Moral emotions, especially guilt, are associated with increased reparative behaviors, that is the desire or motivation to repair damages caused (Colasante et al., 2014). In this study we examined the development of guilt feelings from adolescence to young adulthood across four time points. We consider guilt feelings related to reparation as defined by Caprara et al. (1992), that is, “proneness to experience feelings of remorse, embarrassment, disturbance, tension and desires for justice that were linked to the need for reparation of the negative results of guilt-eliciting actions” (p.551). Furthermore, in accordance with the literature (Malti & Krettenauer, 2012), we analyzed the predictive role of changes in guilt feelings in prosocial behavior during young adulthood. 390 Italian adolescents aged 15–21 (M = 15.49, SD = 0.50; 42.5% female) participated in four waves of data collection from a larger longitudinal project with a multiple-cohort design (cohort 1 starting age 15; cohort 2 starting age 16). We used a latent growth curve (LGC) model to assess interindividual differences in intraindividual changes over time (Curran et al., 2010). The trajectory of guilt feelings followed an increasing linear trend (x2 (5) =17.327, p<.001; CFI = 0.947; RMSEA =0.074). Specifically, participants reported a mean score of 5.083 in guilt feelings at T1 which increased by an average of 0.076 at each subsequent time point between the 6 years of measurement (15 to 21; 16 to 22). Differences by gender were found. Additionally, we found that increases in guilt feelings predict higher levels of self-reported prosocial behavior in early adulthood. The findings highlight that the increase in guilt feelings and its predictive effect on prosocial behavior have important developmental implications; as individuals become more mature, they are more aware of the consequences of their actions and more inclined to manifest other-oriented behavior, such as prosocial behavior.
The predictive role of empathic self-efficacy on daily prosocial behavior of young adults / Barrero Toncel, Virginia; Gregori, Fulvio; Manfredi, Lucia; Gerbino, Maria; Beolchini, Elisabetta; Pastorelli, Concetta. - (2025). (Intervento presentato al convegno 22nd European Conference on Developmental Psychology (ECDP) tenutosi a Vilnius, Lithuania).
The predictive role of empathic self-efficacy on daily prosocial behavior of young adults
Barrero Toncel, Virginia
;Gregori, Fulvio;Manfredi, Lucia;Gerbino, Maria;Beolchini, Elisabetta;Pastorelli, Concetta
2025
Abstract
Moral emotions, especially guilt, are associated with increased reparative behaviors, that is the desire or motivation to repair damages caused (Colasante et al., 2014). In this study we examined the development of guilt feelings from adolescence to young adulthood across four time points. We consider guilt feelings related to reparation as defined by Caprara et al. (1992), that is, “proneness to experience feelings of remorse, embarrassment, disturbance, tension and desires for justice that were linked to the need for reparation of the negative results of guilt-eliciting actions” (p.551). Furthermore, in accordance with the literature (Malti & Krettenauer, 2012), we analyzed the predictive role of changes in guilt feelings in prosocial behavior during young adulthood. 390 Italian adolescents aged 15–21 (M = 15.49, SD = 0.50; 42.5% female) participated in four waves of data collection from a larger longitudinal project with a multiple-cohort design (cohort 1 starting age 15; cohort 2 starting age 16). We used a latent growth curve (LGC) model to assess interindividual differences in intraindividual changes over time (Curran et al., 2010). The trajectory of guilt feelings followed an increasing linear trend (x2 (5) =17.327, p<.001; CFI = 0.947; RMSEA =0.074). Specifically, participants reported a mean score of 5.083 in guilt feelings at T1 which increased by an average of 0.076 at each subsequent time point between the 6 years of measurement (15 to 21; 16 to 22). Differences by gender were found. Additionally, we found that increases in guilt feelings predict higher levels of self-reported prosocial behavior in early adulthood. The findings highlight that the increase in guilt feelings and its predictive effect on prosocial behavior have important developmental implications; as individuals become more mature, they are more aware of the consequences of their actions and more inclined to manifest other-oriented behavior, such as prosocial behavior.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
