A Theory of Guilt Appeals: A Review Showing the Importance of Investigating Cognitive Processes as Mediators between Emotion and Behavior

Abstract

Guilt appeals in the field of persuasion are quite common. However, the effectiveness of these messages is sometimes ambivalent. It is widely acknowledged that guilt leads people to engage into prosocial behaviors, but the effects of guilt can also be counter-productive (e.g., reactance-like effects). We argue that the explanations for these contradictions remain unsatisfactory and suggest that taking into account the implications of underlying cognitive—especially attentional—mechanisms would provide a better understanding of these paradoxical outcomes. This article provides a brief review of the literature on the link between guilt and pro-social behaviors and its classical interpretations. We propose a reinterpretation of this link by taking into account specific attentional processes triggered by the emotion of guilt. Attentional biases are, in our opinion, better predictors of the effectiveness of a message than the amount of emotion induced by the same message. This consideration should guide future research in the field of guilt appeals and pro-social behaviors. Implications, in terms of a broader comprehension of the emotion–behavior association in decision making processes, are discussed.

Guilt by association, change by individuation: Examining the role of guilt and efficacy in mitigating collective risks

“…With that in mind, however, the use of guilt appeals has been shown in certain cases to backfire by inducing psychological reactance (e.g., Graton & Mailliez, 2019). These findings, coupled with the prevalence of guilt appeals in prosocial campaigns, emphasize the need to further explore the boundary conditions of guilt's influence.…”

“…Despite evidence indicating that guilt can powerfully affect attitudes and behavior (e.g., Boster et al, 2016; Xu & Guo, 2018), there is still considerable ambiguity regarding when and how guilt influences prosocial outcomes. As suggested in a recent review of the guilt literature, “A wide body of research has focused on [guilt's] definition and behavioral consequences…however, there is a lack of knowledge regarding the processes linking guilt to prosocial actions” (Graton & Mailliez, 2019; p. 117). Specifically, two outstanding questions remain surrounding the identity conditions that (a) induce guilt (personal vs. collective) and (b) encourage individuals to act upon guilt (self‐ vs. collective‐efficacy).…”

The moderating effect of autonomy on promotional health messages encouraging healthcare professionals’ to get the influenza vaccine.

“…For example, controlling language in promotional health messages increased the perceptions of anger (Miller et al, 2007), and messages overtly discouraging smoking among young adults can backfire and increase the likelihood of engaging with smoking behaviors (Grandpre et al, 2003). Additionally, health-related communications appealing to guilt have been shown to increase feelings of anger (Coulter & Pinto, 1995), reduce HPV vaccination intentions (Carcioppolo et al, 2017), and increase the likelihood of message rejection (Graton & Mailliez, 2019). Such negative behavioral outcomes or rejection of messages may be attributed to psychological reactance, which is a motivated state serving to restore perceived threats to personal freedom (Brehm, 1966).…”

Guilt, Shame, and the Aversive Self: Evidence that First Name Priming Increases Failure- and Escape-Thought Accessibility

“…Hence, one can change behaviour in order to reduce the feeling of guilt. Contrary to shame, the action tendencies typically associated with guilt are approach and reparative behaviour (Amodio et al, 2007;Graton & Mailliez, 2019;Graton & Ric, 2017). However, Amodio et al's (2007) suggested that there are two stages in the temporal development of guilt-induced behavioural tendencies.…”