where agents that defected within interethnic interactions are punished inside of their ethnic groups. It means, unlikely to the principle of collective guilt, that there exists only one type of punishment, loosely speaking, agents are punished "personally." All the substantial computational results were checked and interpreted analytically within the theory of evolutionary stable strategies. Moreover, this theoretical approach offers mechanisms of simple scenarios explaining why some particular strategies are stable or not.

29 CFR 417.2 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... a reasonable time following such hearing, a decision is reached as to the guilt or innocence of the... organization whose interests are or may be affected by a proceeding. (f) Court means the district court of the...

Heart disease and depression

MedlinePlus

... hate, and guilt Repeated thoughts of death or suicide Treating Depression Treatment for depression may depend on how severe ... When to Call Your Doctor Call ... cry often without cause. Your depression has affected your ability to participate in your ...

Psychological and emotional development, intellectual capabilities, and body image in short normal children.

PubMed

Molinari, E; Sartori, A; Ceccarelli, A; Marchi, S

2002-04-01

It is well established that children with short stature frequently have problems in cognitive development, personality, self-esteem and social relations. This is partly due to the fact that many parents view them as more vulnerable than other children of normal stature and do not allow them to face the normal experiences that correspond to their actual age. The aim of the present study was to assess, through the administration of appropriate psychological tools, a series of psychological and cognitive characteristics [i.e. anxiety, depression, good adjustment, social functioning, feeling of guilt, interpersonal relationship, intelligence quotient (IQ)], as well as variables linked to development of body image, in a group of children suffering from normal growth variants [familial short stature (FSS), no. 10, 4 males/6 females; with constitutional growth delay (CGD), no. 4,4 males; height standard deviation score (HSDS) ranging between -2.4 and -1.9] and in a control group children of normal stature (HSDS between -0.1 and +0.1). Children with short stature significantly differed from normal statured controls as far as Colored Progressive Matrices (CPMs, centiles), IQ (IQ, obtained using the Goodenough test), "Good Adjustment" (Draw-a-Person index, DAP), "Feelings of Guilt" (DAP index), "Height" (as emerges from drawings of the body) are concerned. Significant relationships were found between the height of the subjects (in centiles) and cognitive skills, measured both using CPMs (r=0.408; p=0.017) and Draw-a-Man (DAM) (r=0.359; p=0.037) and between height and feelings of guilt (r=0.325; p=0.027), measured using DAP. CPM scores correlated positively with the "Good Adjustment" index of DAP (r=0.354; p=0.05) and negatively with Children's Depression Inventory (CDI) (r=-0.609; p=0.01), "School Anxiety" index (r=-0.427; p=0.05) and "Total Anxiety" index (r=-0.436; p=0.05) of the Anxiety Scale Questionnaire for the Age of Development, and with 2 indices of DAP, namely, "Feelings of Guilt" (r=-0.461; p=0.01) and "Interpersonal Relationships (Difficulty in Establishing)" (r=-0.455; p=0.01). A significant positive correlation was found between the height of the subject and both the measurement of the "Body of Drawing 3" (r=0.450, p=0.01) and the measurement of the "Body of Drawing 4" (r=0.461, p=0.01), as well as the with the "Total Height of Drawing 4" (r=0.464, p=0.01). Higher indices for anxiety, depression, feelings of guilt and difficulty in establishing interpersonal relationships and lower indices for good adjustment were found in children with CGD as compared to subjects with FSS or normal statured children. Although further additional studies on larger samples are needed to confirm these preliminary observations, the present study underlines the importance of psychological support also during the growth and development in short normal children.

Integrating Disabled Employees into the Workplace.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nathanson, Robert B.; Lambert, Jeffrey

1981-01-01

Negative attitudes are one of the biggest barriers to successful integration of disabled employees. Using case-study examples, the authors illustrate seven attitudinal syndromes and their impact on mainstreaming efforts. Attitudes include pity, overprotection, rejection, guilt, and discomfort. (CT)

Coping with lab animal morbidity and mortality: a trainer's role.

