Self-conscious Emotions and Self-forgiveness among Jordanian Substance Abusers

Abstract

Substance abusers experience self-conscious emotions, such as shame and guilt, which may create conditions of maladjusted coping through more substance abuse. Self-forgiveness, as an emotion-focused coping strategy, has an adaptive capability to relinquish these painful emotions. Nevertheless, a humble number of research and investigation have been conducted to investigate such hypotheses in clinical settings, especially in a Jordanian context. The current study aims at investigating the relationship between the self-conscious emotions of shame and guilt and self-forgiveness among Jordanian substance abusers. Participants are 100 Jordanian substance abusers )100% male( receiving residential treatment for substance abuse in two addiction treatment centers in Jordan. Respondents have filled out self-report measures of shame, guilt, and self-forgiveness. Results indicate that there is a statistically significant negative relationship between the selfconscious emotions of shame and self-forgiveness While the emotions of guilt have a statistically insignificant negative relationship with self-forgiveness. Furthermore, results indicate that shame and guilt predict only R2 = 0.10 of the variances in self-forgiveness which is very weak. Finally, results reveal a low level of shame, a high level of guilt, and a moderate level of self-forgiveness among Jordanian substance abusers.