Abstract The present study investigated the effect of inducing self-compassion and self-esteem on regulating shame and guilt by the experimental method. Eighty students of University of Tehran (26 males, 54 females) completed the Self-Compassion Scale (SCS), the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES), and the Shame-Proneness and Guilt-Proneness subscales of Test of Self-Conscious Affect (TOSCA). Then the experience of shame and guilt were reconstructed for participants by reminding and writing slightly about an experience of personal fault. After that their emotions were measured by the scale of shame and guilt and the scale of unpleasant emotions. Then participants exposed to experimental treatment by random assignment to four groups of self-compassion induction, self-esteem induction, writing control group and control group. Again their emotions were measured by the scale of shame and guilt and the scale of unpleasant emotions. The results showed that participants of inducing self-compassion group reported lower shame and other unpleasant emotions rather than those who were in inducing self-esteem group. The two interventions reduced the same amount of guilt in participants. The present study provided additional evidence for different effectiveness of self-compassion and self-esteem in regulating unpleasant emotions related to fault experience. These results are discussed in terms of the differences in the nature of experiencing shame and guilt.

Keywords: self-compassion, self-esteem, self-conscious emotion, emotion regulation

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