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Cultural Differences Between Japan and the United States in Uses of “Apology” and “Thank You” in Favor Asking Messages

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Journal of Language and Social Psychology
Authors:
Hye Eun Lee
Hye Eun Lee
Hye Eun Lee
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Hee Sun Park
Hee Sun Park
Hee Sun Park
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Tatsuya Imai at Nanzan University
Tatsuya Imai
Daniel Dolan at Waseda University
Daniel Dolan
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Three studies investigated whether apologies and thanks are used differently when asking favors in the United States and Japan and examined whether their use makes a favor asking message less face-threatening. In Study 1, participants (N = 152) composed an email message for a favor asking situation. Next, participants in Study 2 (N = 634) and Study 3 (N = 417) completed one of four versions of a questionnaire regarding a prototype of an email message. Results showed that (a) more Japanese included apologies in their messages while more Americans used thanks and (b) Japanese considered apologies to reduce some face threats while Americans did not consider thanks to reduce face threats. Implications and future research directions are discussed.
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Journal of Language and Social Psychology
31(3) 263 –289
© 2012 SAGE Publications
DOI: 10.1177/0261927X12446595
http://jls.sagepub.com
446595JLS31310.1177/0261927X12446595Lee et
al.Journal of Language and Social Psychology
1University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI, USA
2Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
3University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
4Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan
Corresponding Author:
Hye Eun Lee, Department of Communicology, University of Hawaii at Manoa, George Hall 320, Honolulu,
HI 96822, USA
Email: helee@hawaii.edu
Cultural Differences
Between Japan and the
United States in Uses of
“Apology” and “Thank You”
in Favor Asking Messages
Hye Eun Lee1, Hee Sun Park2, Tatsuya Imai3,
and Daniel Dolan4
Abstract
Three studies investigated whether apologies and thanks are used differently when
asking favors in the United States and Japan and examined whether their use makes
a favor asking message less face-threatening. In Study 1, participants (N = 152)
composed an email message for a favor asking situation. Next, participants in Study 2
(N = 634) and Study 3 (N = 417) completed one of four versions of a questionnaire
regarding a prototype of an email message. Results showed that (a) more Japanese
included apologies in their messages while more Americans used thanks and (b)
Japanese considered apologies to reduce some face threats while Americans did not
consider thanks to reduce face threats. Implications and future research directions
are discussed.
Keywords
cross-cultural research, apology, gratitude, face, culture
Many communication processes are characterized by culture and language use. A
speech act refers to a minimal unit of discourse that is transferable from language to
... Previous studies suggest that the use of these two communication options varies across cultures. For example, Japanese are more likely to apologize than Westerners (Lee et al., 2012;Miyake, 1993;Sugimoto, 1999). Lee et al. (2012) specifically found that when making a favor-asking message, Japanese were more likely to include apologies than thanks whereas Americans were more likely to include thanks than apologies. ...
... For example, Japanese are more likely to apologize than Westerners (Lee et al., 2012;Miyake, 1993;Sugimoto, 1999). Lee et al. (2012) specifically found that when making a favor-asking message, Japanese were more likely to include apologies than thanks whereas Americans were more likely to include thanks than apologies. Further, Japanese were twice as likely to feel apologetic as were the British in situations where people could feel either grateful or apologetic (Miyake, 1993). ...
... Failing to meet the face needs of a benefactor could lead to serious interpersonal consequences (Chaudhry & Loewenstein, 2019;Imai, 2022). Literature implies that gratitude and apologies help a communicator satisfy these kinds of needs of a benefactor (Brown & Levinson, 1987;Cupach & Metts, 1994;Lee et al., 2012). However, the literature has not fully examined how these communication styles meet face needs when a benefactor provides a benefit to a beneficiary. ...
Exploring How Received Gratitude and Apologies Meet a Benefactor’s Psychological Needs of Face and Competence
Article
Full-text available
  • Dec 2023
In Japan, when a beneficiary receives benefits from a benefactor, it is not unusual for the beneficiary to use apologies to express gratitude. However, literature has not fully investigated how received gratitude and apologies impact Japanese benefactors’ perceptions. This experimental study examined how received gratitude and apologies influenced 671 Japanese participants’ (benefactors) negative and positive face as well as their self-efficacy. The results showed that the participants who received a message with gratitude or both gratitude and apologies perceived that their negative and positive face were less threatened than those in a control condition. Contrary to literature, those who received gratitude did not have high levels of self-efficacy. However, their self-efficacy was high after they received apologies only when they put more effort into helping a beneficiary. This study revealed unique roles of gratitude and apologies in meeting various psychological needs of Japanese.
