Collective guilt: Emotional reactions when one's group has done wrong or been wronged

Abstract

We examine the conditions that facilitate feelings of collective guilt, and consider the prevalent historial and contemporary conditions that inhibit such guilt. Specifically, we outline the important role that self-categorisation as a member of a group that is responsible for illegitimately harming another group plays in inducing collective guilt. We also consider strategies that legitimise the harm done, along with how the costs of creating a more just relationship with the harmed group can affect the extent to which collective guilt is experienced. The ease of undermining the necessary antecedents for feeling collective guilt suggests that it may be a relatively rare emotional experience, particularly during ongoing intergroup hostilities. We present studies illustrating the important role that categorisation plays in both collective guilt acceptance and its assignment to members of other social groups who have harmed the ingroup. We illustrate the consequences for social change processes when the necessary conditions for collective guilt to be experienced are met.