Guilt in Friendship

Guilt is a subjective unpleasant state, implying harm to another person and the acknowledgement of moral transgressions. Over the last decades, several studies have focused on guilt in couples, whereas relatively little attention has been devoted to guilt in friendship relationships. The present study was aimed to fill this gap. Participants were 151 students (73 males and 78 females) at the Department of Communication studies of Rome University (Italy). Their age ranged between 18 and 30 years. All participants had been involved in a friendship relationship for at least six months to 20 years. They were asked to answer a questionnaire during lecture time. Socio-demographic information were collected first. Next, participants were invited to describe a situation that was most vivid in their mind and to indicate, on a 10-point scale the extent to which the guilt was strong. They were also solicited to explain, in a free format, 1) the reasons why they felt guilty in that specific situation; 2) what they did or thought after feeling the emotion, 3) in what way the emotional experience had changed both themselves and the relationship. Two independent judges coded participants' accounts, reasons for feeling guilty and any reparative behaviors reported by them. The results obtained highlight not only the episodes of guilt that are typical of friendship, but also the values and norms that were transgressed and that from the participants' point of view were important characteristics of the relationship with their best friends.