Abstract
The present study investigated whether assertion and cognitive responses vary as a function of guilt over assertion. Eighty-seven women students were assessed for level of guilt over assertion, conceptualized as refusal. Low-guilt, moderate-guilt, and high-guilt groups were compared for assertive responses, frequency of self-statements hypothesized to be guiltrelated, and judgments of the impact of self-statements on assertion. It was predicted that the high-guilt group would be less assertive and would demonstrate a distinctive cognitive response pattern that could maintain guilty reaction. The results reflect considerable support for the hypotheses. The high-guilt group was significantly less assertive than the low-guilt group, and reported significantly more self-statements about harm to the other party and about their own personal responsibility than either the moderate-guilt or low-guilt group. The high-guilt group also judged the impact of the self-statement categories as significantly less helpful in facilitating refusal, compared to impact ratings by less guilty persons. The findings are related to cognitive-behavioral premises about maladaptive emotion.
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Reference Note
Klass, E. T.Development of a situation-specific scale of guilt. Manuscript in preparation, 1981.
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The author is grateful to Robert Segal for his contributions to all phases of this project.
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Klass, E.T. A cognitive analysis of guilt over assertion. Cogn Ther Res 5, 283–297 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01193412
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01193412