Nobody is necessarily “guilt-ridden” in an extreme way, but everyone would be susceptible to guilt under certain circumstances. There is a lot of potential for irrational guilt to appear in the human psyche. For instance, take survivor’s guilt. Nothing is more irrational than that. People feel guilty when they survive a disaster and others close to them did not. That’s just one example.
Nietzsche thought that people felt guilty in relation to their ancestors — but only if their culture was in ascendancy. Then the psychological pressure to do the right thing builds up. If one’s society is in decline, one feels no such guilt.
Then there is of course Melanie Klein and the idea that the infant grows up into an adult who feels the need to make reparations to the mother because of their childhood aggression. Once again, this is meaningless guilt.
These examples show, however, that humans are susceptible to feeling guilty. That is why one of the central themes relating to Jesus is salvation from our sins.
Christianity, up to a certain point, embraces a shamanistic perspective. Beyond a certain point, it is extremely anti-shamanistic.
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