In the wake of horrific genocides and even less less-scale tragedies, often there are those left behind who wonder why they are alive while others- friends, family, peers, and even strangers- have been killed. The term survivor guilt has been created to describe “an unpleasant emotion associated with surviving a tragic event involving much loss of life.”
Certain historical events have been evaluated numerously with respect to survivor guilt- for example, the Holocaust and World Wars in general, or the September 11th terrorist attacks. Guilt is thus an interpersonal emotion. Survivor guilt in particular may be partly constructive by making the survivor motivated to help others in relief efforts and commiserating in grief.
For a more recent occurrence, consider the Virginia Tech shootings. Students who survived the attacks often experienced survivor guilt. A particularly heart-wrenching instance of this was the fourth-year student Colin Goddard, who was even wounded by three bullets (and needed surgery afterwards) yet still survived.
A study on hospitalized Nigerian army veterans brings the discussion about soldier’s survivor guilt back to the forefront. The study was designed to investigate post-traumatic stress disorder, survivor guilt, and substance use. 38% of respondees showed significant instances of survivor guilt. In addition, survivor guilt was associated with avoidance of trauma-related stimuli, but not with duration of combat exposure. This finding suggests that one long-lasting effect of this type of guilt is avoidance of stimuli reminding the individual of the past event. This is somewhat opposite to the idea that survivor guilt can sometimes inspire individuals to put their efforts towards constructive measures in the aftermath of the incident.
Ultimately, survivor guilt and the behaviors it causes in an individual depend largely on the characteristics of the survivor. However, it has been shown that such guilt can bring about both positive and negative reactions, both of which have the capability to influence others. Survivor guilt, like guilt in general, is a highly interpersonal emotion.
Web of Science Article: http://apps.isiknowledge.com/full_record.do?product=WOS&search_mode=GeneralSearch&qid=7&SID=3Ck1FkfDiJd23nAOjIo&page=1&doc=9
http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-162533668.html
Baumeister, R. F., & Bushman, B. J. (2008). Social psychology and human nature.
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