In response to a setback or failure at work, an employee can feel shame or guilt. With shame, the person may continue to feel humiliated and take no practical steps to addressing the initial setback or failure. However, with guilt, the person will be motivated to take some sort of corrective action. Researchers in this study (Bohns & Flynn, 2013) assert that guilt, as compared to shame, is a more adaptive emotional reaction to setbacks in the workplace.
Further, the authors argue that in order to foster guilt and discourage shame, a business should create an environment in which there is a sense of autonomy, specific performance feedback, and outcome independence. This is based on the assumption that people feel guilty when they feel that they have control over negative outcomes and that the negative outcomes harmed others.
Bohns, V. K., & Flynn, F. J. (2013). Guilt by design: Structuring organizations to elicit guilt as an affective reaction to failure. Organization Science, 24(4), 1157–1173.
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