The phenomenon of guilt and guilt feelings with special reference to the buberian approach.
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Affect↗
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Defining guilt in depression: a comparison of subjects with major depression, chronic medical illness and healthy controls.
BACKGROUND: Although guilt is a widely accepted feature of depression, there is limited and inconsistent data defining the nature of this symptom. The purpose of the current study was to examine the specificity and nature of guilt in subjects with major depression as compared to patients with another chronic medical illness and healthy controls. METHODS: Outpatients with current major depressive episode (MDE; n=34), past-MDE (n=22), chronic cardiac illness (n=20) and healthy controls (n=59) were administered the following measures: The Guilt Inventory (GI), State Shame and Guilt Scale (SSGS), 17-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (Ham-D) and the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV. RESULTS: Overall multivariate analysis of covariance comparing mean scores for the six guilt subscales [state-guilt, trait-guilt, moral standards (from the GI); state-guilt, -pride, and -shame (from the SSGS)] across the four groups was significant (F=9.1, df=6:121, p<0.0001). Post-hoc analysis revealed the following differences (each at least p<0.01): for state-guilt (GI), current-MDE>past-MDE>cardiac=healthy controls; for trait-guilt (GI), current-MDE=past-MDE>cardiac=healthy controls; for state-shame, -guilt and -pride (SSGS), current-MDE>past-MDE, past-MDE=cardiac, past-MDE>healthy, cardiac=healthy controls. Among depressed patients, there was significant correlation between Ham-D score and all guilt sub-scales (p<0.01), except moral standards. LIMITATIONS: The cardiac group may have less illness burden than currently depressed. CONCLUSIONS: State expression of guilt, shame and low pride distinguish acutely depressed from all other groups, and are highly influenced by severity of depression. Trait-guilt does not differentiate acute from past depressed. Data suggests guilt may represent both an enduring and fluctuating feature of depressive illness over its longitudinal course.
Adult↗
Combat guilt and its relationship to PTSD symptoms.
Guilt regarding combat experiences is often considered an associated symptom of PTSD in military veterans. Little is known, however, about the role combat guilt plays in the development and maintenance of PTSD. Inadequate measurement of combat-related guilt may be one reason for this deficiency in the literature. In the present study, 40 veterans with PTSD completed a novel measure of combat guilt. Items on the scale assessed various types of guilt and shame concerning combat experiences (i.e., survival guilt, guilt over acts of omission and acts of commission, guilt about thoughts/feelings). Guilt was quite prevalent within this sample, and severity of guilt regarding combat was positively correlated with the reexperiencing and avoidance symptoms of PTSD and a general measure of PTSD severity. Implications of these findings and recommendations for the development of measures for combat-related guilt are discussed.
Adult↗
Guilt, shame, and depression in clients in recovery from addiction.
Men and women in recovery from addiction were compared on levels of depression, guilt, and shame. The measurement of guilt included subscales of Survivor Guilt, Separation Guilt, Omnipotent Responsibility Guilt, Trait Guilt, State Guilt, and Adaptive Guilt. The sample included 75 men and 33 women in treatment in a residential treatment community. It was found that women were significantly higher than men in depression. The recovering subjects were compared to nonaddicted subjects and established norms, and it was found that the recovering people were higher on depression, shame, and the subscales of maladaptive guilt. Both men and women in recovery were significantly lower than norms in adaptive guilt.
Adult↗
Chronic and predispositional guilt: relations to mental health, prosocial behavior, and religiosity.
Researchers are in sharp disagreement concerning the role of guilt in mental health and prosocial behavior, and on whether guilt is associated with greater religiosity. We sought to resolve diametrically opposed reports by distinguishing chronic guilt, an ongoing condition unattached to immediate events, from predispositional guilt, a personality proclivity for experiencing guilt in reaction to circumscribed precipitating events. We administered a battery of commonly used guilt and shame measures to 101 undergraduates (48 men, 53 women) as well as measures of chronic and predispositional guilt designed to hold content constant. Undergraduates also completed the Beck Depression Inventory and the Symptom Checklist 90-Revised, reported extracurricular activities including volunteer work and religious group participation, and provided other information on religiosity. Chronic guilt invariably showed stronger relations than did predispositional guilt with symptoms of depression and psychopathology. In contrast, predispositional compared to chronic guilt was more strongly associated with lowered hostility and increased volunteerism as well as participation in religious activities and religiosity.
Adolescent↗
The Mosher Guilt Scales: a construct validity extension.
The three subscales of the Mosher Guilt Scales (sex guilt, hostility guilt, and morality conscience guilt) and several personality and attitude measures were ad ministered to college subjects in an effort to examine the construct validity of the Mosher Guilt Scales. The variables that were compared with the guilt subscales were hostility, anxiety, religious orthodoxy, self-esteem, and the importance of religious and economic values in one's life. The results indicated that both the construct validity of the Mosher Guilt Scales and the need for the continued use of its three subscales were supported. Among the most crucial findings of the study were that both of the religiosity measures were positively correlated with all three guilt subscales, and that economic values were negatively correlated with both sex guilt and morality-conscience guilt.
