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Effects of Timing and Sincerity of an Apology on Satisfaction and Changes in Negative Feelings During Conflicts

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  • SUNY Buffalo Undergraduate Program at Singapore Institute of Management (SIM)

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Using attribution theory, this study examined the effects of apology timing, apology sincerity, and feeling understood on communication satisfaction and changes in negative emotions (e.g., anger and sadness) during conflict discussions. Sixty romantic couples engaged in conversations about recurring disagreements in their relationships. One partner from each couple apologized either earlier or later during the discussions. The findings showed that different variability existed between the timing of the apology and reports of communication satisfaction. Later apologies, rather than earlier apologies, given during conflict discussions that were completed in less than 10 minutes were associated with more communication satisfaction. Earlier apologies, rather than later apologies, given during conflict discussions that could have continued past 10 minutes were associated with more communication satisfaction. Additionally, reports of feeling understood and apology sincerity predicted communication satisfaction and apologies seen as more sincere were related to reports of less hard negative emotions such as anger, but were not related to reports of soft negative emotions, such as sadness. These findings have implications for the process of forgiveness and the mediation of disputes.
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... Receiving a sincere apology from offenders may also be related to victim recovery. Hubbard et al. (2013) examined how the variability of apologies, such as timing and sincerity, impacted victims in terms of communication satisfaction and changes in negative emotions including anger and sadness. Their results revealed that an apology that was perceived as sincere was associated with victims' satisfaction with communication as well as decreases in anger and irritation. ...
... According to Bennett and Earwaker (2001, p. 462), the rejection of apology was 'determined at least in part by the degree of the offender's responsibility for the event and, independently, by the seriousness of the event'. Furthermore, research by Hubbard et al. (2013) suggested that when conflict discussions continued for more than 10 minutes, earlier apologies were more likely to lead to communication satisfaction and subsequently to perceived sincerity than later apologies. When these findings are combined with the findings that offenders in RJ tend to feel nervous at the beginning of the RJ process and sometimes fail to show their emotions such as remorse (Choi et al., 2011), an apology, if offered at the later phase of RJ or as part of the agreement plan, may be less likely to be perceived as sincere when crime is serious. ...
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While apology has only a secondary role in restorative justice (RJ), an apology is prevalent in the RJ process. This is promising, but problematic is that there seems to be a gap in the perceived sincerity of apology between victims and offenders. Since less is known about why this gap exists, this paper extends our knowledge about under what conditions a sincere apology is possible in RJ. More specifically, this paper seeks to identify the key components of a sincere apology that are pertinent to RJ as well as the promoting and inhibiting factors for a sincere apology in RJ. This paper provides future research implications about the relationship between RJ and sincere apology. 114 words
... Additionally, the original assignment of items expressing ways of apologizing might not have been stringent: While Item 29 belongs to the NS scale, Item 40 ("Saying 'I'm sorry' when one realizes one was wrong") to the positive-submissive scale. In both scenarios, admitting and apologizing for (small) mistakes leads more likely to positive emotions at the receiver, for example, feeling less negative emotions such as anger (e.g., Ebesu Hubbard et al., 2013). Furthermore, this behavior, when meant sincerely, might even contribute to a deeper feeling of understanding each other (e.g., Ebesu Hubbard et al., 2013;Maio et al., 2008). ...
... In both scenarios, admitting and apologizing for (small) mistakes leads more likely to positive emotions at the receiver, for example, feeling less negative emotions such as anger (e.g., Ebesu Hubbard et al., 2013). Furthermore, this behavior, when meant sincerely, might even contribute to a deeper feeling of understanding each other (e.g., Ebesu Hubbard et al., 2013;Maio et al., 2008). This change in feelings and closeness might affect the judgment of the given scenario in a less negative way and might explain why the item does not show a strong loading on the NS scale. ...
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Background: This study aimed to develop a German version of the Family Expressiveness Questionnaire (FEQ; Halberstadt, 1983 , 1986 ), which investigates emotional expressiveness within the family context while growing up. While a theoretically derived four-factor structure was postulated, 2- and 3-scale versions have been applied in research. Methods: In Study 1 ( N = 650), these existing models were tested against each other. A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted for the solution that best fitted the data with half of the sample, and results were cross-validated in the other half. Construct validation was investigated in Study 2 ( N = 225). Results: An acceptable model fit for a three-factor solution was attained in Study 1. In Study 2, correlation patterns indicated a good convergent and discriminant validity. Reliability estimates in both studies were in an acceptable to excellent range. Conclusion: Findings suggest that the FEQ German version is a psychometrically sound instrument for assessing expressiveness within the family.