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... While thanking is a way to give a benefactor credit for a positive outcome, apologizing is a way for a beneficiary to take blame for a negative outcome, such as the indebtedness to the benefactor (Chaudhry & Loewenstein, 2019). For example, in a favor-asking situation, Japanese participants perceived that apologies could moderate the indebtedness to someone who received a request (Lee et al., 2012). It is also natural for Japanese to use both gratitude and apologies at the same time, to let a benefactor know that they appreciate the benefactor's support and they recognize that they inconvenienced the benefactor (Yamamoto, 2003). ...
... Based on previous studies on the effects and usages of gratitude and apologies (Algoe et al., 2013;Lee et al., 2012), the current study hypothesized that expressed gratitude and apologies could increase a Japanese benefactor's perceived closeness toward a beneficiary. The predicted association between expressed gratitude/apologies and closeness was also hypothesized to be mediated by the benefactor's perception of the warmth, conscientiousness, and agreeableness of the beneficiary. ...
... It should also be noted that apologies did not have an additional positive effect on closeness even when they were used with gratitude; that is, the results showed that there was not a significant difference between the score of closeness in the gratitude condition and that in the both condition. In Japan, it is not unnatural for people to use both gratitude and apologies to show gratitude (Lee et al., 2012;Yamamoto, 2003). Japanese people tend to be concerned about the indebtedness to others through communication (Benedict, 1946;Naito & Sakata, 2010), so they may use apologies to minimize the indebtedness while expressing gratitude. ...
Why do we feel close to a person who expresses gratitude? Exploring mediating roles of perceived warmth, conscientiousness, and agreeableness
Article
Full-text available
  • Sep 2023
The literature suggests that expressed gratitude improves the interpersonal relationship between a beneficiary and a benefactor. However, there is little research that has explored why thanking provides these positive effects, so this study investigated thanking mechanisms to explain reasons why people feel close to a beneficiary who expresses gratitude. This study also examines the effects of apologies, which are sometimes used to show gratitude in Japan. In this experimental study, 671 Japanese participants reported their perceived closeness, warmth, conscientiousness, and agreeableness to a hypothetical beneficiary who expressed gratitude, apologies, or both after a benefit was provided. The results revealed that benefactors who received a message indicating gratitude and both gratitude and apologies reported higher levels of closeness toward a beneficiary than those who received a message with only apologies and a message without either gratitude or apologies. A structural equation model further indicated that warmth and conscientiousness mediated the link between expressed gratitude/apologies and perceived closeness.
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... A support seeker's positive and negative faces are threatened during support exchange. On the one hand, support seeking implies support seekers may need others' help to deal with stressors, threatening their own positive face (Goldsmith, 1992;Lee et al., 2012). On the other hand, receiving help from others may also put support seekers' negative face under threat for two reasons. ...
... Self-presentational concerns may play a role in politeness strategies used in support seeking (Oh & LaRose, 2016). Given that support exchange is a face-threatening activity, support seekers adopting politeness strategies can mitigate face threats to prospective support providers, thus enhancing their own images (Lee et al., 2012). Specifically, positive politeness used in a support-seeking post can convey favorable impressions such as being polite and appreciative. ...
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... To date, a handful of studies have examined appreciation expressions focusing on comparison of East Asians (e.g., Koreans and Japanese) with Americans. They found that Americans more frequently included appreciation in support-seeking messages compared to East Asians (Lee & Park, 2011;Lee et al., 2012;. However, no research has examined how anticipatory appreciation expressions in support-seeking messages influence the recipients' responses. ...
... Although past research showed cultural differences in the use of apology expression (e.g., Lee, 2014;Lee & Park, 2011;Lee et al., 2012;Maddux et al., 2011;, our results did not reveal any significant moderating effects of national culture on the relationship between anticipatory apology expression and recipients' supportiveness. Koreans and Americans responded to support-seeking messages with anticipatory apology expression in a similar way. ...
