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Originally Posted by SirBishop  Is guilt a learned emotion? |
Partly. Some emotions are instinctive but most as learned extensions of those instinctive ones. With guilt what you learn is to associate certain behaviours with the feeling that you've done something bad. The core of guilt is morality; when you accept a certain moral rule, for example "you must not have sex before marriage", if you break that rule then you feel bad because you believe you have done something you shouldn't do.
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Originally Posted by SirBishop Does it serve a purpose? |
Yes. We're a social species and without morality we would not be able to maintain the large societies that we do. Without internal guides to shape our behaviour in ways that benefit others we wouldn't be able to cooperate with each other. Guilt serves the purpose of encouraging us not to do things which might harm others or ourselves in some way. But since guilt is related to morality and morality is far more complex than that, there's a lot more to it.
Here's a good discussion of morality.
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Originally Posted by SirBishop Is it unnecessary? |
That depends on the specific cause of the guilt. As mentioned in response to the previous question, morality itself is necessary, and the emotion of guilt is useful, but specific experiences of guilt may not be. If we use the 'sex before marriage' example again, what if there's really no harm in having sex before marriage? Assuming that's the case then there's no use in feeling guilty. In the end you'd just end up feeling bad about doing something you enjoy.
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Originally Posted by SirBishop How does it root itself? |
Basically through social learning. At home, at school, in church, and everywhere else that you interact with others you're constantly observing what people say, what people do, how they and others react, and how they all feel. All of that combines in your mind to form a set of do's and don'ts.
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Originally Posted by SirBishop Why do some people feel more guilty than others? |
I think the answer to this question is even more complex than all the others. And all the others are far more complex than I've said. Basically it comes down to personality differences, and those differences are partly due to innate differences, things you're born with, and learned differences, the effects of the environment you grow up in. The kinds of people who tend to feel more guilty than others are people with low self-esteem, people who are more easily swayed by authority, and people who tend to feel anxious or nervous a lot, especially around other people.
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Originally Posted by SirBishop How do you overcome guilt? |
There are a few ways. You can try Jarrod's reflective method. It might work well if you're a generally relaxed person.
Other options include examining the specific belief which caused a specific experience of guilt. When you believe that you should act in a certain way and feel guilty when you don't, ask yourself why you believe you should act that way, and what you believe will happen if you don't. If you find that your belief is valid then you should also find the motivation to not do what you believe you shouldn't. It can be tough to change those habits which lead you to do the things you shouldn't do, but if you stay focused on the source of your beliefs (and the knowledge that the beliefs are valid) then the motivation that you experience will allow you to change those habits.