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Both Freud and Hoffman are Right: Anxious-Aggressive and Empathic Dimensions of Guilt

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 April 2014

Itziar Etxebarria  and
Pedro Apodaca
Itziar Etxebarria*
Affiliation:
Universidad del País Vasco (Spain)
Pedro Apodaca
Affiliation:
Universidad del País Vasco (Spain)
*
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Itziar Etxebarria, Departamento de Procesos Psicológicos Básicos, Universidad del País Vasco, Aptdo. 726, 2008 San Sebastián(Spain). Phone: 34-943-015739. Fax: 34-943-015670. E-mail: itziar.etxebarria@ehu.es
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Abstract

The purpose of the study was to confirm a model which proposed two basic dimensions in the subjective experience of guilt, one anxious-aggressive and the other empathic, as well as another dimension associated but not intrinsic to it, namely, the associated negative emotions dimension. Participants were 360 adolescents, young adults and adults of both sexes. They were asked to relate one of the situations that most frequently caused them to experience feelings of guilt and to specify its intensity and that of 9 other emotions that they may have experienced, to a greater or lesser extent, at the same time on a 7-point scale. The proposed model was shown to adequately fit the data and to be better than other alternative nested models. This result supports the views of both Freud and Hoffman regarding the nature of guilt, contradictory only at a first glance.

El objetivo de este estudio fue confirmar un modelo que proponía dos dimensiones básicas de le experiencia subjetive de la culpa, una ansiosa-agresiva y la otra empática, además de otra dimensión asociada pero no intrínseca a la culpa, es decir, la dimensión de las emociones negativas asociadas. Participaron en el estudio 360 adolescentes, jóvenes y adultos de ambos sexos. Se les pidió que relataran una de las situaciones que les hacían sentirse culpables con mayor frecuencia y que especificaran su intensidad y la de otras 9 emociones que hubieran podido experimentar, en mayor o menor grado, al mismo tiempo en una escala de 7 puntos. El modelo propuesto se ajustaba a los datos y se observó que era mejor que otros modelos alternativos anidados. Este resultado apoya los puntos de vista tanto de Freud como de Hoffman con respecto a la naturaleza de la culpa, sólo aparentemente contradictorios.

Keywords

guiltempathyanxietyemotionculpaempatíaansiedademoción
Type
Articles
Information
The Spanish Journal of Psychology , Volume 11 , Issue 1 , May 2008 , pp. 159 - 171
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

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