The Winding Path

Science Daily recently published an article describing a study which looked into why we feel guilty. I noticed it because of Erin’s recent post asking why we criticise ourselves so often.

The study shows a push and pull effect; the “push” of guilt makes us feel sad or anxious, and the “pull” of guilt makes us feel motivated or keen to act. The research shows that guilt directs us to regulate our behaviour in line with social expectations, “pushing” us away from behaviour we learn is unwelcome, and “pulling” us towards corrective or beneficial behaviour.

So, if the same applies to other emotions, perhaps Erin’s answer is that our emotions drive us to align with the societal principles and values we choose to adopt, and that drive manifests as critical self-talk. I suspect that the more off-track our behaviour, the more we self-criticise.

Interesting stuff but I’m pretty sure the article is talking it up a little when it says the “research presents a new idea of emotions serving a dynamic motivational function for regulating behavior.” As far as I knew there was nothing new about the idea that emotions serve to dynamically regulate behaviour.

[Note: "Sidetracked" just means that I'm not going into detail with this post, so don't be mislead into thinking you're going to get an in-depth explanation of the topic. I'll do this with any interesting articles I come across which I don't discuss in-depth.]

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