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.