Want to know even more about guilt proneness and hyper-responsibility, the topic of Episode 41? Check out Tania's article in Psychology Today:

Do you ever have the feeling that no matter how much you do, you’re still not doing enough? Are you hypersensitive to other people’s feelings and needs, even more so than to your own? Do you apologize excessively, even if someone else bumps into you? Do you feel responsible for others, even if they never asked you to be?

If these descriptions strike a chord, you just might be guilt-prone.

What Is Guilt-Proneness?

While guilt is an emotion that we experience when we believe that we’ve done something wrong, guilt-proneness is a persistent personality trait.

Guilt-prone people experience guilt more intensely and more frequently, and are more likely to be guided by their guilt in everyday life.

What Are the Consequences of Being Prone to Guilt?

While feeling frequent guilt sounds pretty bad on the surface, recent research reveals that guilt-proneness has many surprising benefits. For example, guilt-prone people are

    • Better at reading people’s emotions.
    • More empathetic and open to others’ perspectives.
    • More likely to help those in need.
    • Perceived as more capable leaders.
    • Viewed as more likable and trustworthy.
    • Capable of influencing others.
    • More likely to try harder and perform better at work.

(Treeby et. al, 2015; Wiltermuth & Cohen, 2014; Levine et. al., 2018; Brooks, Dai & Schweitzer, 2013; Schaumberg & Flynn, 2012; Flynn & Schaumberg, 2012; Torstveit, Sütterlin & Lugob, 2016)

This list sounds great for the folks who live and work with guilt-prone people, and even for society at large. But what about the guilt-prone individuals themselves? Is there a cost to being so sensitive to other people’s feelings and needs?

Read the full article here!