PubMed

Overhulse, Kimberly A

2002-06-01

The author discusses the role of an animal research facility trainer in helping to teach laboratory animal facility staff how to recognize negative behavior patterns, manage grief, and help to prevent feelings of guilt.

Helping the Child and the Family Cope with Death

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carey, Ann

1977-01-01

The family counselor's role in the family's and child's struggle to accept death and all the anger which accompanies the various stages can mean the difference between acceptance without guilt or possible total family disintegration. (Author)

Using blackmail, bribery, and guilt to address the tragedy of the virtual intellectual commons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Griffith, P. C.; Cook, R. B.; Wilson, B. E.; Gentry, M. J.; Horta, L. M.; McGroddy, M.; Morrell, A. L.; Wilcox, L. E.

2008-12-01

One goal of the NSF's vision for 21st Century Cyberinfrastructure is to create a virtual intellectual commons for the scientific community where advanced technologies perpetuate transformation of this community's productivity and capabilities. The metadata describing scientific observations, like the first paragraph of a news story, should answer the questions who? what? why? where? when? and how?, making them discoverable, comprehensible, contextualized, exchangeable, and machine-readable. Investigators who create good scientific metadata increase the scientific value of their observations within such a virtual intellectual commons. But the tragedy of this commons arises when investigators wish to receive without giving in return. The authors of this talk will describe how they have used combinations of blackmail, bribery, and guilt to motivate good behavior by investigators participating in two major scientific programs (NASA's component of the Large-scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment in Amazonia; and the US Climate Change Science Program's North American Carbon Program).

Ferenczi's Revolutionary Therapeutic Approach.

PubMed

Mucci, Clara

2017-09-01

Many of the revolutionary principles introduced by Ferenczi in his clinical practice have now been widely accepted especially in the field of trauma and trauma therapy. Examples of these innovative views include his emphasis on empathy as opposed to technical neutrality and his stress on the real conditions of child caring and family environmental deficits and on the consequences of interpersonal violence and abuse that lead to "identification with the aggressor" by the victim thereby resulting in the internalization of both aggressiveness and guilt (the split guilt of the abuser). The resulting "fragmentation" of the personality, which is now considered dissociation (instead of Freud's "repression"), is at the root of several severe disorders, characterized by distortion of reality, loss of touch with one's body and loss of trust in the other. Therefore "abreaction is not enough". A new, positive relational experience must be re-inscribed at the level of implicit memory.

Effects of aggression replacement training in young offender institutions.

PubMed

Holmqvist, Rolf; Hill, Teci; Lang, Annicka

2009-02-01

This article reports a study where aggression replacement training (ART), combined with token economy, was compared with relationally oriented treatment at four residential treatment units in a nonrandomized design. In all, 57 adolescents in the ages between 16 and 19 participated. Outcome was measured as weighted indices of sentences and police suspicion reports. The results show no differences between the treatment models. In a separate analysis, the hypotheses were tested that those adolescents would relapse less frequently who admitted their crimes at intake or who could talk about guilt for their criminal acts. These hypotheses were refuted as main effects, but an interaction effect was found that suggests that adolescents with less consciousness of guilt got better results at the ART institutions. Case descriptions suggest that a more individualized approach to treatment, where ART is used for those adolescents who are motivated for it, would give better results.

Development and Validation of the Body-Focused Shame and Guilt Scale

PubMed Central

Weingarden, Hilary; Renshaw, Keith D.; Tangney, June P.; Wilhelm, Sabine

2015-01-01

Body shame is described as central in clinical literature on body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). However, empirical investigations of body shame within BDD are rare. One potential reason for the scarcity of such research may be that existing measures of body shame focus on eating and weight-based content. Within BDD, however, body shame likely focuses more broadly on shame felt in response to perceived appearance flaws in one’s body parts. We describe the development and validation of the Body-Focused Shame and Guilt Scale (BF-SGS), a measure of BDD-relevant body shame, across two studies: a two time-point study of undergraduates, and a follow-up study in two Internet-recruited clinical samples (BDD, obsessive compulsive disorder) and healthy controls. Across both studies, the BF-SGS shame subscale demonstrated strong reliability and construct validity, with Study 2 providing initial clinical norms. PMID:26640760

Euthanasia on trial: examining public attitudes toward non-physician-assisted death.

