Why should we feel guilty?

Sin plays an important role in regulating social behavior. The feeling of inner anxiety often serves as an incentive for us to try to atone. However, psychologists can hardly agree on the function of this complex emotion.

On the one hand, the feeling of punishment for sin can prevent you from repeating future acts of violation that psychologists call ' a retreating engine .' In contrast, researchers see the function of sin in a social context that helps human behavior in line with the ethical standards of their communities. This view emphasizes a more positive emotional experience and is linked to ' approaching motivation .'

A new study in the June issue of the Journal of Psychology Science published by the Science Society of Publishing Psychology , psychologist David M. Amodio of New York University and colleagues Patricia G. Devine and Eddie Harmon-Jones sought to combine the two groups together. Researchers believe that sin was originally linked to a motive for retreat, then turned to motivated approach when an opportunity to atone appeared . Moreover, the researchers sought to analyze these issues about the function of sin in the context of racial bias.

The new study shows that sin was originally linked to a motive for withdrawal, then turned to motivated approach when an opportunity to atone appeared.(Photo: iStockphoto / Angel Herrero de Frutos)

To test their theory, the researchers showed participants pictures of white, black, or Asian faces while tracking their brain activity using methods. EEG. Then inform the participants of randomized scores to let them know that they respond positively or negatively to the faces of Caucasians, Blacks, or Asians.

After receiving feedback showing that they reacted negatively to black faces, the subjects were said to significantly increase guilt, anxiety and sadness. The increase in guilt is greater than the change in any other emotion. Their accounts were confirmed by the EEG method, which showed a significant reduction in left-sided asymmetry after a response. A large number of documents suggest that the left asymmetry corresponds to the approaching engine. Therefore, in this case, the initial participants felt like they were punished by sin or rather the motivation to withdraw.

Participants then completed another study in which they read many different journal titles. Scattered in headlines to fill vacancies has three headings about reducing prejudice ('Improving racial interactions,' '10 ways to reduce biases in everyday life,' and 'Ways to eliminate your own racism in the new millennium '). Participants were told that they reacted negatively to the faces of black people who showed a large left-hand change in the activity of the cortex in the forehead while reading titles related to reduction. Prejudice shows the approaching engine.

Therefore, when subjects are given the opportunity to redeem their sins, their guilt feelings predict their interest in behavior that reduces prejudice . In the past, emotions were considered to be relatively stable, basic sensory states. Amodio's research offers a new idea of ​​emotion that plays a motivating role to regulate behavior. The research results also show that, although feeling bad, guilt plays an important role in promoting changes in socially acceptable behavior and Amodio's research also proves that This effect is in the context of racial bias.

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