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Guilt and Shame Experience Scale (GSES)
Updated over 4 months ago

Brief Description

The Guilt and Shame Experience Scale (GSES) is a psychometric tool designed to measure the experiences and intensity of guilt and shame in individuals. It assesses these emotions through a series of self-report items, typically focusing on personal reactions to specific situations or behaviors. The measure provides assessment for two subscales of guilt, which is associated with feelings of remorse and responsibility for one's actions, and shame, which relates to a negative evaluation of the self. The GSES is a newer tool, developed in 2019, and is used in clinical settings to understand the role of these emotions in mental health and behavioral outcomes, aiding in the development of targeted interventions.


Assessment Administration Type

Self-report


Number of questions

8


Age Range for Administration

13+


Recommended Frequency of Administration

No recommended standard frequency. Blueprint recommends every 2 weeks or as clinically indicated.


Summary of Scoring and Interpretations

The Guilt and Shame Experience Scale contains 8 questions on a 4 point Likert scale with values ranging from 1 ("Not at all") to 4 ("Significantly") based on the respondent’s experience of guilt and shame. The total score can range from 8 to 32, with higher scores indicating higher experiences of guilt and shame. The assessment includes two subscales: guilt and shame; subscale scores are calculated by summing the corresponding item responses (see table below).

Subscale

Corresponding Items

Guilt

2, 4, 6, 8

Shame

1, 3, 5, 7


Blueprint Adjustments

N/A


Clinical Considerations

  • Estimated completion time: 2-4 minutes.

  • This is a fairly new measure and research has not been conducted on its use with diverse populations.


Citation


Relevant Articles + Further Resources


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