The Relationship Between Guilt And Shame And Its Relationship With Behavioral Tendencies

When individuals realize oneself do some unethical, unfair things which hurt others, and should be responsible for them, they will be guilty, and which is an unpleasant, self-focus emotional response (Turner&Stets,2006). Guilt generally promotes compensation behavior. But shame is a disgrace emotion experience because individuals’bad behaviors violated the some kind of social moral standards. Shame often makes individuals appear avoidance behavior. The two emotions are moral based on the certain moral level. And in many interpersonal moral events, the emotions play important roles. People will regulate their own behaviors in order to avoid guilt and shame, or compensate for the damage through certain behavioral measures after violations. These are the guilt and shame research value. To discuss the cause of guilt and shame, behavior tendency and the influence factors of the relationship between the emotion and the behaviors also have very important value of education.The present research includes two separated studies, planning to explore the causes and the behaviors tendency of guilt and shame, and the influence factors of the relationship between the emotion and the behaviors tendency. In study1, we arrange the participants under different experimental conditions to control their responsibility, with purpose to prove responsibility’s important roles of guilt and compensation behaviors implemented. And we explore that the social image plays roles in the shame and the compensation-avoidant behaviors under the condition to control the outside view.77University students are involved in study1. In study2, we arrange the participants under different experimental conditions to control their psychological distance, in order to explore the effect from psychological distance of guilt, shame and compensate action tendencies.88University students are included in this study. These two studies have testified the following conclusions:(1) Guit can significantly forecast compensation behaviors. The more guilt experience, the higher the compensation tendency. Under the condition of clear responsibility and not clear, this kind of situation is established. And guilt partially mediates the relationship between responsibility and compensation. Responsibility has a direct effect on the compensation, and also indirectly by guilt. (2) Shame can significantly forecast compensation and avoidant behaviors. The more shame experience, the higher the compensation and avoidant tendency. In the presence of the eyes, this kind of situation is established. But in the absence of the eyes, shame forecasts compensation and avoidant behaviors not significantly. And shame partially mediates the relationship between outside view and compensation-avoidant behaviors. Outside view has a direct effect on the compensation-avoidant behaviors, and also indirectly by shame.(3) Guilt and shame can significantly forecast compensation behaviors. Under the condition of out-group, this kind of situation is established. And under the condition of in-group, the result is the opposite. Moreover, guilt mediates the relationship between psychological distance and compensation behaviors, whereas shame interacts with psychological distance to predict compensation behaviors.