Guilt, shame/embarrassment, and empathy

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between empathic responsiveness and the proneness to 'zaiakukan' (guilt) and 'shuchishin' (shame and embarrassment). Two hundred and thirty five Japanese undergraduates completed a questionnaire of Situational Guilt Inventory (Arimitsu, 2002), Situational Shyness Questionnaire (Narita, Terasaki, & Niihama, 1990), and Interpersonal Reactivity Index (Davis, 1983). As predicted, other-oriented empathic responsiveness, which measured perspective taking and empathetic concern, had a positive correlation with zaiakukan proneness, with shame and embarrassment controlled. On the other hand, self-oriented personal distress had a positive correlation with proneness to 'kihazukashisa', a component of shame and embarrassment, with guilt controlled. Inspection of correlations suggested that zaiakukan emerged from other-oriented empathy, and shuchishin in men from personal distress, because women's experience of shuchishin was less negative than men. Results on private shame were different from those in the previous studies (Leith & Baumeister, 1998; Tangney, 1991), and were discussed in terms of cultural differences.