Table 2.

Supercategories/categories of stated reasons for feeling guilty

Supercategory/category	Examples of statements made by the study participants
1 Feelings of guilt related to partner/spouse
1.1 Divorce/break up	“Breaking-up with partner.”; “Leaving my wife for a colleague.”
1.2 Cheating/having affair(s)	“I cheated on my husband.”; “I kissed a woman other than my partner.”
1.3 Changing/lacking feelings in relationship/marriage	“I started a relationship without feelings.”; “I don’t love my husband and just stand everything.”
1.4 Problems/issues in relationship/marriage (general; other than 1.1–1.3)	“Neglected my husband.”; “Spending too much time for own interests in marriage.”
2 Feelings of guilt related to child(ren)
2.1 Termination of contact to child(ren)	“Having no contact to my daughter.”; “Haven’t seen my daughter for 25 years.”
2.2 Not spending (enough) time with child(ren)/Not taking (enough) care of child(ren)/not being there for child(ren)	“Not enough time spent with my child.”; “Going back to work soon after giving birth.”
2.3 Faults in education/misbehavior towards child(ren)	“Being too strict with my children.”; “Smoked in the presence of my children.”
2.4 Certain living conditions of child(ren)	“My son is a child of divorce.”; “Children have to manage with little money.”
2.5 Other/unspecific reasons for feelings of guilt towards child(ren)	“I feel guilty, when I cannot keep my promises to my children.”; “Feelings of guilt towards my children.”
3 Feelings of guilt related to family (members)
3.1 Termination of contact to family (members)	“No contact to family.”; “No contact to sister.”
3.2 Not spending (enough) time with family (members)/Not taking (enough) care of family (members)/not being there for family (members)	“Do not take enough care for my widowed mother.”; “Don’t have enough time for my family.”
3.3 Misbehavior towards/bad thinking of family (members)	“I treated my parents disrespectfully.”; “Did hurt brother.”
3.4 Conflict/argument with family (members)	“Argument with my sister.”; “Conflicts with my parents.”
3.5 Disappointing/belying expectations of family (members)	“My parents pay a lot of money for my university study, but I have bad grades.”; “Having disappointed my father.”
3.6 Certain living conditions of family (members)	“Mother in nursing home.”; “Had to move far away because of my job – bad for family.”
3.7 Other/unspecific reasons for feelings of guilt towards family (members)	“Family matters.”; “Situation in family.”
4 Feelings of guilt related to other people (not specifically spouse/partner, children or family members)
4.1 Neglecting someone/not taking (enough) care of someone/not being there for someone	“I neglected a friend.“; “Supported friends not enough.“
4.2 Misbehavior towards/bad thinking of someone	“Taking advantage of people.”; “I said hurtful words to someone.”
4.3 Conflict/argument/communication problem with someone	“Argument with a person.”; “Argument with friends.”
4.4 Disappointing/Belying expectations of someone	“Having disappointed someone.”; “Because of the feeling of not belying the expectations of others.”
4.5 Not helping someone	“I promised someone to help moving, but then I didn’t do it.”; “Didn’t help a person, I was close to.”
4.6 Feelings of guilt related to people at work (colleagues, employees, superiors, clients, customers etc.)	“Dispute with coworker.“; “I am not sufficiently available for all of my customers.”
5 Feelings of guilt related to animals1	“I was cruel to animals in my childhood.“; “The death of my she-dog last year.”
6 Feelings of guilt related to a subjectively perceived responsibility
6.1 For life (situations, events, circumstances) and death (circumstances) of others/for not being able to help/support	“I couldn’t prevent the suicide of my mother.”; “For the severe heart disease of my child.”
6.2 For own diseases/own disorders/own traumatic experiences	“I am sick too often.”; “Didn’t defend myself against being raped.“
6.3 For surviving	“I survived cancer. Others are dying of it.“; “My brother died when he was a kid and I live.“
6.4 For having a better life than other people/Doing not enough against the problems on the world	“That I live at the expense of the people in the Third World.”; “Doing little for the environment.“
7 Feelings of guilt related to religious beliefs (committing sins; misconduct in the eyes of God)1	“I broke God’s commandments.“; “Sins.”
8 Feelings of guilt related to certain circumstances
8.1 Being dependent on someone	“Living on my parents’ money.”; “Because always someone has to give me ride.“
8.2 Financial situation/debts/handling of finances	“I owed a friend money.”; “Credits.”
8.3 Situation/problems at work	“I didn`t do my job properly.”; “Didn’t finish my work in time.”
8.4 Unemployment/incapacity for work/early retirement	“Lost my job.”; “Because I’m unemployed and don’t find a job.”
9 Feelings of guilt related to misconduct/mistakes being made
9.1 Stealing something	“Stole a toy from my cousin.”; “Stole something from a store, when I was a kid.”
9.2 Criminal acts/infringement (not or not specifically stealing)	“Criminal behaviour.”; “Fraud.”
9.3 Telling lies/withholding truth/information	“Lied to my best friend.”; “Concealment of an event that has taken place and subsequent lies.”
9.4 Betraying someone/being indiscrete/committing a breach of confidence	“Gave away a secret.”; “Betrayal.”
9.5 Self-inflicted accidents/damages	“Self-inflicted car accident.”; “Car accident – talked too much as co-driver – driver was distracted.”
9.6 Other/unspecific misconduct/mistakes being made	“Behaved unethically.”; “Misconduct.”
10 Feelings of guilt related to decisions (having made bad/ wrong decisions; regretting decisions; being uncertain about decisions)1	“I made the wrong decision concerning my profession.“; “Abortion.”
11 Feelings of guilt related to negative self-attributions/flaws
11.1 Not achieving something/failure	“I do not make something of my life (abandoned several study programs, no vocational training….”; “I didn’t finish my dissertation.”
11.2 Procrastination/waste of time/being lazy/inactive/powerless/ unmotivated	“Didn’t help enough with the housework.”; “Procrastination concerning important tasks.”
11.3 Unfavourable health behavior/self-indulgence	“I do smoke.”; “I don’t take enough care for my body.”
11.4 Being unable to cope with something	“Cannot handle the disease of my husband.”; “My son – 17 – has Asperger’s syndrome. Because of him, I am often stretched to my limits. Sometimes, I would like to put him into a facility.”
11.5 Being unpunctional/unreliable/forgetful	“Unpunctuality.”; “Forgetting important things/appointments.”
11.6 Being selfish/egoistic/egocentric	“Egoism.”; “I am too self-centered.”
11.7 Being not empathetic	“Not enough empathy.”; “Lack of empathy.”
11.8 Being unfair	“Being not fair.”; “Unfairness.”
11.9 Being envious/jealous	“Being joyful, when I have better grades than my fellow students.”; “Sibling jealousy.”
11.10 Being impulsive/angry	“Being impulsive against certain people.”; “When I sometimes got hot-tempered and thus couldn’t control myself.”
11.11 Being anxious	“Fears of failure.”; “Being anxious.”
11.12 Being dissatisfied	“Dissatisfaction.”; “Self-inflicted dissatisfaction.”
11.13 Other/unspecific negative self-attributions/flaws	“Having been naïve and trustful.”; “Personality.”
12 General, unspecific, or vaguely formulated reasons for feelings of guilt1	“General reasons.”; “Life in general.”

¹Supercategories that could not be further divided into categories