PubMed

Pfeifer, J E; Brigham, J C; Robinson, T

1996-01-01

This study investigated the influence of various contextual effects on the decisions of subjects evaluating a case of nonphysician-assisted suicide. Subjects viewed a videotaped deposition of an individual emotionally or nonemotionally describing how he assisted in the death of his terminally ill wife by disconnecting her respirator or shooting her in the head. The deposition was followed by jury instructions that outlined the duties of the subject and, in some cases, was followed by a nullification instruction that informed the subjects of their right to ignore the law in this case if they felt it would culminate in an unfair verdict. After viewing the videotape, subjects were asked to rate the guilt of the individual as well as their confidence in this rating. Results indicate that the means of death and the type of instruction significantly affect guilt ratings. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Triangulating the neural, psychological, and economic bases of guilt aversion

PubMed Central

Chang, Luke J.; Smith, Alec; Dufwenberg, Martin; Sanfey, Alan G.

2011-01-01

Why do people often choose to cooperate when they can better serve their interests by acting selfishly? One potential mechanism is that the anticipation of guilt can motivate cooperative behavior. We utilize a formal model of this process in conjunction with fMRI to identify brain regions that mediate cooperative behavior while participants decided whether or not to honor a partner’s trust. We observed increased activation in the insula, supplementary motor area, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (PFC), and temporal parietal junction when participants were behaving consistent with our model, and found increased activity in the ventromedial PFC, dorsomedial PFC, and nucleus accumbens when they chose to abuse trust and maximize their financial reward. This study demonstrates that a neural system previously implicated in expectation processing plays a critical role in assessing moral sentiments that in turn can sustain human cooperation in the face of temptation. PMID:21555080

Effects of anger, guilt, and envy on moral hypocrisy.

PubMed

Polman, Evan; Ruttan, Rachel L

2012-01-01

In the current article the authors examined the impact of specific emotions on moral hypocrisy, the tendency among people to judge others more severely than they judge themselves. In two studies, they found that (a) anger increased moral hypocrisy, (b) guilt eliminated moral hypocrisy, and (c) envy reversed moral hypocrisy. In particular, these findings were observed in two domains. In Study 1, participants responded to moral dilemmas describing unethical behavior and rated how acceptable it would be if others engaged in the unethical behavior, or alternatively, if they themselves engaged in the unethical behavior. In Study 2, participants were asked how much they would like to donate to research on cancer, or alternatively, how much they think others should donate. The results demonstrate that specific emotions influence moral decision making, even when real money is at stake, and that emotions of the same valence have opposing effects on moral judgment.

Generality and cultural variation in the experience of regret.

PubMed

Breugelmans, Seger M; Zeelenberg, Marcel; Gilovich, Thomas; Huang, Wen-Hsien; Shani, Yaniv

2014-12-01

Regret is the prototypical decision-related emotion. Most theory and research on regret comes from the United States and Europe, but recent research has suggested potential cross-cultural differences in regret. We examined generality and cultural variation in the experience of regret. A cross-cultural study compared experiences of regret with those of disappointment and guilt as reported by participants from the United States (n = 143), the Netherlands (n = 147), Israel (n = 148), and Taiwan (n = 115). We found strong evidence for generality of the distinct emotion components of regret, compared with those of disappointment and guilt. We also found cultural variation in the frequency and intensity of regret in intrapersonal situations (regrets about outcomes affecting the self) and interpersonal regrets (regrets about outcomes affecting others). Whereas in the U.S. sample, regret was experienced more intensely in intrapersonal than interpersonal situations, both emotions were experienced more intensely in interpersonal situations in the Taiwanese sample.

