成人的良知與體貼的個性在嬰幼兒時代就已經開始成形了。兩套心理機制的發展，決定了一個人是否有良好的行為（良知與體貼的個性）：一是自制力，一是罪惡感。一個嬰兒誕生的第二年就開始感覺得到罪惡感了，有些是因為天賦的秉性，有些是因為父母的教養方式。缺乏罪惡感通常會發展成反社會人格。對於罪惡感缺乏的人而言，自制力就更加重要了。
Guilt and Atonement On the Path to Adulthood
By JOHN TIERNEY
Published: August 25, 2009
Here is an experiment you don't want to try at home.
Show a toy -- a doll, say, or a model boat -- to a toddler and explain that it it's something special you've had since you were little. Ask the child to be ''very careful'' with it. Hand over the toy, which appears to be in fine condition, except that you've secretly rigged it to break spectacularly as soon as the child handles it.
rig v. 1. (用不正當手段)操縱;對…預先做手腳 2. 偽造
3. 詭計,騙局,騙人的把戲,惡作劇
When your precious toy falls apart, express regret by mildly saying, ''Oh, my.'' Then sit still and observe the child. The point is not to permanently traumatize anyone -- the researchers who performed this experiment quickly followed it with a ritual absolving the child of blame. But first, for 60 seconds after the toy broke, the psychologists recorded every reaction as the toddlers squirmed, avoided the experimenter's gaze, hunched their shoulders, hugged themselves and covered their faces with their hands. squirm vi. 1. (像蟲子那樣)蠕動,扭動前進;扭動身體
2. 侷促不安,覺得不好意思
It was part of a long-term study at the University of Iowa to isolate the effects of two distinct mechanisms that help children become considerate, conscientious adults. One mechanism, measured in other experiments testing toddlers' ability to resist temptations, is called effortful self-control -- how well you can think ahead and deliberately suppress impulsive behavior that hurts yourself and others. The other mechanism is less rational and is especially valuable for children and adults with poor self-control. It's the feeling measured in that broken-toy experiment: guilt, or what children diagnose as a ''sinking feeling in the tummy.'' Guilt in its many varieties -- Puritan, Catholic, Jewish, etc. -- has often gotten a bad rap, but psychologists keep finding evidence of its usefulness. Too little guilt clearly has a downside -- most obviously in sociopaths who feel no remorse, but also in kindergartners who smack other children and snatch their toys. Children typically start to feel guilt in their second year of life, says Grazyna Kochanska, who has been tracking children's development for two decades in her laboratory at the University of Iowa. Some children's temperament makes them prone to guilt, she said, and some become more guilt-prone thanks to parents and other early influences. rap n. informal The least bit
sociopath n. [精神病學]反社會者因人格異常而具有反社會行為的人
'Children respond with acute and intense tension and negative emotions when they are tempted to misbehave, or even anticipate violating norms and rules,'' Dr. Kochanska said. ''They remember, often subconsciously, how awful they have felt in the past.'' In Dr. Kochanska's latest studies, published in the August issue of The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, she and colleagues found that 2-year-olds who showed more chagrin during the broken-toy experiment went on to have fewer behavioral problems over the next five years. That was true even for the ones who scored low on tests measuring their ability to focus on tasks and suppress strong desires to act impulsively. chagrin vt. 使悔恨,使懊惱 be [feel] chagrined at 因…而悔恨.
n. 悔恨,懊惱
''If you have high guilt,'' Dr. Kochanska said, ''it's such a rapid response system, and the sensation is so incredibly unpleasant, that effortful control doesn't much matter.'' But self-control was critical to children in the studies who were low in guilt, because they still behaved well if they had high self-control. 'Even if you don't have that sinking feeling in the tummy, you can still suppress impulses,'' Dr. Kochanska said. ''You can stop and remember what your parents told you. You can stop and reflect on the consequences for others and yourself.'' But what if your child lacks both self-control and guilt? What can you do? And should you feel guilty for doing a lousy job of parenting? Well, you could blame yourself, although researchers haven't been able to link any particular pattern of parenting to children's levels of guilt, says June Tangney, a psychologist at George Mason University. But Dr. Tangney, who has studied guilt extensively in both children and adults, including prison inmates, does have some advice for parents. (To offer your thoughts on parents and guilt, go to nytimes.com/tierneylab.) http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E03E2DB1630F936A1575BC0A96F9C8B63
The story was taken from the New York Times, and its copyright remains with The New York Times Company. The author and The New York Times are not involved with, nor endorse the production of this blog.
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