A Study By Stanford University
7
A Study on The Connection Between Guilt and Responsibilty- Stanford University School of Business
In a study done by two Stanford GSB researchers, Schaumberg and Flynn, an interesting link between guilt and responsibility was found. What was found was that the one's that were tested to be "guilt-prone" rather than "shame-prone" were stronger leaders. Thus being able to take on more and heavier responsibility. The guilt-prone one's generally took a leadership role when put
with others to perform tasks. Through the analyz-
ation of this study it is clear that responsibility truly does
play a role in decision making and is a powerful
emotion. As is clearly shown in the study, the one's that did not ignore their guilt and push it aside with shame were the greatest leaders. This directly relates to what happened in Macbeth. Lady Macbeth essentially forced Macbeth to ignore his guilt using put-downs, manlihood strikes, and other sorts of low blows. Because Macbeth ignored his guilt and did not do what was morally right, he was doomed from the beginning. This study clearly shows that those that are "shame-prone" and do not
experience the same feelings of guilt are naturally inclined to not be as strong leaders. Therefore, becuase of Macbeth's shame-prone, guilt suppressing nature induced by the ways of Lady Macbeth, he was condemned to be a poor leader from the very start. So, in terms of responsibility, Macbeth should have never even be trusted to be responsible for himself, let alone the entire country of Scotland. Had Macbeth heeded his guilty conscience, and done what was morally right, then he would have realized what a severe mistake he was about to make. Yet he allowed his wife to misguide him. With his attempts to suppress his guilt that he should have heeded from the beginning, he reduced himself and his country ruins.
~By Marina Krakovsy