Sex differences in expected guilt reactions to hypothetical behaviors of sexual, hostile, and moral substance

Abstract

Differences between male and female guilt reactions to hypothetical guilt-inducing situations of a sexual, hostile, and moral nature were investigated. Two independent samples of Ss (56 men, 56 women; and 34 men, 62 women) reported the intensity of their anticipated guilt reactions to 60 hypothetical behavior situations presented in sentence-completion format through the use of scaled response alternatives. Across both samples there were specific behaviors, in which stable sex differences were evidenced, i.e., females' reactions were more intense for those behaviors reflecting sexual transgressions. However, males and females were highly similar in their reactions to hostile and moral guilt-provoking situations. Implications of these results for research on trait-guilt were discussed.