Just a reminder: Guilt works

To the extent shame can deter behavior, it does so only by means of fear rather than the development of a reliable moral compass. Guilt, on the other hand, depends on no one else; the guilt-stricken torment themselves because they know they’ve done something wrong.

In a fascinating long-term study, Ms. Tangney and Ms. Dearing assessed shame-proneness in 380 fifth-graders and then followed up years later. “No apparent benefit was derived from the pain of shame,” they report. “There was no evidence that shame inhibits problematic behaviors. Shame does not deter young people from engaging in criminal activities; it does not deter them from unsafe sex practices; it does not foster responsible driving habits; and in fact it seems to inhibit constructive involvement in community service.”

But it was a different story with guilt, which was assessed in the same study. Guilt-prone fifth-graders grew into teenagers who were more likely to apply to college, less likely to try heroin or suicide, and less likely to drive under the influence of drugs or alcohol. They were also less likely to be arrested, had fewer sex partners, and were more likely to use birth control. “People who have the capacity to feel guilt about specific behaviors,” the authors write, “are less likely than their non-guilt-prone peers to engage in destructive, impulsive, and/or criminal activities.”