Reparation or reactance? The influence of guilt on reaction to persuasive communication ☆
Language
EN
Article de revue
This item was published in
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. 2015-10-18, vol. 62, p. 40-49
English Abstract
Guilt is generally assumed to motivate a desire to repair and to promote prosocial behavior. However, recent research suggests that this link is not automatic and that guilt may sometimes lead to negative social outcomes. ...Read more >
Guilt is generally assumed to motivate a desire to repair and to promote prosocial behavior. However, recent research suggests that this link is not automatic and that guilt may sometimes lead to negative social outcomes. Four experiments tested the causal influence of incidental guilt on pro-environmental attitude and behavior considered as a specific category of general prosocial behavior. Results indicate that guilt may indeed promote general prosocial (pro-environmental) behavior, but that it requires the presence of reparation suggestions in order to trigger prosocial behavior. Moreover, this link is fragile and can be reversed when reparatory means are blatantly offered by the guilt inducer. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for research on guilt and for the role of guilt in persuasive communication.Read less <
English Keywords
Guilt
Persuasion
Reparation
Reactance
Pro-environmental behavior
Collections