Are feelings of collective guilt really an issue in adulthood?

Background: People can also feel guilty for transgressions perpetrated by members of the own social group, even without own responsibility. In this brief report, we want to provide empirical information on how frequent such feelings of collective guilt (FCG) in adults may be.

Methods: A cross-sectional web-based survey was conducted (2019/05-2020/04), collecting qualitative information on openly asked reasons for feeling guilty in n=604 German adults (mean/SD age=45.3/16.4 years; n=346/57.3% women). Stated reasons were rated as reflecting FCG or not. Agreement between the raters was assessed using Cohen’s kappa.

Results: Reasons stated by six (1.0%) of the 604 adults were classified as reflecting FCG (Cohen's kappa=0.664; p<0.001). Reasons stated by two of the adults referred to transgressions committed by Germans during the time of Nazi Germany. Reasons stated by the remaining four adults referred to privileges one may feel guilty also as a member of a certain social group (e.g.; “I live in the West/North and I am White.”). No FCG related to other potentially important sources such as racial or gender inequality/discrimination were expressed.

Conclusions: Feelings of collective guilt seem not to play a vital role in the everyday emotional experiences in adulthood.