❶Unlike so-called basic emotions such as sadness, fear, and anger, guilt emerges a little later, in conjunction with a child's growing grasp of social and moral norms. ❷Children aren't born knowing how to say "I'm sorry"; rather, they learn over time that such statements appease parents and friends— and their own consciences. ❷This is why researchers generally regard so-called moral guilt, in the right amount, to be a good thing. Oln the popular imagination, of course, guilt still gets (22) a bad rap. ❷It is deeply uncomfortable—it's the emotional equivalent of wearing a jacket weighted with stones. ❷Yet this understanding is outdated.❹"There has been a kind of revival or a rethinking about what guilt is and what role guilt can serve,says Amrisha Vaish, a psychology researcher at the University of Virginia, adding that this revival is part of a larger recognition that emotions aren't binary—feelings that may be advantageous in one context may be harmful in another. ❷Jealousy and anger, for example, may have evolved to alert us to important inequalities. ❷Too much happiness can be destructive.
❶And guilt, by prompting us to think more deeply about our goodness, can encourage humans to make up for errors and fix relationships. ❷Guilt, in other words, can help hold a cooperative species together. ❷It is a kind of social glue. ❷Viewed in this light, guilt is an opportunity.❷Work by Tina Malti, a psychology professor at the University of Toronto, suggests that guilt may compensate for an emotional deficiency. ❷In a number of studies, Malti and others have shown that guilt and sympathy may represent different pathways to cooperation and sharing. ❷Some kids who are low in sympathy may make up for that shortfall by experiencing more guilt, which can rein in their nastier impulses. ❷And vice versa: High sympathy can substitute for low guilt. Oln a 2014 study, for example, Malti looked at 244 children.❷Using caregiver assessments and the children's self-observations, she rated each child's overall sympathy level and his or her tendency to feel negative emotions after moral transgressions. ❷Then the kids were handed chocolate coins, and given a chance to share them with an anonymous child. ❹For the low-sympathy kids, how much they shared appeared to turn on how inclined they were to feel guilty.❺The guilt-prone ones shared more, even though they hadn't magically become more sympathetic to the other child's deprivation.
❶“That's good news/' Malti says.❷"We can be prosocial because we caused harm and we feel regret.^^ IO1
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与悲伤、恐惧和愤怒等所谓的基本情绪 不同，内疚感会随着孩子对社会规范和道德 准则的理解日益加深而表现得稍晚一些。 孩子们并不是天生就知道如何说"对 不起”；而是随着时间的推移，他们才逐渐 认识到这些话语能够安抚父母、朋友——以 及自己的道德心。正因如此.研究人员通常 认为所谓的道德内疚感，如果适度，会是一 件好事。 当然，人们还是普遍认为内疚感并 不是什么好事。它让人感到非常不舒服—— 就如同身穿一件装有许多石头的夹克衫那 般难受。然而这种理解已经过时了。"内 疚感是什么，又会起到什么作用，这样的问 题已经再度兴起或重新引起人们的思考，” 弗吉尼亚大学心理学研究员阿穆瑞 沙•瓦依希指出，并补充道，这种重新思考 是对情绪更广泛认知的一部分，即情绪不是 二元对立的一在某种情景下可能有利的情 绪在另一种情景下则可能是有害的。例如， 嫉妒和愤怒可能会演变为警示，让我们注意到 重大的不平等现象。过多的快乐也可能具有破 坏性。 而内疚感，通过促使我们更深入地思考 人性之善，可以鼓励人们去弥补过错并修复 关系。换句话说，内疚感有助于让一个合作 性的种族团结起来。它是一种社会黏合剂。 从这个角度来看，内疚感是一种机会。 多伦多大学的心理学教授蒂娜•马尔蒂的研 究表明，内疚感也许能弥补某种情感缺失。 在大量研究中，马尔蒂和其他研究人 员已经证明，内疚感和同情心可能代表着促 成合作与共享的不同路径。一些缺乏同情心 的孩子可以通过体验更多的内疚感来弥补这 种缺失，这种内疚感可以抑制他们更恶意的 冲动。反之亦然：富有同情心可以替代内疚 感的不足。 例如，在2014年的一项研究中，马尔 蒂观察了 244名儿童。（25 ）通过看护者的评 价和孩子们的自我观察，她对每个孩子的整 体同情心水平以及他或她在违背道德后的负 面情绪倾向进行了评定。然后,研究者分发 给孩子们一些金币巧克力，并给他们一次机 会与一位匿名的孩子分享。（25 ）对那些缺乏 同情心的孩子来说，他们分享出多少似乎取 决于他们感到内疚的倾向程度。那些容易感 到内疚的孩子分享得更多，尽管他们没有奇 迹般地因对方什么都没有而变得更有同情心。 这是个好消息，”马尔蒂说。"我们 会因为自己造成了伤害并感到悔恨而变得亲