This is the first study of guilt from a wide variety of perspectives: psychology, psychiatry, psychoanalysis, evolutionary psychology, anthropology, six major religions, four key moral philosophers, and the law. Katchadourian explores the ways in which guilt functions within individual lives and intimate relationships, looking at behaviors that typically induce guilt in both historical and modern contexts. He examines how the capacity for moral judgments develops within individuals and through evolutionary processes. He then turns to the socio-cultural aspects of guilt and addresses society's attempts to come to terms with guilt as culpability through the legal process. This personal work draws from, and integrates, material from extensive primary and secondary literature. Through the extensive use of literary and personal accounts, it provides an intimate picture of what it is like to experience this universal emotion. Written in clear and engaging prose, with a touch of humor, Guilt should appeal to a wide audience.
This volume reports on the growing body of knowledge on shame and guilt, integrating findings from the authors' original research program with other data emerging from social, clinical, personality, and developmental psychology. Evidence is presented to demonstrate that these universally experienced affective phenomena have significant implications for many aspects of human functioning, with particular relevance for interpersonal relationships. --From publisher's description.
Given their strong theoretical relevance to both individual and interpersonal adjustment and functioning, it is ironic that the "self-conscious" emotions have been among the most neglected in the research literature. In recent years, however, the study of affect has come into its own as a vigorous, respectable, and productive branch of scientific psychology, and with this shift has come a new interest in emotions such as shame, guilt, embarrassment, and pride. This volume provides a comprehensive, in-depth review of the current theoretical and empirical literature on these emotions. It brings together contributions from leading researchers and theoreticians from the fields of developmental psychology, clinical psychology, psychiatry, and sociology, reflecting the emerging coherence in this area of study. The introduction provides a general framework for conceptualization and research on the self-conscious emotions. The book then addresses developmental issues, including the nature of these affective experiences among children, from late infancy to middle childhood, and implications for children's psychosocial functioning. Detailed explorations of the relationship of self-conscious emotions to aspects of social behavior and the social environment and to various types of psychopathology are also presented. Chapters demonstrate how an understanding of self-conscious emotions can greatly enhance the treatment of a wide range of maladaptive patterns of behavior, including marital conflict, depression, anxiety, and antisocial behavior. The final section discusses cross-cultural continuities and discontinuities in self-conscious affect. Throughout, the book highlights the need for innovative and diverse methodologies to systematically study the nature and functions of these feelings. The unique focus on empirical approaches makes this work an invaluable resource for the growing number of researchers interested in the study of self-conscious affect and social behavior. Demonstrating the wide-ranging implications of this research for clinical practice, the book will interest practitioners in clinical psychology, psychiatry, and developmental psychology. In addition, Self-Conscious Emotions will benefit professionals in social psychology, sociology, and anthropology, and will serve as useful text for courses in the psychology of emotion, personality and emotion, and cultural psychology.
Break Your Guilt Habit! In Let Go of the Guilt, life coach and bestselling author Valorie Burton teaches you a simple, but profound method that will free you from what she calls the “false guilt” that is so common today. As you peel back the layers, you’ll feel the burden lift. And that’s when you make room for your authentic self and the joyful life that is possible for you. Through her signature self-coaching process, powerful questions, and practical research, she shows you how to: recognize and overcome the five thought patterns of guilt, break the surprising habit that tempts you to subconsciously choose guilt over joy, stop guilt from sneaking its way into your everyday decisions and interactions, flip those guilt trips so you can keep others from manipulating you, and stop setting yourself up for stress, anxiety and obligation, and instead set yourself for a life of joy and freedom Valorie’s journaling questions and research-based process will shift your perspective, give you clarity and courage, and equip you with a plan of action to let go of the guilt for good.
Edited by leading figures in the field, this handbook gives an overview of the current status of cognition and emotion research by giving the historical background to the debate and the philosophical arguments before moving on to outline the general aspects of the various research traditions. This handbook reflects the latest work being carried out by the key people in the field.
If you're like most people, you have been overwhelmed by guilt at times in your life. Sometimes it is because we have done wrong; Other times, we might feel guilty when we have done right. We can be manipulated into guilty feelings by others or we can just have a sensitive conscience that is easily accused. Whether it is real or imagined, guilt can create the same devastating effect in our life. In this book, Dr. Carter explores the Bible answer to dealing with all types of guilt. If you will follow these Biblical teachings, you do not have to be held captive any longer by the feelings that guilt produces.
It is acknowledged by most students of human behaviour that the idea of guilt is closely connected with that of man’s freedom and responsibility. It is a theme of law-court and pulpit, a concern of psychoanalysis and probation officers, a growing pre-occupation of the novelist. Our era has even been described as a ‘guilt-consciousness age’. It comes as a surprise, therefore, to discover that there are so few modern books in which the meaning of guilt is thoroughly explored. In the present volume, originally published in 1962, Dr J.G. McKenzie makes an admirable attempt to fill the gap. He begins by describing and analysing the various senses in which the word ‘guilt’ is used and by making a number of important distinctions. There follows a close psychological study of the origin and development of guilty feelings which is illumined by Dr McKenzie’s interpretation of ‘negative’ and ‘positive’ conscience. The author then turns to the legal, ethical and religious concepts of guilt and examines each with care and insight, always raising and facing the deepest issues for both theory and practice. In the concluding section of the book he deals with the question ‘How can the sense of guilt be dissipated?’ Against the backdrop of depth-psychology and theology he offers a penetrating and provocative understanding of divine forgiveness which plumbs the deeps both of man’s sin and of God’s love. Dr McKenzie writes out of a long lifetime of teaching and of clinical work in psychotherapy. The range of his reading and interests is extraordinarily wide. Through all his writing there shines not only his profound concern for people but his lively and indeed infectious conviction that man is still in the making and that his one true Maker is God.
Timely and authoritative, this volume reviews the breadth of current knowledge on the self-conscious emotions and their role in psychological and social functioning. Leading investigators approach the subject from multiple levels of analysis, ranging from basic brain mechanisms to complex social processes. Chapters present compelling advances in research on the most fundamental self-conscious emotions: embarrassment, guilt, humiliation, pride, and shame. Addressed are neural and evolutionary mechanisms, developmental processes, cultural differences and similarities, and influences on a wide array of social behaviors and personality processes. A unique chapter on assessment describes and evaluates the full range of available measures.
