Responsible and hard-working people are more likely to feel guilty

Researchers at a University of Southern California found that employees who often feel guilty are extremely hardworking and moral. Such people try not to let their colleagues down and always complete their work on time. However, it turns out that such people are essentially loners and are reluctant to collaborate with others.

In a new study, researchers asked volunteers to choose a partner to complete a task. As a result, those employees who most often felt guilty, lacked the necessary experience or knowledge, usually chose a partner who was not very knowledgeable in the required area, because they were afraid that they would do less work or perform the task worse. Also, those who often felt guilty preferred to receive a reward for the work done separately, based on their own competence; in other words, such people sought to get what they deserved.

Employees with a sense of guilt are more conscientious, they do not like to appropriate other people's work, so the financial issue is not the main one for them.

According to scientists, the results of this study will help employers increase productivity. The main thing is that guilt does not prevent employees from interacting with colleagues and taking a leadership position.

Typically, employees with guilt exhibit good leadership qualities because they have a heightened sense of responsibility and tend to be more concerned about the results of their actions.

In another study looking at human feelings such as shame and guilt, experts found that guilt is associated primarily with specific actions, while shame is defined by a more global approach.

Those who feel guilty tend to think first of all about the consequences of the decision they made, while those who feel shame tend to think over all the details before making a decision.

For example, if a person who is on a diet breaks it, then in the store, when shopping, he will be burdened by feelings of guilt and shame. When buying products, the feeling of guilt will prompt him to carefully study the calorie content (for example, ice cream), and the feeling of shame will prevent him from buying even the lowest-calorie product.

In their new study, the researchers conducted a survey among volunteers, in which they found out the time when the participants last experienced a feeling of guilt or shame. After receiving all the answers, the scientists gave all the participants an essay that they had to read. Then, some of the volunteers answered questions about the text of the material they had read, and some completed a task concerning the main topic and its understanding.

As a result, those who described a feeling of guilt more often preferred to answer questions on the topic of the material they had read, while those who experienced a feeling of shame chose to complete the task for themselves (the “shaming” ones thought more abstractly).

The data obtained, according to experts, can help advertising companies; for example, a mention in a fitness center advertisement of the need for daily exercise can help reduce feelings of guilt, and a slogan about improving health in general can help reduce feelings of shame.

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