The Relationship among Shame, Guilt, and Self-Efficacy

The perception of the self has been one of the fundamental constructs in psychotherapy, with attention devoted to shame, guilt, and, more recently, ones perception of ability to influence a situation—that is, self-efficacy; however, the relationship between these constructs merits scholarly attention. In the present study, researchers analyze the survey responses of 194 college students to determine relationships between shame and guilt as measured by the Test of Self-Conscious Affect (TOSCA 3, Tangney & Bearing, 2002), and self-efficacy as measured by the general and social self-efficacy scales (by Sherer, Maddux, Mercandante, Prentice-Dunn, Jacobs, & Rogers, 1982). Results support a hypothesis that higher shame scores were related to reduced self-efficacy; however, scores did not reveal a significant correlation between guilt and self-efficacy. Post-hoc analyses suggest some differences based on gender and private-versus-public school setting. The researchers draw theoretical and counseling implications from the findings.