The British FA Test Responses

When reading through the responses from the 22 English participants it appears that they understand and prefer to use the word guilty both in relation to illegal actions, i.e. being guilty of committing an illegal act, as well as non-criminal acts, which – they call – ‘wrong actions’. Out of the total of 44 responses, 23 are instances of being ‘guilty’ of committing a criminal offence. These instances and references are found both in the General Descriptions and the Examples. The General Descriptions are:

‘Someone who is responsible for a crime…’ (GB3), ‘Also the word that is used when someone is convicted of a crime’ (GB8), ‘Someone who has done something wrong, possibly committed a crime’ (GB12), ‘The state of having committed a crime or sin – or associated feeling’ (GB13), ‘To be proven to have committed a crime of offence’

(GB14), ‘You have committed the crime, the opposite of innocent’ (GB15), ‘Guilty is when somebody has undertaken an act, which is commonly illegal’ (GB16), ‘…OR the legal sense of being convicted of something’ (GB21), ‘A person has committed a crime and is found to be the one who done it’ (GB22).

Examples of specific criminal actions or situations are given below:

‘The murderer was found guilty’ (GB1), ‘He was guilty of the murder’ (GB2), ‘He is guilty of Jane Doe’s murder’ (GB3), ‘In a court, for example; “You have been found guilty”’ (GB4), ‘He was found guilty of 1^st degree murder’ (GB8), ‘He was found guilty of murder’ (GB9), ‘He was found guilty of murder’ (GB11), ‘That man is guilty

of murder’ (GB12), ‘He was found guilty of the murder’ (GB13), ‘She was found guilty of plotting a murder’ (GB14), ‘You have been found guilty of committing the crime’ (GB15), ‘He was found guilty of theft’ (GB16), ‘He was found guilty. He was guilty of the crime’ (GB19).

Although being ‘guilty’ according to the law is serious thing, it is not an emotion, i.e. there is a difference between being ‘found guilty’ of doing something and ‘feeling guilty’. Nevertheless, as this study is interested in lay people’s understanding and use of the word guilty, not the actual emotion, it is still worth considering the references to legal guilt in the participants’ understanding of the word. To be guilty of a criminal offence according to the law is perhaps the most obvious use of guilty, but the majority of the participants refer to both legal guilt and emotional guilt in their general descriptions. When the participants do not refer to being guilty of an illegal act, they offer examples of being and feeling guilty of what they call ‘wrong or bad’ actions that may sometimes affect other people in a negative manner:

‘The opposite of innocent. Culpable’ (GB1), ‘someone has been proved to have done something wrong’ (GB2), ‘ …or someone who feels responsible for something, but it may or may not be their fault’ (GB3), ‘Someone is guilty when they have done something bad or wrong’ (GB4), ‘someone who has done something wrong and feels bad about it’ (GB5), ‘When someone feels that they have hindered someone else in a negative way, that person usually feels guilty’ (GB6), ‘It is an insecure feeling’ (GB7),

‘Guilt is an emotion that one feels when they have remorse for an action they have done and regret. Normally as a result of hurting someone. (GB8), ‘The sinking feeling when someone knows they have done something wrong’ (GB9), ‘A feeling when you know you have done something you shouldn’t and have potentially upset someone as a consequence’ (GB10), ‘If something is someone’s fault’ (GB11), ‘OR to feel bad for something you’ve done’ (GB14), ‘having done something bad’ (GB17), ‘Something negative you have been found to have done. An emotion after doing something you regret’ (GB18), ‘Someone has done something – usually a bad thing’ (GB19), ‘Guilty

means that you have done something that you feel is not right and you resent having done it’ (GB20), ‘the feeling of regret after doing something wrong…’ (GB21)

It appears from the responses above that ‘feeling guilty’ involves an action that may or may not affect other people and, most importantly, to regret having committed that act.

