Citation

Sullivan R, Green-Demers I, Lauzon A. Can. J. Behav. Sci. 2020; 52(3): 210-219.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Canadian Psychological Association, Publisher Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1037/cbs0000163

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Dispositional shame has been associated positively with psychological distress and negatively with life satisfaction. Conversely, dispositional guilt has been associated positively with life satisfaction. Research pertaining to the outcomes of self-conscious emotions has largely been conducted using adult samples. By comparison, there is a dearth of information on the influence of shame and guilt on well-being in teenagers. Moreover, to our knowledge, this topic was never studied in a French-Canadian sociocultural context. The goal of the present project was thus to examine interrelations between shame, guilt, and distress (depressive and anxious symptoms) and life satisfaction in francophone adolescents. It was hypothesised that shame would be positively related to symptoms of psychological distress and negatively related to life satisfaction. It was also hypothesised that guilt would be unrelated to psychological distress and positively related to life satisfaction. Participants (N = 288 high school students) completed questionnaires during class time that measured dispositional shame, dispositional guilt, depressive symptoms, anxious symptoms, and life satisfaction. The hypothesised network of relationships was evaluated using structural equation modelling.

RESULTS fully corroborated hypotheses and are discussed in terms of their implications for fundamental and applied research on self-conscious emotions and their psychological outcomes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved)

Keywords

Adolescent Development; Anxiety; Depression (Emotion); Distress; Emotions; Guilt; Life Satisfaction; Shame; Symptoms; Well Being