ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses diagnostics, and attempts to nuance these statements. In discussing guilt, it is important to remember the previously introduced distinction between guilt-proneness and the capacity to experience guilt, as it is quite possible that an adolescent is very capable of experiencing guilt, but is not very prone to do so. The conventional wisdom that someone blushes at an unexpected question or the unexpected appearance of another probably feels guilty about something on his conscience is too simple. It is just as likely the case that someone is ashamed of something or is simply startled because he had been totally wrapped up in himself and had forgotten his surroundings. In short, when it comes to the diagnostics of guilt, let us leave conventional wisdom behind and be guided primarily by clinical experience. Just as with empathy, the extent to which the adolescent experiences guilt depends on the relationship he has with the person towards whom he feels guilty.
