Exploring the relationship between shame, guilt, loneliness and peer interaction in a sample of Albanian 8-12 years old children

Author : Dr. Arlinda Ymeri, Dr. Fatjona Haka

Abstract :The overall goal of the current research is to is to explore the relationship between shame, guilt, loneliness and peer interaction in a sample of Albanian 8 – 12 years old children. It has a quantitative, descriptive design. The researcher is interested in exploring how these variables are related to one – another without interference in their relationship, on how aggression and victimization predict shame, guilt and loneliness and on several group differences. The sample consisted of 90 children (M = 9.38; SD = 3.76) between 8 to 12. They were recruited from a public elementary & middle school in the city of Shkodra, Albania using the cluster random sampling. 41 (45.5%) were females and 49 (54.5%) were males. Three measures were used, respectively: (1) Brief shame and guilt questionnaire for children (Novin & Rieffe, 2015); Children’s loneliness and social dissatisfaction scale (Asher, Hymel & Renshaw, 1984) and Peer interactions in primary school questionnaire (Tarshis & Huffman, 2007). Results showed a strong predictable relationship among shame and guilt, but no relationship at all with loneliness. Unexpectedly, none of the independent variables showed any relationships with bullying aggression. Results between independent variables and victimization were quite different. No relationship was notices between shame and victimization, while guilt and victimization had a small positive relationship. Lastly the relationship between loneliness and victimization was found to be negative. In terms of gender no significant differences were noted. Meanwhile the ability of independent variables to predict bullying aggression or victimization was statistically insignificant. Findings are discussed and compared to the contemporary literature and suggestions for future research are also given. In conclusion, we can state that the current research is a step not only in the exploration of the relationships between these variables, but also a look in the Albanian culture. Further exploration would be beneficial particularly for children, parents and schools.

Keywords :Shame, guilt, loneliness, per – interaction, middle childhood.

Conference Name :International Conference on Psychological, Educational, Health and Social Sciences (ICPEHSS-25)

Conference Place Zurich, Switzerland

Conference Date 14th Mar 2025