Are we assessing guilt correctly? An investigation of the psychometric properties of a prominent guilt measure

Development of the Japanese Version of the Test of Self-Conscious Affect-3 (TOSCA-3): A Study among Student and Parent Population

OBJECTIVE

The Test of Self-Conscious Affect-3 (TOSCA-3) is a scenario-based measure of self-conscious emotions. We aimed to create an abridged version of the TOSCA-3 that is appropriate for Japanese populations and has a good fit with the data, as well as validate its subscales.

METHODS

The TOSCA-3 was distributed to (a) a university student population (n = 512: Study 1) and (b) a parent population (n = 260: Study 2). In both studies, items with factor loading < 0.33 were deleted one by one to select culturally appropriate scenarios for each of the six domains of self-conscious emotions. In Study 1, self-conscious emotions were correlated with the other correlates.

RESULTS

Most of the final models showed a good fit with the data. In Study 1, the six domains of self-conscious emotions showed correlations with depression and related items, dispositional coping styles, experiences in childhood, ego function, borderline and narcissistic personality traits, and adult attachment styles, almost in the expected fashions.

CONCLUSIONS

The TOSCA-3 is a useful tool to measure self-conscious emotions among Japanese student and parent populations if a few culturally inappropriate scenarios are deleted.

The differential roles of shame and guilt in the relationship between self-discrepancy and psychological maladjustment

The self-discrepancy theory proposes that having inconsistent self-representations can trigger feelings of shame and guilt, leading to experiences of depression and anxiety. The aim of this study was to determine the distinct characteristics of each shame and guilt in relation to the connection between actual/ideal self-discrepancy and depression, as well as actual/ought self-discrepancy and anxiety. A total of 403 participants completed an online questionnaire assessing their self-discrepancy, shame, guilt, depression, and anxiety. Correlational analysis and structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis were used to assess the goodness of fit of the proposed model and the structural relationships between the variables. The key findings were as follows: (1) There were positive correlations among actual/ideal self-discrepancy, actual/ought self-discrepancy, shame, guilt, depression, and anxiety; (2) Shame partially mediated the association between actual/ideal self-discrepancy and depression; and (3) Guilt fully mediated the association between actual/ought self-discrepancy and anxiety. These outcomes uphold the self-discrepancy theory by confirming a distinct intra-psychological process involving shame and guilt. Each type of self-discrepancy was related to experiences of depression and anxiety. Our data suggest that researchers and practitioners should prioritize shame and guilt when examining individuals' self-discrepancy and related mental health challenges.