Men feel less guilty than women
Researches show that men feel significantly less guilt than women. From forgetting to post a birthday card to starting an affair, the males are less likely to feel remorse, sorrow, empathy or anger.
It could also shed light on why untrue husbands or boyfriends often refuse to admit they are wrong, even when all the evidence is stacked against them.
The problem, the study said, is not that women feel too much guilt – but that men feel too little.
Researchers questioned almost 300 men and women aged between 15 and 50 about the sort of everyday situations that left them feeling guilty. The results showed that the women worried far more about hurting other people. Men, by contrast, were more self-centred. In general, the women felt significantly higher levels of guilt and were more prone to feeling angry with themselves if they felt that they had hurt someone else, the Journal of Psycholfromogy reports.
‘Educational practices and a whole range of socialising agents must be used to reduce the trend towards anxious-aggressive guilt among women and to strengthen interpersonal sensitivity among men,’ said researcher.
But too much guilt is not necessarily a good thing, with previous research showing that worriers have weaker immune systems.
Even watching your favourite show on TV could undermine your defences against disease if you are worrying you should be getting on with the housework instead, say psychologists.
A separate Hull University study found those who felt guilty about enjoying pleasures such as a lie in or eating chocolate had fewer key antibodies in their saliva than those who simply enjoyed what life had to offer.
The researchers concluded: ‘We should be more positive about taking pleasure, especially in everyday simple things. We should all take more time to smell the flowers.’ From Daily Mail
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