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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1977

Affective guilt states in women and the Perceived Guilt Index.

Two experiments were conducted to examine the determinants of affective guilt states, and to examine the interrelationships among one measure of dispositional guilt, and two measures of affective guilt. In study 1, women who were high in affective trait guilt had higher guilt states after being required to make sexual responses to sexual double-entendre words. In study 2, high affective trait guilt women had higher guilt states after being told they would be required to make sexual responses, but before they actually made any responses. The hypothesized relationship between a measure of dispositional guilt and a measure of affective state guilt was not found in either experiment.

Affect↗
PubMed1979

[The anthropology of guilt and guilt feelings].

Considering the sociological and historical relativeness of 'objective' guilt and the relativeness of guilt feelings in the light of 'objective guilt' the authors delve into the problem of whether there exists such a thing as 'objective guilt'. This is particularly relevant after considering recent American investigations by Kohlberg et al. on children's development. They show the importance of guilt feelings that are aroused quite independently of the moral status of a society or a supposed 'super-ego'. Such feelings are the individual's response to some sort of interactional annihilation of communication. Highly dependent and variable, because of their dispositional and situative connections, guilt feelings seem to represent an anthropological, universally existing factor acting as an individual response to the destruction of communication but not necessarily being related to any kind of 'objective' guilt.

Adult↗
PubMed1977

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↗
PubMed1992

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↗
PubMed1978

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↗
PubMed1991

Self-image and guilt: a further test of the cognitive-developmental formulation.

The cognitive-developmental formulation of self-image disparity holds that an increasing disparity between the real and ideal self-image is due to (a) increasing differentiation of the real from the ideal self with maturity and (b) the increased capacity for incorporation of social mores with a greater propensity for guilt as a result. Guilt and self-image disparity were assessed in 47 young adults in Study 1, and in 108 children, of varying intellectual abilities, in the 5th, 8th, and 11th grades in Study 2. In both studies, guilt was related to self-image disparity. At all age levels, guilt was related to a higher ideal self-image. Guilt was related to a higher real self-image among 5th graders, but not among older individuals. Brighter children had a higher ideal self-image, greater self-image disparity, and marginally more guilt than children of average intellectual abilities. Guilt and self-image disparity were not related to grade level. The pattern of findings indicated that self-image is influenced by both cognitive-developmental and experiential determinants.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Feelings of guilt in major depression. Conceptual and psychometric aspects.

A new scale for the evaluation of feelings of guilt is described. Two types of guilt feeling were of potential interest: 'delusional' guilt or shame (experienced in relation to one's actions), and 'affective' guilt (a more general feeling of unworthiness). Reliability and validity analyses for the first (15-item) version of the scale were performed in three separate and contrasting clinical samples. The second and final (seven-item) version was tested in another sample of major depressives and in normal controls. The HRSD was used as a measure of severity throughout. The BDI and Widlöcher psychomotor retardation scale were also used as external criteria for the seven-item scale. Exploratory factor analysis of this sample yielded two factors--'cognitive/attitudinal' and 'mood/feeling'--of which only the first correlated with scores for psychomotor retardation. It is suggested that these two factors represent two forms of guilt, but that only the former is related to a putative dopaminergic disorder. Guilt scores and measures of severity were not correlated. It is suggested that feelings of guilt should be considered as a behavioural marker for a subtype of depression.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Assessment of shame and guilt and their relationships to psychopathology.

Two studies are reported. First, we tested the previously validated Personal Feelings Questionnaire-2 (PFQ2; Harder & Zalma, 1990) shame and guilt measure and the Adapted Shame and Guilt Scale (ASGS; Hoblitzelle, 1982) Shame subscale against the newly introduced Self-Conscious Affect and Attribution Inventory (SCAAI; Tangney, 1990) for shame and guilt dispositions. Fifty-nine college undergraduates completed randomly ordered personality inventories reflecting constructs theoretically relevant to the presence of shame and guilt proneness. Correlations between the affect measures and personality variables showed evidence of validity for all shame scales. The PFQ2 Guilt subscale also demonstrated construct validity when partialled for shame, but the SCAAI did not. Second, we tested hypotheses regarding the relative importance of shame and guilt to various symptom types (Symptom Checklist-90-Revised; Derogatis, 1983) using 71 college undergraduates. Both emotions were approximately equally related to all major symptom clusters, but there was some evidence for differential patterns of relative importance for shame and guilt to different symptoms.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Examining predictors of sex guilt in multiethnic samples of women.

Previous research has shown that attitudes, including sex guilt, may influence the nature and type of sexual practices in which a person engages. This study examined the relationship of socioeconomic status (SES), ethnicity, and religiosity to sex guilt and aspects of sexual permissiveness that relate to sexual attitudes. Subjects were random samples of 126 African American women and 122 white American women in Los Angeles County. They were interviewed face-to-face and completed the Mosher Forced Choice Sex Guilt subscale. Results indicated that while the association between church attendance and sex guilt was stronger for white than for black women, no significant differences in sex guilt across attendance levels was found for black women. Overall, contrary to previous reports, black women had higher levels of sex guilt than their white peers. The importance of understanding factors including SES and religiosity as they relate to African American and white American women's sexual attitudes and behaviors is discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

A study of the comparative structure of guilt and shame in a Chinese society.

