Guilt Society

In cultural anthropology, a guilt culture, or guilt society, is the concept that the primary method of social control in a given society is the inculcation of feelings of guilt for behaviors that the individual believes to be undesirable. It is possible to classify societies, specifically apollonian ones, according to the emotions they use to control individuals, swaying them into norm obedience and conformity. According to this classification, a guilt culture is an alternative to a shame culture. Shame cultures are typically based on the concepts of pride and honour, and appearances are what counts, as opposed to individual conscience in guilt cultures. The distinction was first coined by E. R. Dodds in The Greeks and the Irrational (1951).

Anglo-Saxon England is particularly notable as a shame culture, and this trait survived even after its conversion to Christianity, which is typically a guilt culture. Other example of shame culture under Christianity are the cultures of Mexico, Andalusia and generally Christian Mediterranean societies.