Bidirectional relations between guilt/shame and moral sensitivity: a two-wave cross-lagged analysis

Emotions, particularly social moral emotions, are believed to play a critically important role in moral development. Although it is of great theoretical and practical significance to improve individual morality, especially moral sensitivity, from the perspective of moral emotion, little attention has been paid to investigating the causal mechanisms between moral emotions and moral sensitivity. Therefore, through a longitudinal study, the current study explored the causal relationship between moral sensitivity and the typical moral emotions (guilt and shame) from empathy theory and cognitive appraisal theory of emotions. A total of 668 adolescents completed the two-wave survey over two years. We explored the causal association between moral emotions and moral sensitivity using the structural equation model. The cross-lagged analysis showed a reciprocal relationship between guilt and moral sensitivity, whereas shame did not have a unidirectional or bidirectional predictive relationship with moral sensitivity. This is the first research that reveals the significance of guilt as a moral emotion to enhance moral sensitivity. The finding offered a new practical and theoretical viewpoint for promoting individual moral development from the perspective of social moral emotional cultivation.