Abstract

AbstractGuilt is believed to be a common emotion in personal relationships. Few studies, however, have examined if guilt plays a role in the divorce process. The present chapter uses unique nationally representative survey data which included questions on the extent to which parents have feelings of guilt toward their (young or adult) children (N = 3,203). By comparing married and divorced parents while controlling for an elaborate set of control variables, we describe the effect of divorce on guilt. By testing a series of variables that may moderate the divorce effect, we subsequently try to explain why divorce affects guilt. Our findings show that there are significant effects of divorce on the feelings of guilt that parents have toward their children. These effects are stronger when parents have more traditional attitudes toward family issues, in line with moral explanations of guilt. The effects are also stronger when the relationship between the child and parent is stronger, in line with explanations of guilt in terms of altruism.

Highlights

  • Guilt can be defined as the negative feelings that arise from having done something that is or is perceived to be wrong (Baumeister et al 1994)

  • We start by describing the extent to which parents have feelings of guilt toward their children, regardless of marital status, and how this differs between fathers and mothers

  • We see no significant effects of divorce on feelings of guilt toward the mother, showing again that the effect that we find for feelings of guilt toward children is related to normative and empathic concerns about the child

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Summary

Introduction

Guilt can be defined as the negative feelings that arise from having done something that is or is perceived to be wrong (Baumeister et al 1994). Guilt has been considered as one of the primary moral emotions that people have (Tangney et al 2007) and is seen as an unpleasant feeling that may reduce individual well-being (Kim et al 2011; O’Connor et al 1999; Webb et al 2007). Guilt is not the same as shame; guilt is the awareness that one has done something wrong, shame is the translation of that feeling to one’s self-image, i.e., the feeling of not being a good person (Tangney et al 2007). While guilt applies to a large variety of situations, it has been argued that it occurs especially often in close relationships.

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