Features of experiencing guilt and shame in individuals with self-destructive behavior

Sergey Gorbatov; Elena Arbuzova; Vera Turanosova

VAK Russia 5.3.5 UDC 159.99

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FEATURES OF EXPERIENCING GUILT AND SHAME IN INDIVIDUALS WITH SELF-DESTRUCTIVE BEHAVIOR Features of experiencing guilt and shame in individuals with self-destructive behavior

АА Аа

Published in Russian Journal of Deviant Behavior · Volume 5, Issue 3 · Pages 414–432 · Rubric: Psychological research on deviant behavior

Received: 18.06.2025 Accepted: 12.09.2025 Published: 28.10.2025 Language of publication: RUS

Authors

Sergey Gorbatov

ORCID

Elena Arbuzova

ORCID

Vera Turanosova

ORCID

Sergey Gorbatov

Academic degree: candidate of psychological sciences

Science rang: docent

Regional Forensic Center Russian Federation

ORCID

Elena Arbuzova

Academic degree: candidate of psychological sciences

Science rang: docent

St. Petersburg State University Russian Federation

ORCID

Vera Turanosova

St. Petersburg State University Russian Federation

ORCID

ABSTRACT

Introduction. The article reveals the role of shame and guilt in regulating the behaviour of individuals who demonstrate a tendency towards self-harm. Research methods. In order to solve these tasks, the authors used methods such as the Guilt Questionnaire by K. Kugler and W. H. Jones, the Feelings and Emotions Questionnaire (PFQ2), the Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS-16), the brief version of the Personality Disorder Inventory for DSM-5 (PID-5-BF), and the Auto- and Heteropression Questionnaire (E. P. Ilyin). Results. The authors present the results of a comparative empirical study of young women (average age 22.5 years) in three groups with a total of 139 participants: a group of individuals engaging in non-suicidal self-harm, a group of individuals suffering from eating disorders (EAD) (prone to modifying their bodies through fasting and following special diets), and a control group of young women with no behavioural abnormalities. The results of the study lead to the conclusion that young women prone to self-harming behaviour experience intense feelings of shame and guilt more often than respondents in the control group, choose maladaptive methods of emotional regulation, and are prone to autoaggression. In both groups of respondents prone to self-harm, feelings of shame and guilt are closely linked to maladaptive methods of emotional regulation, dysfunctional personality traits, and self-directed aggression.

KEYWORDS

emotions of shame and guilt, self-harming behavior, dysfunctional personality traits, autoaggression

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