Journal Article↗
Interpersonal guilt: the development of a new measure.
We describe the development of a new measure to assess guilt related to concern about harming others. The two versions of the Interpersonal Guilt Questionnaire, a 45-item and 67-item version, include theoretically-based and clinically relevant categories of guilt: survivor guilt, separation/disloyalty guilt, omnipotent responsibility guilt, and self-hate guilt. Preliminary reliability and validity studies for both versions are presented, based on clinical and nonclinical samples of subjects. Subscales on both versions show good internal consistency; however, the second version, which expanded on the first, is more psychometrically sound overall. Both versions demonstrated predicted correlations with previously published measures of guilt and related affects, such as shame and depression, and with attributional style. Differences between clinical and nonclinical samples are reported and the relevance of survivor guilt and shame to psychopathology is noted.
Adult↗
Personality correlates of the Mosher Guilt Scales.
Examined the relationship between sex guilt, hostility guilt, and morality-conscience guilt, and more traditional concepts in personality, to extend the construct validational work of the Mosher Guilt Scales. This was achieved by correlating the scores of the three guilt subscales with the 15 manifest needs of the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule. The results indicate that while there was some overlap between the guilt scores and the manifest needs, the association was usually a function of theoretically consistent relationships rather than duality of constructs. These findings, and the literature review of the Mosher Guilt Scales, are interpreted as supporting the continued use of the three guilt subscales as well as suggesting that guilt is a personality variable of considerable theoretical significance.
Conscience↗
Note on guilt appeals in advertising: covariate effects of self-esteem and locus of control.
A 1991 study by Pinto and Priest demonstrated the effectiveness of advertisements employing moderate levels of guilt in inducing guilt responses in subjects. Because individuals' responses to guilt are often influenced by their specific personality characteristics, researchers have pointed to the potential moderating effects of individual difference variables such as level of self-esteem and locus of control on individuals' susceptibility to guilt appeals. A study was conducted to evaluate the possibility that self-esteem and locus of control can act as covariates across three treatment levels of guilt advertising. From a sample of 57 working mothers, advertisements stimulating medium and high levels of guilt elicited significantly greater feelings of guilt in subjects than the control advertisement stimulating low guilt. However, the relationship between susceptibility to guilt appeals and self-esteem and locus of control was not observed to covary.
Adult↗
"If only I weren't" versus "if only I hadn't": distinguishing shame and guilt in counterfactual thinking.
The role of counterfactual thinking in 2 emotions--shame and guilt--was examined. In 1 series of studies, Ss read about situations evocative of shame and guilt or described personal experiences of guilt or shame. They then generated counterfactual alternatives to "undo" the distressing outcomes. Consistent with predictions derived from Tangney (1991), Ss tended to undo shame situations by altering qualities of the self and to undo guilt situations by altering actions. In a 2nd series of studies, Ss imagined themselves in a situation that could evoke either guilt or shame. Ss were then led to mutate the self or behavior to undo the situation. Mutation manipulations amplified shame and guilt such that the former Ss anticipated feeling greater shame, whereas the latter anticipated feeling greater guilt. The role of counterfactual thinking in specific emotions and in differentiating shame- and guilt-prone personalities is discussed.
Adaptation, Psychological↗
Guilt appeals in advertising: what are their effects?
This study examined consumers' emotional responses, their attitudes toward advertisements and brands, attributions about the companies promoting the brands, and purchase intention for ads varying on level of guilt appeal. Sixty working mothers, a prime target of guilt appeals, participated in the study. Results indicated that moderate guilt appeals elicited more felt guilt in the working mothers than did low or high guilt appeals. Furthermore, emotional responses, particularly anger, mediated the relationship between level of guilt appeal and consumers' attitudes and corporate attributions, and an inverse relationship occurred between level of guilt appeal and attitudes and attributions. Purchase intention was affected by the level of the guilt appeal and by anger.
Adult↗
Guilt in young children: development, determinants, and relations with a broader system of standards.
In this comprehensive study of the early development of guilt, 106 children were observed in laboratory paradigms in which they were led to believe that they had damaged valuable objects, during two separate sessions at each of the assessments at 22, 33, and 45 months. The behavioral and affective components of guilt cohered significantly across the sessions, converged with each other, were stable across all the assessments, and corresponded modestly with maternal reports. Most components decreased with age, except for bodily tension, which increased. At 33 and 45 months, girls displayed more guilt than did boys. Children who were more fearful in typical fear-inducing paradigms also displayed more guilt. Children of mothers who relied on more power-assertive discipline, observed and self-reported, displayed less guilt. Guilt related positively to the development of self at 18 months and to moral self at 56 months. Children who displayed more guilt were less likely to violate rules of conduct at 56 months. A mediational model was supported: Fearful temperament contributed to guilt proneness, which in turn served to inhibit children's tendency to violate rules.
Affect↗
Survivor guilt, submissive behaviour and evolutionary theory: the down-side of winning in social comparison.
