Widely shared collective guilt has produced formal apologies and reparations

Evidence

Collective guilt, then, might seem to be an unlikely emotion to experience, given that its occurrence requires the self to be seen as a member of a group that has acted immorally. Despite the many impediments to doing so, around the world there have been instances where people have both publicly and privately debated whether their group’s treatment of another group was justified or not. Such a reassessment of the legitimacy of the ingroup’s actions can focus on historical injustices from long ago, as well as more recent and ongoing forms of intergroup harm doing. Feelings of collective guilt that are widely shared have resulted in formal apologies and other forms of reparations being issued to the harmed group as a means of making amends for the past and its continuing effects in the present. — Nyla R. Branscombe and Bertjan Doosje (eds.), Collective Guilt, 54

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Collective guilt requires admitting in-group responsibility and spurs reparations — Emanuele Castano, On the Perils of Glorifying the…, 65; Collective guilt mediates perception of past wrongdoing and later apology support — Nyla R. Branscombe and Bertjan Doosje (eds.), Collective Guilt: International…, 822; Collective guilt can be functional by motivating reparative action — Nyla R. Branscombe and Bertjan Doosje (eds.), Collective Guilt: International…, 229 (+11 more)

Broader Connections

• Nation-level reconciliation actions can follow from collective guilt #exemplifies (0.90) — Nyla R. Branscombe and Bertjan Doosje (eds.), Collective Guilt, 78
• Collective guilt requires admitting in-group responsibility and spurs reparations #expands (0.88) — Emanuele Castano, On the Perils of Glorifying the In-group, 65
• Full acknowledgement of in-group atrocity raises guilt and willingness to pay reparations. #expands (0.86) — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 2093
• Collective guilt mediates perception of past wrongdoing and later apology support #expands (0.85) — Nyla R. Branscombe and Bertjan Doosje (eds.), Collective Guilt, 822
• Collective guilt predicts reparative motivation while collective shame predicts distancing. #expands (0.85) — Nyla R. Branscombe and Bertjan Doosje (eds.), Collective Guilt, 346
• Collective guilt can be functional by motivating reparative action #expands (0.84) — Nyla R. Branscombe and Bertjan Doosje (eds.), Collective Guilt, 229
• Collective guilt follows unrepentant perceived wrongdoing and motivates repair #expands (0.84) — Nyla R. Branscombe and Bertjan Doosje (eds.), Collective Guilt, 817
• Collective guilt correlates strongly with perceived reparation obligations toward Indigenous Australians #expands (0.83) — Nyla R. Branscombe and Bertjan Doosje (eds.), Collective Guilt, 818
• People supporting apology often deny collective guilt and responsibility #complicates (0.82) — Nyla R. Branscombe and Bertjan Doosje (eds.), Collective Guilt, 1677
• Sympathy and moral outrage mobilize reparative action better than guilt does #complicates (0.82) — Nyla R. Branscombe and Bertjan Doosje (eds.), Collective Guilt, 1752
• Small restorative acts against vast harms serve as personal absolution for collective guilt #complicates (0.78) — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass, 1318