Article Version of Record

Empathy, guilt proneness, and gender: Relative contributions to prosocial behaviour

Author(s) / Creator(s)

Torstveit, Linda
Sütterlin, Stefan
Lugo, Ricardo Gregorio

Abstract / Description

Guilt is a moral emotion that is often looked upon as a negative trait. However, studies show that some individuals are more predisposed to think, feel and act in a more ethical manner because of a lower threshold to experience guilt. Some theories of helping behaviour emphasize the evolutionary mechanisms, while other theories stress the importance of social variables. This study investigated whether guilt proneness as a dispositional trait can be associated with prosocial behaviour. Five hundred sixty-nine participants reported in an online survey their own levels of guilt proneness, frequency of prosocial behaviour, and related cognitions such as empathy. This study is among the first to demonstrate how guilt proneness combined with empathy can explain additional variance in prosocial behaviour. The findings also indicate gender differences in the precursors of prosocial behaviour, suggesting women are more influenced by the effects of guilt proneness on prosocial behaviour than men.

Keyword(s)

guilt proneness guilt empathy personality prosocial behaviour helping behaviour gender

Persistent Identifier

Date of first publication

2016-05-31

Journal title

Europe's Journal of Psychology

Volume

12

Issue

2

Page numbers

260–270

Publisher

PsychOpen GOLD

Publication status

publishedVersion

Review status

peerReviewed

Is version of

Citation

Torstveit, L., Sütterlin, S., & Lugo, R. G. (2016). Empathy, guilt proneness, and gender: Relative contributions to prosocial behaviour. Europe's Journal of Psychology, 12(2), 260–270. https://doi.org/10.5964/ejop.v12i2.1097
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Torstveit, Linda
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Sütterlin, Stefan
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Lugo, Ricardo Gregorio
  • PsychArchives acquisition timestamp
    2018-11-21T09:59:41Z
  • Made available on
    2018-11-21T09:59:41Z
  • Date of first publication
    2016-05-31
  • Abstract / Description
    Guilt is a moral emotion that is often looked upon as a negative trait. However, studies show that some individuals are more predisposed to think, feel and act in a more ethical manner because of a lower threshold to experience guilt. Some theories of helping behaviour emphasize the evolutionary mechanisms, while other theories stress the importance of social variables. This study investigated whether guilt proneness as a dispositional trait can be associated with prosocial behaviour. Five hundred sixty-nine participants reported in an online survey their own levels of guilt proneness, frequency of prosocial behaviour, and related cognitions such as empathy. This study is among the first to demonstrate how guilt proneness combined with empathy can explain additional variance in prosocial behaviour. The findings also indicate gender differences in the precursors of prosocial behaviour, suggesting women are more influenced by the effects of guilt proneness on prosocial behaviour than men.
    en_US
  • Publication status
    publishedVersion
  • Review status
    peerReviewed
  • Citation
    Torstveit, L., Sütterlin, S., & Lugo, R. G. (2016). Empathy, guilt proneness, and gender: Relative contributions to prosocial behaviour. Europe's Journal of Psychology, 12(2), 260–270. https://doi.org/10.5964/ejop.v12i2.1097
  • ISSN
    1841-0413
  • Persistent Identifier
    https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12034/1000
  • Persistent Identifier
    https://doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.1192
  • Language of content
    eng
  • Publisher
    PsychOpen GOLD
  • Is version of
    https://doi.org/10.5964/ejop.v12i2.1097
  • Keyword(s)
    guilt proneness
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    guilt
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    empathy
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    personality
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    prosocial behaviour
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    helping behaviour
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    gender
    en_US
  • Dewey Decimal Classification number(s)
    150
  • Title
    Empathy, guilt proneness, and gender: Relative contributions to prosocial behaviour
    en_US
  • DRO type
    article
  • Issue
    2
  • Journal title
    Europe's Journal of Psychology
  • Page numbers
    260–270
  • Volume
    12
  • Visible tag(s)
    Version of Record