Voluntary expiation of guilt: A field experiment

Conducted an experiment with 40 adult females in a shopping center to test the hypothesis that harm-doers will be more likely than controls to respond favorably to a naturally occurring opportunity for altruism, even in the absence of a direct request. Each S was asked by a male E to take his pictur...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of personality and social psychology 1972-10, Vol.24 (1), p.42-45
Main Authors: Regan, Dennis T, Williams, Margo, Sparling, Sondra
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Altruism
Female
Guilt
Human
Humans
Interpersonal Relations
Personality
Self Concept
Social Behavior
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Summary:Conducted an experiment with 40 adult females in a shopping center to test the hypothesis that harm-doers will be more likely than controls to respond favorably to a naturally occurring opportunity for altruism, even in the absence of a direct request. Each S was asked by a male E to take his picture for a project. The camera would not work, and the E either implied that S had broken the camera (guilt condition) or said that the misfunctioning was not her fault (control condition). Soon after, a femlae E crossed the S's path carrying a broken grocery bag from which candy fell. 55% of the Ss in the guilt condition informed the 2nd E of the mishap, compared with only 15% of the controls. Results are interpreted as showing voluntary expiation of guilt. (15 ref.)
ISSN:0022-3514
1939-1315
DOI:10.1037/h0033553