The Relationship Between Guilt, Shame and Self-Efficacy Beliefs in Middle School Students

AbstractThe perception of the self is one of the fundamental constructs in the psychology of personality together with shame, guilt and self-efficacy, one's perception of ability to influence a situation. This study investigated the possible link between the psychological components of guilt and shame and the self-efficacy beliefs. 228 middle school students, aged between 12 and 13 years, were administered the Test of Self-Conscious Affect (TOSCA), the Self-Efficacy in Interpersonal and Social Communication Scale (SEISC) and the Self-Regulatory Self-Efficacy Scale (SRE). Females scored significantly higher than males on guilt proneness and on SEISC. Guilt resulted positively and significantly associated with SEISC and SRE. Results suggest that guilt-prone individuals perceive themselves as capable of managing interpersonal relationships in a proper way and are able to resist negative peer pressure