Psychology Facts

▲ Guilt ▲

》Guilt is a feeling of emotional distress that arises when our actions, or lack of actions, might cause physical or emotional pain to another individual.

》Shame and guilt are two closely related concepts. While each has been defined in different ways, guilt is typically linked to some specific harm, real or perceived, and shame involves negative feelings about one's self more generally.

》Guilt is aversive and—like shame, embarrassment, or pride—has been described as a self-conscious emotion, involving reflection on oneself. People may feel guilt for a variety of reasons, including acts they have committed (or think that they committed), a failure to do something they should have done, or thoughts that they think are morally wrong.

》Studies have shown that concentration, productivity, creativity and efficiency all go down when guilty feelings are competing for your attention.

》Given how uncomfortable guilt can feel, it can provide a strong motivation to apologize, correct or make up for a wrong, and behave responsibly. Since doing so helps preserve social bonds and avoid harm to others, guilt, despite being a "negative" feeling, can sometimes be good. Research suggests that guilt-proneness may be related to empathy as well as trustworthiness.

》The degree to which people feel guilt varies, and those with certain personalities may experience relatively little (if any) guilt. A lack of guilt and remorse is one characteristic that experts have used to diagnose psychopathy.

》A scientific study found that guilt signals add up to a total of some five hours per week

》Excessive guilt can be a feature of certain forms of mental illness, including depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. The tendency to feel shame has also been associated with depression, anxiety, and other psychological symptoms. Factors such as social stigma related to one's characteristics may also make shame more likely

》Guilt trips tend to have the opposite effect to that which is intended. In fact, giving someone a guilt trip can often push them even further away from you, and that's because it can provoke resentment in them.

》Persistent feelings of guilt can actually lead you to punishing yourself in order to ward off said feelings.

》Children begin to feel guilt and may try to make up for guilt-inducing acts by their second year, research suggests, though the experience of guilt and associated behaviors appear to continue developing throughout childhood.

》Individuals that are feeling guilty have been shown in studies to assess their weight as being significantly heavier than it actually is, and physical activities also require significantly more effort.

》According to research published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences, women experience significantly higher amounts of shame and guilt than men.

》There's a surprising trick you can play on yourself to feel less guilty. It's pretending that you have NO choice but to be selfish and take care of yourself.

》Survivor's guilt (or survivor guilt) is an emotional experience that results from being relatively unharmed by a situation, compared to others. When one emerges from an accident or a conflict alive while others have died, for example, that person may experience survivor's guilt—despite not being responsible for the others' deaths

》Feeling guilt after a misdeed is normal and can often be remedied by apologizing and taking steps to make up for whatever pain or offense has been caused. But many feel guilt that is out of proportion to the harm they have caused, or even disconnected from any real harm. In such cases, it may be necessary to reflect on the reasons for one's feelings of guilt—perhaps in conversation with a counselor or therapist, especially when an underlying mental health condition may be involved.