In prior research submissive behaviour has been studied in relation to social comparison. Evolutionary theory conceptualized submissive behaviour as a fear-based self-protective strategy when in a subordinate position. In this study we hypothesized that survivor guilt, the type of guilt associated with feeling better off than others, is also linked to submissive behaviour. The Interpersonal Guilt Questionnaire, the Submissive Behaviour Inventory, the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Revised and the Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire were administered to a sample of 199 college students. Submissive behaviour was found to be significantly correlated with survivor guilt. Introversion, used as an indirect measure of the fear of being put down, was also correlated with submissive behaviour. A principal components analysis found two components: the first was composed of high loadings of submissiveness, survivor guilt and omnipotent responsibility guilt; the second was composed of high loadings of submissiveness and introversion. This supports the hypothesis that there may be two motivational states related to submissive behaviour, the fear of harm to the self, as described in prior studies, and the fear of harm to another or guilt-based submissive behaviour. We propose that survivor guilt has been selected by evolution as a psychological mechanism supporting group living, and that it may be considered from the perspective of inclusive fitness, reciprocal altruism, and multilevel selection theory.
Adaptation, Psychological↗
Bearable and unbearable guilt: a Kleinian perspective.
Material is presented from four analytic sessions with a patient who seems unable to bear guilt. The first two illustrate defenses against guilt; the last two show the incipient experience of guilt and, finally, the ability to suffer conscious guilt. The author questions interpretations that address defenses against guilt but fail to help the patient bear the guilt. Such interpretations can make the analyst prey to a sadomasochistic enactment in the transference whereby the patient expiates the guilt and reverts to not recognizing what he or she does to objects. The ability to bear guilt is increased by a diminution of the patient's destructiveness and by the mobilization of love.
Adult↗
A projective analysis of guilt: the Holtzman Inkblot Technique.
The group version of the Holtzman Inkblot Technique (HIT) and the three subscales of the Mosher Guilt Scales (Sex Guilt, Hostility Guilt, and Morality-Conscience Guilt) were administered to 44 undergraduate college females in an effort to determine whether or not high-guilt subjects would demonstrate response inhibition on the HIT. The results indicated response inhibition on the part of high-guilt subjects relative to the HIT Human, Movement, and Integration variables. It was concluded that high-guilt subjects responded to the HIT in a style that was less creative and more perceptually immature than low-guilt subjects.
Journal Article↗
The relationship between guilt and quality of drug experiences.
Consistent with predictions from Mosher's (1966) guilt construct, the present study found that high guilt males, compared with low guilt Ss, reported significantly less use of marijuana, depressant, stimulant and hallucinogenic drugs. Among all Ss who reported at least one use within each drug category, high guilt Ss rated their experiences as less pleasant and reported a higher frequency of "bad trips" than did low guilt individuals. Overall, these results support Mosher's contention that high vs. low guilt Ss are less likely to engage in culturally prohibited activities such as drug use and are more likely to have unpleasant experiences resulting from guilt when such activities are pursued.
Attitude↗
The interrelationship of sex guilt, sex behavior, and age in an adult sample.
Sexual guilt is defined as a generalized expectancy for self-mediated punishment for violating or anticipating violating internalized standards of proper sexual conduct. Previous studies have focused on the relationship between sexual guilt and sexual behavior in college students. The relationship has been shown to be inverse and quite strong. The present study employed a sample of males, ages 27 to 73. The instruments used were the Sexual Guilt Subscale of the Mosher Forced Choice Guilt Scale and the Bentler Heterosexual Behavior Assessment Scale. As in prior studies, it was found that there was a significant inverse correlation between sexual guilt and sexual behavior. In addition, there was found to be an inverse correlation between sexual behavior and age. A significant positive correlation was found between sexual guilt and age. When age was held constant, it was found that there was a highly significant inverse correlation between sexual guilt and sexual behavior. This factoring out of age clarifies the relationship between these variables. The clinician should be aware that the age of a patient may not be a factor in his/her sexual behavior.
Adult↗
Moral reasoning, parental sex attitudes, and sex guilt in female college students.
Forty-eight female college students completed the Mosher Forced-Choice Guilt Inventory, the Rest Defining Issues Test, and the Family Attitude and Communication Scale in order to study the relationship between sex guilt, moral reasoning, and perceived parental sex attitudes. Analysis of variance indicated that Stage 4 moral reasoners had significantly higher sex guilt scores than Stage 5 reasoners. There was also a significant interaction effect between moral reasoning and perceived parental sex attitudes with respect to sex guilt, with Stage 5 reasoners from permissive family backgrounds having very low levels of guilt. The findings suggested that there is an overall negative relationship between sex guilt and moral reasoning, supporting prior studies. However, the relationship between sex guilt and permissive/restrictive family background is more complicated. Paradoxically, more advanced Stage 5 reasoners seemed more influenced by family sexual attitudes than Stage 4 reasoners. The authors offer an explanation for this finding and stress the importance of moral reasoning as a variable in understanding sexual attitudes and behavior.
Adolescent↗