When the participants use the expression is guilty, i.e. guilty as a description of an individual’s persona, it is mostly used to describe people other than themselves, i.e. not I, but he or she. By investigating the use of the pronoun I in the responses, it is possible so see how the participants position themselves with regard to ‘feeling or being guilty’. In the General Descriptions, there is no use of I; nor are there any other first-person references. In fact, some of the general descriptions are so abstract – or vague – that they do not even include a specific subject:

‘The opposite of innocent. Culpable’ (GB1), ‘It is a insecure feeling’ (GB7), ‘The state of having committed a crime or sin – or associated feeling’ (GB13), ‘having done something bad’ (GB17), ‘the feeling of regret after doing something wrong OR the legal sense of being convicted of something’ (GB21)

When a specific subject is employed, it is mostly in the form of the pronouns someone,somebody, or the general you:

‘someone has been proved...’ (GB2), ‘Someone who is responsible for a crime or someone who feels responsible for something…’ (GB3), ‘Someone is guilty when…’

(GB4), ‘someone who has done something…’ (GB5), ‘When someone feels that…’

(GB6), ‘Guilt is an emotion that one feels…Also applicable to saying that someone is responsible for something’ (GB8), ‘…when someone knows they have done something wrong…when someone is convicted of a crime’ (GB9), ‘A feeling where you know you have done something you shouldn’t…’(GB10), ‘If something is someone’s fault’ (GB11), ‘Someone who has done something wrong…’(GB 12),

‘…To feel bad for something you’ve done’ (GB14), ‘You have committed a crime…’

(GB15), ‘…when somebody has undertaken an act…’ (GB16), ‘Something negative

that you have been found to have done. An emotion after doing something you regret’

(GB18), ‘Someone has done something – usually a bad thing’ (GB19), ‘…you have done something that you feel is not right and you resent having done it’ (GB20), ‘A person has committed a crime…’ (GB22)

Conversely, in the participants’ Examples of how they use guilty, we find nine instances of the use ofIor related forms ofI:

‘stop making me feel guilty, I haven’t done anything. I’ve got this horrible guilty feeling’ (GB5), ‘If I forget to do something a friend has asked me to do I feel guilty’

(GB6), ‘I felt guilty for reading her diary’ (GB9), ‘I went out last night, and didn’t invite my friend – now I feel guilty’ (GB10), ‘I feel slightly guilty for leaving the washing up on the side’ (GB12), ‘”I feel so guilty for lying to her”’ (GB14), ‘I am guilty of eating the last piece of chocolate cake’ (GB15), ‘If i was to have done something to hurt someone else…in a joking context (if someone said do you think he’s attractive i’d say guilty)’ (GB18), ‘”I feel really guilty about this”’ (GB21)

It is worth noting that, despite a few unspecified situations (GB5 and GB21) the majority of the situations and actions mentioned in the examples above are all minor, non-moral offences. Except for a few lies and violations of privacy, the actions involving Iwhen feeling ‘guilty’ are all actions with limited, if any, consequences for people other than the wrongdoers. Some of the actions mentioned above as the cause of ‘guilt’ are in fact non-actions, i.e. the feeling of ‘guilt’ arises from not doing something, such as not doing what is asked of you, not inviting people, and not doing the

‘washing up’. These actions are in stark contrast to the criminal acts mentioned and which are never performed by I. When giving examples of criminal acts, the participants refer to other people as the active agents by using personal pronouns such as he or she, never themselves, i.e. I, or me. In this way they manage to distance themselves from criminal activity and avoid creating an image of themselves as capable of committing crimes. Perhaps this distance is what makes the descriptions and examples of ‘guilty’ in relation to criminal offences less detailed compared to the examples

including I. These are often more specific and include more details. In other words, it is difficult for them to give details of something they have little if any experience with.

In many of the descriptions and examples given, the ‘guilt’ is decided by people other than the actual guilty person, i.e. others deem the wrongdoer ‘guilty’, or in the words of the participants, the offender is ‘found guilty’ by others. In contrast, when feel guiltyis used, it is mostly in relation to so-called moral and social transgressions such as lying, being in love with someone, reading a diary, or hurting other people’s feelings – in other words, actions that are not illegal according to the law but condemned by unwritten cultural, moral, and societal rules:

‘She feels guilty about skipping ahead of the queue’ (GB3), ‘Stop making me feel guilty, I haven’t done anything. I got this horrible guilty feeling’ (GB5), ‘If I forget to do something a friend asked me to do I feel guilty’ (GB6), ‘He felt guilty for hitting Hollie’ (GB8), ‘I felt guilty for reading her diary’ (GB9), ‘I went out last night, and I didn’t invite my friend – now I feel guilty’ (GB10), ‘I feel slightly guilty leaving the washing up on the side’ (GB12), ‘I feel so guilty for lying to her’ (GB14), ‘She felt guilty for hurting his feelings’ (GB 20), ‘I feel really guilty about this’ (GB21).

Furthermore, in these examples, the feeling of ‘guilt’ is decided by the wrongdoers only. In other words, the individuals feeling guilty have not been evaluated, proven, or found guilty by outsiders.

