Relations of empathy and social responsibility to guilt feelings among undergraduate students.

Empathy and social responsibility as related to guilt feelings were investigated among undergraduate students. Subjects (337 men and 353 women) were assessed for guilt feelings, empathy, and social responsibility. The Guilt Inventory was used to assess guilt feelings. Analysis indicated that scores on the two empathy subscales, Fantasy and Personal Distress, were related to rated Trait Guilt and State Guilt, whereas Social Responsibility scores were associated with those on Moral Stan dards of the Guilt Inventory.