E-ISSN : 2733-4538
The present study examined mechanisms by which trait and state guilt become associated with obsessive compulsive symptoms. Specifically, it was hypothesized that ‘Not Just Right Experiences (NJREs)’ would mediate the relationship between guilt and obsessive compulsive symptoms. Participants were 190 undergraduate students. Participants were randomly assigned to either the guilt induced condition or the neutral emotion induced condition. Trait guilt and state guilt were assessed using self-report questionnaires before and after the emotion induction procedure, respectively. Subsequently, participants engaged in a rearranging task designed to measure their state NJREs, and provided ratings of their state NJREs and obsessive compulsive symptoms questionnaires. Results of hierarchical regression analyses indicated that trait guilt significantly predicted obsessive compulsive symptoms, and this association was mediated by state NJREs. Unexpectedly, emotion induction condition was not significantly related to levels of obsessive compulsive symptoms. However, when state guilt scores were included in the model, there was a significant indirect effect of state guilt on obsessive compulsive symptoms mediated by state NJREs. The implications and limitations of this study are discussed.
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