Guilt signals damaged relationships and motivates apology and repair.

Evidence

Guilt serves an important social function by signaling that a relationship with another individual or group has been damaged and that steps should be taken to repair that relationship (Baumeister, Stillwell, & Heatherton, 1995; Branscombe et al., 2002). In line with this reasoning, research finds that guilt is often accompanied by a motivation to repair or apologize for what has occurred (Tangney, 1995). Based on this theory, we predict that in the case of collective guilt, the extent to which people feel guilty for the actions of an ingroup member will predict their motivation to repair the effects of that action toward members of an outgroup who were harmed (see Doosje et al., 1998). — Nyla R. Branscombe and Bertjan Doosje (eds.), Collective Guilt, 343

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Guilt motivates prosocial behaviors that mend damaged relationships. — Nyla R. Branscombe and Bertjan Doosje (eds.), Collective Guilt: International…, 456; Collective guilt follows unrepentant perceived wrongdoing and motivates repair — Nyla R. Branscombe and Bertjan Doosje (eds.), Collective Guilt: International…, 817; Collective guilt motivates repair and compensation just as personal guilt does — Nyla R. Branscombe and Bertjan Doosje (eds.), Collective Guilt: International…, 564 (+9 more)

Broader Connections

• Collective guilt motivates repair and compensation just as personal guilt does #expands (0.90) — Nyla R. Branscombe and Bertjan Doosje (eds.), Collective Guilt, 564
• Collective guilt mediates perception of past wrongdoing and later apology support #corroborates (0.90) — Nyla R. Branscombe and Bertjan Doosje (eds.), Collective Guilt, 822
• Collective guilt follows unrepentant perceived wrongdoing and motivates repair #expands (0.85) — Nyla R. Branscombe and Bertjan Doosje (eds.), Collective Guilt, 817
• Acknowledging collective misdeeds only motivates repair when guilt, not shame, is evoked. #qualifies (0.85) — Nyla R. Branscombe and Bertjan Doosje (eds.), Collective Guilt, 347
• Widely shared collective guilt has produced formal apologies and reparations #exemplifies (0.85) — Nyla R. Branscombe and Bertjan Doosje (eds.), Collective Guilt, 54
• Collective guilt can spur creating new just relationships, not only compensating past wrongs #expands (0.80) — Nyla R. Branscombe and Bertjan Doosje (eds.), Collective Guilt, 567
• Guilt motivates corrective actions while shame triggers defensive reactions to inequality #expands (0.80) — Janet K. Swim and Deborah L. Miller, White Guilt, 137
• Guilt is presumed to motivate people to control their prejudiced responses #exemplifies (0.80) — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 2108
• Inner conflict between values and prejudice generates guilt that motivates change #exemplifies (0.80)
• Guilt works as motivation whose intensity tracks the cost of required action. #expands (0.75) — Michael T. Schmitt, Daniel A. Miller, Nyla R. Branscombe, and Jack W. Brehm, The Difficulty of Making Reparations…, 61
• Costly emotions like guilt persist because they confer compensating communicative gains #expands (0.75) — Russell Hardin, Trust and Trustworthiness, 619