Guilt in victims of internet scams

This is a presentation made (by invitation from the Queensland Police, Fraud Squad) to a group of Queenslanders all of whom had fallen victim to internet scams. The paper addresses the subject of guilt and why we may 'suffer' from it after a traumatic experience where the individual and/or the family have gone through a major financial or emotional loss.

Self-gifting guilt : an examination of self-gifting motivations and post-purchase regret

Purpose Self-gifting is a performative process in which consumers purchase products for themselves. The literature to date remains silent on a determination and connection between the extents of post-purchase regret resulting from self-gifting behavior. The purpose of this paper is to examine identification and connection of self-gifting antecedents, self-gifting and the effect on post purchase regret. Design/methodology/approach This study claims the two antecedents of hedonistic shopping and indulgence drive self-gifting behaviors and the attendant regret. A total of 307 shoppers responded to a series of statements concerning the relationships between antecedents of self-gifting behavior and the effect on post-purchase regret. Self-gifting is a multi-dimensional construct, consisting of therapeutic, celebratory, reward and hedonistic imports. Confirmatory factor analysis and AMOS path modeling enabled examination of relationships between the consumer traits of hedonistic shopping and indulgence and the four self-gifting concepts. Findings Hedonic and indulgent shoppers engage in self-gifting for different reasons. A strong and positive relationship was identified between hedonic shoppers and reward, hedonic, therapeutic and celebratory self-gift motivations. hedonic shoppers aligned with indulgent shoppers who also engaged the four self-gifting concepts. The only regret concerning purchase of self-gifts was evident in the therapeutic and celebratory self-gift motivations. Research limitations/implications A major limitation was the age range specification of 18 to 45 years which meant the omission of older generations of regular and experienced shoppers. This study emphasizes the importance of variations in self-gift behaviors and of post-purchase consumer regret. Originality/value This research is the first examination of an hedonic attitude to shopping and indulgent antecedents to self-gift purchasing, the concepts of self-gift motivations and their effect on post-purchase regret.

Sport development programmes for Indigenous Australians : innovation, inclusion and development, or a product of ‘white guilt’?

Under the legacy of neoliberalism, it is important to consider how the indigenous people, in this case of Australia, are to advance, develop and achieve some approximation of parity with broader societies in terms of health, educational outcomes and economic participation. In this paper, we explore the relationships between welfare dependency, individualism, responsibility, rights, liberty and the role of the state in the provision of Government-funded programmes of sport to Indigenous communities. We consider whether such programmes are a product of ‘white guilt’ and therefore encourage dependency and weaken the capacity for independence within communities and individuals, or whether programmes to increase rates of participation in sport are better viewed as good investments to bring about changes in physical activity as (albeit a small) part of a broader social policy aimed at reducing the gaps between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians in health, education and employment.

The sources of moral motivation : studies on empathy, guilt, shame and values

The goals of this study were to analyze the forms of emotional tendencies that are likely to motivate moral behaviors, and to find correlates for these tendencies. In study 1, students narratives of their own guilt or shame experiences were analyzed. The results showed that pure shame was more likely to motivate avoidance than reparation, whereas guilt and combination of guilt and shame were likely to motivate reparation. However, all types of emotion could lead to chronic rumination if the person was not clearly responsible for the situation. In study 2, the relations of empathy with two measures of guilt were examined in a sample of 13- to 16-year-olds (N=113). Empathy was measured using Davis s IRI and guilt by Tangney s TOSCA and Hoffman s semi-projective story completion method that includes two different scenarios, guilt over cheating and guilt over inaction. Empathy correlated more strongly with both measures of guilt than the two measures correlated with each other. Hoffman s guilt over inaction was more strongly associated with empathy measures in girls than in boys, whereas for guilt over cheating the pattern was the opposite. Girls and boys who describe themselves as empathetic may emphasize different aspect of morality and feel guilty in different contexts. In study 3, cultural and gender differences in guilt and shame (TOSCA) and value priorities (the Schwartz Value Survey) were studied in samples of Finnish (N=156) and Peruvian (N=159) adolescents. Gender differences were found to be larger and more stereotypical among the Finns than among the Peruvians. Finnish girls were more prone to guilt and shame than boys were, whereas among the Peruvians there was no gender difference in guilt, and boys were more shame-prone than girls. The results support the view that psychological gender differences are largest individualistic societies. In study 4, the relations of value priorities to guilt, shame and empathy were examined in two samples, one of 15 19-year-old high school students (N = 207), and the other of military conscripts (N = 503). Guilt was, in both samples, positively related to valuing universalism, benevolence, tradition, and conformity, and negatively related to valuing power, hedonism, stimulation, and self-direction. The results for empathy were similar, but the relation to the openness conservation value dimension was weaker. Shame and personal distress were weakly related to values. In sum, shame without guilt and the TOSCA shame scale are tendencies that are unlikely to motivate moral behavior in Finnish cultural context. Guilt is likely to be connected to positive social behaviors, but excessive guilt can cause psychological problems. Moral emotional tendencies are related to culture, cultural conceptions of gender and to individual value priorities.

