The modern woman's dream of success inevitably, these days, often include a powerful/influential, high-paying job with economic success; she is also a loving wife/partner who takes care of all her partner's needs and takes care of the home; she is the wonderful nurturing mother who regularly cooks healthy meals and does homework with the children; she is fit/healthy and exudes positive energy; the list goes on. But sadly, for many women, this will always remain a dream - hard choices and sacrifices often have to be made, where success in some aspects of life may mean lesser success, or even failure, in the other aspects.

There has been much debate as well as different perspectives within literature on the subjects of `shame' and `guilt' and, how shame differs from guilt (Ausubel, 1955; Lewis, 1971; Baumeister, Stillwell, & Heatherton, 1995; Jacoby, 1994; Tangney & Fischer, 1995; Benetti-McQuoid & Bursik, 2005). Additionally, the overlap of these emotions as a result of the similarities in the situations within which they occur, often leads to these terms being used interchangeably (Jacoby, 1994). For the purposes of this research, we will first briefly define `guilt' and `shame'.

`Guilt' has to do with ethical and moral principles (`socialization'; `should have'; `obligation') whose fulfilment is generally good, but the feeling of guilt usually is experienced as an unpleasant emotion, sometimes unhealthy emotion (Dryden, 1994), when a moral/societal standard has been violated or a crime has been committed (Benetti-McQuoid & Bursik, 2005). This feeling is directed outward at a particular behaviour committed by the individual, whereas `shame' is defined as an unpleasant, sometimes debilitating, emotion accompanied by a negative evaluation of oneself, characterized by an internal self-doubt and chastisement (Kubany & Watson, 2003; Jacoby, 1994) - and ultimately affecting the well-being of an individual. From Freud's perspective, guilt is neurotic, destructive, largely unconscious, and irrational. The guilty individual withdraws socially, ruminating over transgressions, castigating the self for real or imagined shortcomings (Tangney & Fischer, 1995).

Effective Executive Magazine, Time Management, Black Economic Empowerment, BEE, Employment Equity, EE, Economic Success, Socialization, Social Emotions, Societal Expectations, Cultural Expectations, Corporate World, Interpersonal Obligations, Cultural Standards, Social Comparison, Cultural Transition, Corporate Environment.