People who feel shame and remorse strongly make better friends, employees and partners, a study suggests.
Researchers asked participants to imagine what they would do in certain scenarios, then measured their responses on a "guilt and shame proneness" scale.
Those with higher levels of guilt were more likely to be trustworthy and caring, they found.
They are also more likely to be sympathetic, see other people's point of view, and consider the consequences of their behaviour.
According to researchers at Carnegie Mellon University, being prone to guilt is not the same thing as feeling guilty after doing something wrong.
Those who are guilt-prone anticipate having negative feelings before they do something morally wrong.