Religion and interpersonal guilt: Variations across ethnicity and spirituality

Abstract

In 246 college students, we found that ethnicity, religious affiliation, and religious or spiritual emphasis were significantly related to guilt. Ethnicities were compared, without regard to religion, on levels of interpersonal guilt, a construct that has been associated with a variety of psychological problems. There were significant differences found between ethnic groups, with Asian Americans higher in maladaptive interpersonal guilt than were European and Latin Americans. There were significant differences between groups of religious or spiritual affiliation, with Catholics and Protestants having higher levels of maladaptive interpersonal guilt than those with no religious affiliation. Within each ethnic group, we examined differences in guilt between religious groups, and between broader identification as religious (but not spiritual), spiritual (but not religious), spiritual and religious, or neither. There were significant differences between both religious affiliation groups and between broader religious or spiritual emphasis within ethnic groups, in interpersonal guilt. These results suggest that religious affiliation and religious or spiritual emphasis are important variables in the measurement of guilt, and guilt is an important construct in understanding people with religious and spiritual involvement. Clinical implications are discussed.

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by a grant from the Miriam F. Meehan Charitable Trusts, 1999. The authors wish to thank Eunice Yi, Arinn Olson, and Margaret Lynch and her assistants at San Francisco State University for their help.