... However, one can also argue that revealing negative information late in a process might be perceived as being less than truthful (even if legally sanctioned) and might lead to negative ascriptions about candidate character (Hebl & Skorinko, 2005). Research on apologies has consistently showed that if apologies are perceived as untimely or artificially delayed, they are less effective in trust repair (Ebesu Hubbard et al, 2013;Jehle et al., 2012;Wirtz & Mattila, 2004). Flake (2019) also suggested that later timing might not make much of a difference, noting that Ban-the-Box laws do not directly prohibit discrimination against ex-offenders but perhaps just delay the point at which discrimination takes place. ...
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Despite the large number of individuals with criminal records in the United States, research on their employment transitions and hiring challenges remains scarce. Further, given the over-representation of people of color in the US justice system, investigations incorporating the potential effects of race/ethnicity are crucial. In the present study, we examine the effects of different reparative impression management tactics for ex-offender applicants of various races/ethnicities in both a prehire and postoffer context and the mechanisms underlying those effects. Using an experimental design, we link specific reparative impression management tactics to employment outcomes through perceived remorse (Studies 1 and 2) and trustworthiness (Study 2), finding that Latino and Black candidates’ engagement in reparative impression management tactics had greater impact on perceptions of remorse, trustworthiness, and hiring evaluations than did the use of such tactics by White candidates. Disclosure timing did not have large impacts on evaluations. Our findings contribute to research on reparative impression management in hiring contexts more broadly, as well as informing ex-offender job seekers which tactics are most useful when disclosing a criminal record, how demographics may impact these impression management techniques, and potential optimal disclosure timing relevant to current legislative contexts.
... In previous research (e.g., Coombs and Holladay, 2012;Bentley, 2018), appropriateness was operationalized as the consumer's perceived acceptability of the apology. Second, the perceived sincerity of the apology is positively related to the appropriateness (e.g., Choi and Chung, 2013;Ebesu Hubbard et al., 2013;Lwin et al., 2017). Third, the effectiveness refers to how well the apology is anticipated to reduce the reputational damage of the company (Choi and Chung, 2013) or increase the stakeholder's purchase intention (Lwin et al., 2017). ...
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Introduction As South Korean companies frequently use apologies for various crisis situations and pair them with other types of crisis response strategies (i.e., scapegoating), theory-driven recommendations for crisis response messages may fall short in practice. This study empirically examines the effectiveness of two crisis response messages (i.e., apology + compensation vs. apology + scapegoating) by integrating the theory of communicative responsibility and situational crisis communication theory. Methods South Korean participants ( n = 392) read one of two vignettes: the vignettes described an automobile company’s apology for malfunctioning seat belts which included either compensation or scapegoating. The participant’s perceived communicative responsibility, appropriateness of the apology, and reputation of the company were measured. Process analysis was conducted to examine the mediated-moderation effect of the crisis response messages. Results and Discussion The findings indicate that an apology that is provided with compensation is more appropriate than those with scapegoating. The appropriateness is moderated by the perceived symmetry in communicative responsibility, and fully mediates the relationship between apology type and reputation. This study integrates two theoretical models to examine the mechanism behind the crisis response strategies from the perspective of the message receivers, while considering the cultural and normative context of South Korea.
... Due to the exploratory nature of this study, and the limited prior research regarding apologies, we decided to code written apologies for several exploratory components that have not been thoroughly studied, but may be particularly relevant for apologies within a parent-child context. These components include: (1) physical affection (e.g., "Can I give you a hug?"); (2) timing (Ebesu Hubbard et al., 2013;Frantz & Bennigson, 2005; e.g., "I'll give you some space, and we can talk more when you're ready"); (3) term of endearment or love (e.g., "I love you, sweetie"); (4) expression of gratitude (You et al., 2020; e.g., "Thank you for putting your bike away"); (5) request for forgiveness (Lewicki et al., 2016; e.g., "Will you forgive me?"); (8) use of a specific emotion word (e.g., "I was feeling frustrated"); and (9) invalidating/minimizing comments (Molinsky, 2016; e.g., "I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings"). We also collected information regarding the length of apology (in number of words). ...
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