A reconsideration of the theological conception of sin in the light of the psychoanalytic conceptions of shame and guilt

Boston University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Department of Religion.

Moral masochism: on the connection between guilt and self-punishment.

Do people sometimes seek to atone for their transgressions by harming themselves physically? The current results suggest that they do. People who wrote about a past guilt-inducing event inflicted more intense electric shocks on themselves than did those who wrote about feeling sad or about a neutral event. Moreover, the stronger the shocks that guilty participants administered to themselves, the more their feelings of guilt were alleviated. We discuss how this method of atonement relates to other methods examined in previous research.

Complex trauma and intimate relationships: The impact of shame, guilt and dissociation

Background: This study examined dissociation, shame, guilt and intimate relationship difficulties in those with chronic and complex PTSD. Little is known about how these symptom clusters interplay within the complex PTSD constellation. Dissociation was examined as a principle organizing construct
within complex PTSD. In addition, the impact of shame, guilt and dissociation on relationship difficulties was explored.
Methods: Sixty five treatment-receiving adults attending a Northern Irish service for conflict-related trauma were assessed on measures of dissociation, state and trait shame, behavioral responses to shame, state and trait guilt, complex PTSD symptom severity and relationship difficulties.
Results: Ninety five percent (n=62) of participants scored above cut-off for complex PTSD. Those with clinical levels of dissociation (n=27) were significantly higher on complex PTSD symptom severity, state and trait shame, state guilt, withdrawal in response to shame and relationship preoccupation than subclinical dissociators (n=38). Dissociation and state and trait shame predicted complex PTSD. Fear of relationships was predicted by dissociation, complex PTSD and avoidance in response to shame, while complex PTSD predicted relationship anxiety and relationship depression.
Limitations: The study was limited to a relatively homogeneous sample of individuals with chronic and complex PTSD drawn from a single service.
Conclusions: Complex PTSD has significant consequences for intimate relationships, and dissociation makes an independent contribution to these difficulties. Dissociation also has an organizing effect on
complex PTSD symptoms.

Giving guilt: the aneconomy of law and justice

The concept of guilt is seen here as debt beyond repayment. Following Derrida, the gesture of giving is placed in the economy of gift, an aneconomical gift that is not part of the exchange cycle. At the same time, guilt is linked to desire, the desire to give and to be free from guilt. Desire is described as the urge to cross over, to apprehend the non-identical and to give oneself away. In this reinforced crossing, where the improbability of giving conditions the improbability of reaching out, guilt and its impetus are found locked up in claustrophobic self-reference. For this reason, the author consults Kierkegaard and Luhmann whose contributions show that the gesture of giving acquires its relevance not so much on account of its recipient, but precisely because of the absence of such a recipient. The combination of an absent recipient and an absented giver fills the gift with an emptiness that can only be channelled back upon itself, in the autopoietics of guilt. This is exactly the fate of the law, which can deal with the guilty but never with guilt (in the above sense). In its attempt to give away guilt, the law attempts to become other than itself: justice. The improbability of crossing over becomes more obvious than ever.

Anticipated Guilt and Ethical Consumption: The Moderating Role of Consumers’ Socially Responsible Consumption Behaviour

Recent research in the marketing literature has indicated that, while consumers’ interests in ethical products are growing, demand for such products still remains weak. Previous research has indicated that anticipated guilt can have a positive effect on ethical consumption. Thus, the objective of the current study is to investigate the moderating role of consumers’ socially responsible consumption behaviour (SRCB) on the relationship between anticipated guilt and ethical consumption. Specifically, the current study hypothesizes that, when viewing a guilt ad, high (vs. low) SRCB individuals will generate higher, ethical purchase intentions, willingness to pay an ethical premium, and attitudes toward an ethical brand. The findings from the two experimental studies indicate that, when viewing a guilt ad for an ethical product, high SRCB individuals are willing to pay a higher ethical premium and generate more favourable brand attitudes than low SRCB individuals. However, when viewing a non-guilt ad, high SRCB individuals did not differ from low SRCB individuals in their willingness to pay an ethical premium or brand attitudes. Further, consumers’ socially conscious self-identity was explored as a mediator of these effects. By understanding the moderating role that SRCB plays in the relationship between anticipated guilt and ethical consumption, this paper intends to assist marketers in understanding for which consumers a guilt appeal is an appropriate strategy in marketing ethical products.