The Effect of Anticipatory Apology and Appreciation in Online Support-Seeking Messages on Support Provision in the U.S. and Korea
Article
Full-text available
  • Jun 2023
This experiment examined how online support-seeking messages containing anticipatory apology and/or appreciation influence support provision in the U.S. and Korea. The mediating role of regard for face was also assessed. A total of 983 participants (568 in the U.S. sample, 415 in the Korean sample) read and responded to support-seeking messages posted on an interactive online platform. Results showed that support-seeking messages with anticipatory apology and/or appreciation elicited higher quality (in terms of person-centeredness) supportive messages than support-seeking messages without anticipatory apology or appreciation. Participants’ perceptions of support-seeker's regard for face mediated the effect of anticipatory apology in support-seeking messages on level of person-centeredness in received support messages. This pattern of findings was observed in both the American and Korean samples.
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... and positive face threats (M = 2.44, SD = 0.90, α = .92) in a message were assessed by two measurements developed by Lee et al. (2012) each of which was composed of 5 items. Examples of negative face threats are "This message could make me uncomfortable" and "This message could be imposing on me" while those of positive face threats are "This message could hurt my feelings" and "Sending this message could be behaving carelessly toward me." ...
Saying “thanks” and “sorry” in a Japanese workplace: expressing gratitude and apologies functions as an effective politeness strategy
Article
  • Sep 2024
  • Comm Res Rep
This study examined how expressed gratitude and apologies functioned as politeness strategies among 499 Japanese workers. In this online experimental research with 4 message conditions (control, gratitude, apologies, both) and 2 status conditions (lower/same), participants read a message from a hypothetical coworker and reported perceptions of face threats in the message, the coworker’s warmth, and their willingness to engage in prosocial behavior. Results indicated that expressed gratitude and apologies reduced face threats compared to no expressions. Further, path analysis showed that expressed gratitude indirectly affected perceptions of warmth through reduced face threats. Additionally, status differences influenced participants’ prosocial behavior.
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Favor‐Seeking Styles in Japan and the United States
Chapter
  • Dec 2017
Favor‐seeking is a directive type of speech act that attempts to impede the freedom of action of the hearer. Expressing apologies or thanks in conjunction with favor‐seeking can be viewed as a politeness strategy used to reduce the face threats associated with favor‐seeking. Since Japanese and Americans use apologies and thanks differently when seeking favors, understanding their differences is useful for effective intercultural communication.
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Effects of zero-sum belief on gratitude in apologetic form represented by “sumimasen”謝罪型感謝「すみません」の起こりやすさにゼロサム信念が及ぼす影響
Article
  • Jun 2023
Zero-sum belief is the belief that someone’s gains are another’s losses. Assuming that beneficiaries’ zero-sum beliefs let them perceive benefactors’ cost resulting from giving benefits, this study examined whether the zero-sum belief increases the occurrences of grateful feelings and expression in apologetic form, which is represented by “sumimasen” in Japanese. We manipulated participants’ zero-sum beliefs and rewarded them for the task. Thereafter, we asked participants what they wanted to say, how they felt, and how much they perceived our (i.e., benefactors’) cost. The results revealed that participants whose zero-sum beliefs were experimentally strengthened were inclined to select the grateful expression in apologetic form from some options to convey what they wanted to say, though grateful feelings in apologetic form and perceived costs were not significantly affected. These results suggested the possibility that individuals’ zero-sum beliefs let them express their gratitude in apologetic form independently from the extent to which they have such feelings or perceive benefactors’ cost.
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Is There a Universal Need for Positive Self-Regard?
Article
Full-text available
  • Oct 1999
It is assumed that people seek positive self-regard; that is, they are motivated to possess, enhance, and maintain positive self-views. The cross-cultural generalizability of such motivations was addressed by examining Japanese culture. Anthropological, sociological, and psychological analyses revealed that many elements of Japanese culture are incongruent with such motivations. Moreover, the empirical literature provides scant evidence for a need for positive self-regard among Japanese and indicates that a self-critical focus is more characteristic of Japanese. It is argued that the need for self-regard must be culturally variant because the constructions of self and regard themselves differ across cultures. The need for positive self-regard, as it is currently conceptualized, is not a universal, but rather is rooted in significant aspects of North American culture. Conventional interpretations of positive self-regard are too narrow to encompass the Japanese experience.
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