On the basis of previous theoretical and empirical analyses of the comparative structures of guilt and shame, the authors hypothesized that antecedent condition (personal inadequacy vs. moral norm violation), audience presence, and personal responsibility attribution would distinguish shame from guilt. Although the subject population was Hong Kong Chinese, evidence from previous studies suggests that the comparative structures of guilt and shame are quite similar across cultures. The subjects were asked to recall either a guilt or a shame incident, and their responses were then coded into the predictor variables. The results of the study indicated that guilt was most likely to emerge when individuals had violated a moral norm and held themselves responsible for their conduct. In contrast, shame emerged more frequently when subjects felt personally inadequate than when they had violated moral norms. Moreover, when a guilt incident was reported, and audience was rarely mentioned, whereas subjects who reported a shame incident would generally feel personally responsible and often mentioned being looked at or evaluated. However, neither personal responsibility nor the presence of an audience seemed to be essential for a person to experience shame.

Adult↗
PubMed1975

Stereotyped sex role behavior and sex guilt.

A study of self-reported sex guilt and sex behavior in college students closely replicated previous findings. In addition, it was found that high guilt subjects were more likely to act in conformity with social expectations regarding sexual behavior. That is, high guilt males were more likely to be assertive in their sexual behaviors than low guilt males, and high guilt females were more likely to engage in passive sexual behaviors than low guilt females. Assertion was defined as acting upon another, and passivity was defined as being acted upon.

Aggression↗
PubMed1990

[Guilt and freedom--psychiatric-psychotherapeutic and anthropologic aspects].

Guilt, freedom and responsibility are part of the personal dignity of man. The history of the conception of guilt, its modern relativations, different phenomena of guilt, and pathological guilt experience as well as ways of relief from guilt are discussed. The contemporary juridical debate on the conceptions of guilt and freedom, and problems in the judgement of criminal responsibility are described. In conclusion, the author asks for inquires as to the importance of the faculty to feel guilty and the readiness for atonement in psychotherapy and resocialization.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1990

Guilt reactions to sexual fantasies during intercourse.

This study explored how guilt feelings about having sexual fantasies during intercourse are related to frequency of fantasizing, to sexual satisfaction and sexual dysfunction, and to different beliefs about the cause, transgressive nature, and consequences of such fantasizing behavior. Drawing from a sample of 178 men and women with intercourse experience (means age = 27), 84% reported that they fantasized at least some of the time during sexual intercourse. From this sample, those who reported feeling most guilty about having sexual fantasies during intercourse (1 SD or more above the mean, n = 39) were compared to those who felt least guilty (1 SD or more below the mean, n = 43). Those subjects who felt guilty reported having significantly fewer sexual fantasies during intercourse than those who felt the least guilty. They also reported higher levels of sexual dissatisfaction and dysfunction. The high-guilt subjects believed that sexual fantasies during intercourse were significantly more abnormal, immoral, uncommon, socially unacceptable, and harmful to themselves, their partner, and their relationship regardless of whether their partner knew that such fantasies occurred. They also reported that the cause of their fantasizing during intercourse reflected significantly more negatively on their sexual behavior and their general character than did the low-guilt group. No statistically significant differences were found between groups on the causal attribution dimensions of internality, stability, or globality of such fantasies. In general, these findings suggest that guilt reactions about sexual fantasies during intercourse are related to beliefs that such fantasies are deviant and harmful and that such guilt reactions are negatively related to sexual satisfaction and adjustment.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1990

Guilt in depressed outpatients.

This study was designed to determine whether normal control subjects (n = 17) and depressed outpatients (n = 72) differed with respect to the extent and conditions under which they reported dysfunctional guilt. Depressed outpatients reported significantly more guilt than normal control subjects in most types of situations. A family history of depression was related to a higher overall level of guilt in patients. Course and severity of depression and endogenous subtype did not relate to the amount of guilt reported by the patients. This study provides clinical norms on the Situational Guilt Scale (SGS) for a sample of unipolar, nonpsychotic outpatients with major depressive disorder.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

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

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.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Two promising shame and guilt scales: a construct validity comparison.

This study compared the validity of two promising measures of shame and guilt proneness: revisions of the Harder Personal Feelings Questionnaire (PFQ2; Harder & Lewis, 1987) and the Hoblitzelle Adapted Shame and Guilt Scale (ASGS; Hoblitzelle, 1982). Internal consistency, test-retest stability, factor structure, and construct validity with convergent and discriminant personality dimensions were examined for both scales. In addition to the shame and guilt measures, 63 (37 male, 26 female) mostly freshman college students completed a randomly ordered battery of personality scales theoretically relevant to shame and guilt proneness. Results support the reliability and shame/guilt factor structure of each scale. ASGS Shame correlations appeared marginally more valid with 11 external construct variables than PFQ2 Shame, whereas PFQ2 Guilt was clearly more valid than its corresponding ASGS subscale. New, potentially improved scales were constructed from the factor analyses and from item analyses. However, the resulting scales did not show improved validity.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Guilt: a crisis within a crisis.

Resolution of the crisis created by a catastrophic neurologic event can be obstructed by the patient's or family's feelings of guilt. This article describes the stages of guilt and manifestations that can be assessed by the nurse. The need for the nurse to assess personal values and responses is discussed. Barriers that may exist in the nurse/patient/family situation and hinder guilt resolution are also listed along with specific interventions to resolve guilt--the crisis within a crisis. Two case studies are included to demonstrate nurse and family interaction in a guilt crisis.

Adaptation, Psychological↗