Sexual Satisfaction and Sexual Health Among University Students in the United States

PubMed Central

Mullinax, Margo; Trussell, James; Davidson, J. Kenneth; Moore, Nelwyn B.

2011-01-01

Despite the World Health Organization's definition of sexual health as a state of well-being, virtually no public health research has examined sexual well-being outcomes, including sexual satisfaction. Emerging evidence suggests that sexual well-being indicators are associated with more classic measures of healthy sexual behaviors. We surveyed 2168 university students in the United States and asked them to rate their physiological and psychological satisfaction with their current sexual lives. Many respondents reported that they were either satisfied (approximately half) or very satisfied (approximately one third). In multivariate analyses, significant (P < .05) correlates of both physiological and psychological satisfaction included sexual guilt, sexual self-comfort, self-esteem (especially among men), relationship status, and sexual frequency. To enhance sexual well-being, public health practitioners should work to improve sexual self-comfort, alleviate sexual guilt, and promote longer term relationships. PMID:21778509

Charity advertising: for or against people with a mental handicap?

PubMed

Eayrs, C B; Ellis, N

1990-12-01

This research investigated whether it is possible for charity advertising campaigns to stimulate donations successfully as well as to represent people with disabilities as valued human beings. Thirty-eight subjects were required to rank 10 MENCAP posters along 15 bipolar constructs using a variation of the Q sort procedure. Constructs included feelings such as pity, guilt and sympathy, constructive helping behaviours such as giving money and time, and perceptions such as having rights, value and capabilities. Correlational, cluster and factor analyses suggest that images which elicit the greatest commitment to give money are those most closely associated with feelings of guilt, sympathy and pity and are negatively associated with posters which illustrate people with a mental handicap as having the same rights, value and capability as non-handicapped persons. The implications of these findings with regard to advertising and the principle of normalization (social role valorization) are discussed.

Mediators of Outcome in Complicated Grief Treatment.

PubMed

Glickman, Kim; Shear, M Katherine; Wall, Melanie M

2017-07-01

In this study, we examined the mechanisms of action of complicated grief treatment (CGT), an efficacious psychotherapy for complicated grief. We explored 3 putative mediators (guilt/self-blame related to the deceased, negative thoughts about the future, and avoidance) among treatment completers assigned to either CGT (n = 35) or interpersonal psychotherapy (n = 34) in a previously reported randomized controlled trial. Antidepressant use was examined as a moderator of mediation effects. A reduction in guilt/self-blame, negative thoughts about the future, and avoidance behavior each mediated the relationship between treatment group and complicated grief outcomes. Reduction in avoidance emerged as an independent mediator after controlling for all mediators. Reducing avoidance of situations and emotions connected to the loss seems to be a key mechanism of change in CGT. Revising counterfactual thinking around troubling aspects of the death may also play a role in facilitating effective adaptation to loss. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

A Resource of Quantitative Functional Annotation for Homo sapiens Genes.

PubMed

Taşan, Murat; Drabkin, Harold J; Beaver, John E; Chua, Hon Nian; Dunham, Julie; Tian, Weidong; Blake, Judith A; Roth, Frederick P

2012-02-01

The body of human genomic and proteomic evidence continues to grow at ever-increasing rates, while annotation efforts struggle to keep pace. A surprisingly small fraction of human genes have clear, documented associations with specific functions, and new functions continue to be found for characterized genes. Here we assembled an integrated collection of diverse genomic and proteomic data for 21,341 human genes and make quantitative associations of each to 4333 Gene Ontology terms. We combined guilt-by-profiling and guilt-by-association approaches to exploit features unique to the data types. Performance was evaluated by cross-validation, prospective validation, and by manual evaluation with the biological literature. Functional-linkage networks were also constructed, and their utility was demonstrated by identifying candidate genes related to a glioma FLN using a seed network from genome-wide association studies. Our annotations are presented-alongside existing validated annotations-in a publicly accessible and searchable web interface.