Remorse is an emotional expression of personal regret felt by a person after he or she has committed an act which they deem to be shameful, hurtful, or violent. Remorse is closely allied to guilt and self-directed resentment. When a person regrets an earlier action or failure to act, it may be because of remorse or in response to various other consequences, including being punished for the act or omission. In a legal context, the perceived remorse of an offender is assessed by Western justice systems during trials, sentencing, parole hearings, and in restorative justice. However, it has been pointed out that epistemological problems arise in assessing an offender's level of remorse.
A person who is incapable of feeling remorse is often labelled with antisocial personality disorder - as characterized in the DSM IV-TR. In general, a person needs to be unable to feel fear, as well as remorse, in order to develop psychopathic traits. Legal and business professions such as insurance have done research on the expression of remorse via apologies, primarily because of the potential litigation and financial implications.
Read more about Remorse: Studies, Falsified Expressions of Remorse, Psychological Disorder Aspects, Forgiveness, Remorse Versus Self-condemnation, Buyer's Remorse, In Marketing
Famous quotes containing the word remorse:
“I think remorse ought to stop biting the consciences that feed it.”
—Ogden Nash (1902–1971)
“What a devil art thou, Poverty! How many desires—how many aspirations after goodness and truth—how many noble thoughts, loving wishes toward our fellows, beautiful imaginings thou hast crushed under thy heel, without remorse or pause!”
—Walt Whitman (1819–1892)
“On the throne, one has many worries; and remorse is the one that weighs the least.”
—Jean Racine (1639–1699)