AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE EFFECT OF GUILT AND SHAME ON PROSOCIAL AND ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOUR.

Abstract

Although previous studies have shown the effects of moral emotion on regulating social behaviours, nothing is known about the motivations underlying the effects in middle childhood. The present study explored role of guilt and shame in developmental of children's prosocial and antisocial behaviour. Previous research has shown that feeling of guilt led to sharing while feelings of shame led to hostility. It is argued that the underlying motivation in prosocial and antisocial behaviour are compensation and revenge respectively. Using a novel game, the present study seeks to examine motivations through experimentally inducing guilt and shame. All children (n = 61, Mage = 118.8 months) were led to believe that they have damaged an adult's toy but depending on condition, they differ in how they appraised the situation. After which, they would display either guilt-like response that include confession; or shame-like response that include avoidance. Subsequently, prosocial and antisocial behaviour were measured through children's allocation of resources in a dictator's game. While results indicated distinct behavioural responses in the guilt and shame condition, there were no findings on prosocial and antisocial behaviours.