Instead it is the wrongdoers themselves who judge their own actions against the code of their own moral standards of right and wrong, or even against what they believe others may think is right or wrong in the specific situation. In other words, the wrongdoers know they have done something wrong, or something that might be considered wrong by others, and evaluate themselves accordingly. Based on this, it may be possible to make the distinction that the state of beingguilty is decided by other people, external standards, and judgement, whereas feeling guilty is dependent on one’s own internal standards and judgement, or standards one thinks other people might judge one against. For example, in the phrase ‘I feel slightly guilty leaving the washing up on the side’

(GB12), it appears that the transgressor, I, thinks it is acceptable to leave the washing up, although, the transgressor also believes that other people might find it unacceptable. As a consequence, the transgressor feels guilty because the act of leaving the dirty dishes for later is evaluated against

other people’s standards of proper behaviour. However, this evaluation by others does not have to be real but could also be imagined, i.e. the wrongdoers only need to imagine the judgement from others in order to feel guilty. Most importantly, it seems that in order to feel guilty the wrongdoers have to be aware of having done something that may be considered wrong or bad, either by themselves or by others:

‘…or someone who feels responsible for something…’ (GB2), ‘Someone who has done something wrong and feels bad about it’ (GB5), ‘when someone feels that they have hindered someone else in a negative way, that person usually feels guilty’ (GB6),

‘Guilt is an emotion that one feels when they have remorse for an action that they have done and regret. Normally as a result of hurting someone. Also applicable to say that someone is responsible for something’ (GB8), ‘The sinking feeling when someone knows they have done something wrong’ (GB9), ‘A feeling where you know you have done something you shouldn’t and potentially upset someone as a consequence’

(GB10), ‘Someone who has done something wrong…Feel morally wrong about their actions (GB12), ‘To feel bad for something you’ve done’ (GB14), ‘An emotion after doing something you regret’ (GB18), ‘Guilty means that you have done something that you feel is not right and you resent having done it’ (GB20), ‘The feeling of regret after doing something wrong’ (GB21).

Conversely, it appears that in order to be or feel guilty, it does not matter if the guilty individuals themselves consider the act to be acceptable or not; the important point is that other people consider the act committed to be bad:

‘Someone had proved to have done something’ (GB2), ‘Someone who is responsible for a crime’, ‘She was guilty of being in love with him’ (GB3), ‘Someone is guilty when they have done something bad or wrong’ (GB4),‘If something is someone’s fault’ (GB11), ‘The state of having committed a crime or sin – or associated feeling’

(GB13), ‘To be proven to have committed a crime or offence’ (GB14), ‘You have committed the crime, opposite of innocent’ (GB15), ‘Having done something bad’

(GB17), ‘Something negative you have found to have done’ (GB18), ‘Someone has done something – usually a bad thing’ (GB19)

In these examples people are considered to be guilty of a wrongdoing, but that does not entail that they necessarily feel ‘guilty’.

It is noteworthy that even though there appears to be little if any agreement on a distinct non-verbal display of feeling or being guilty, a few of the participants mention a look of ‘guilt’ in their examples, e.g. ‘The dog looks guilty, perhaps he ate that chocolate’ (GB1), ‘He’s got such a guilty look on his face’ (GB4), and ‘She looked guilty as sin’ (GB13). In fact, even the dictionary refers to the look of ‘guilt’ in one of its example phrases ‘John had a guilty look on his face’.⁷ This suggests that people may in fact attach a facial expression to ‘guilt’, but perhaps feeling and being guilty is too complex an emotion to express in the face alone and even more so in a still photograph.

In other words, it may be that being or feeling guilty is not a single emotional state, but rather a succession of emotional states, thereby making it impossible to capture the emotion by means of a single expression. Consequently, it is possible that the non-verbal expression of ‘guilt’ is not a matter of looking guilty but rather of acting guilty, or perhaps both.

Based on the examples and descriptions above, it is possible to argue that the native English speakers understand and use the word guiltyto describe an offence or wrongdoing an individual is aware of having committed, feels bad about and regrets it. Furthermore, the offence may have affected other people negatively and may be considered to be wrong or inappropriate by other people. The situations and actions about which the British participants feel ‘guilty’ range from criminal offences to offences that are non-criminal but may be considered wrong or bad either by other people or the offenders themselves. These actions may be violations of moral standards such as lying and hurting others, as well as violations of minor social norms such as eating too much cake, leaving the dishes, and not inviting a friend to go out.

7http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/guilty?q=guilty