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I think it's pretty important to not only read the headline, but also the abstract: > In two empirical studies, we examined the unexplored psychological conseq

by hnarn 5y ago

I think it's pretty important to not only read the headline, but also the abstract: > In two empirical studies, we examined the unexplored psychological consequences that follow from a harm-doer's explicit refusal to apologize. Results showed that the act of refusing to apologize resulted in greater self-esteem than not refusing to apologize. Moreover, apology refusal also resulted in increased feelings of power/control and value integrity, both of which mediated the effect of refusal on self-esteem. These findings point to potential barriers to victim–offender reconciliation after an interpersonal harm, highlighting the need to better understand the psychology of harm-doers and their defensive behavior for self-focused motives. Note that the "psychological benefits" mentioned here are completely individual: greater self-esteem, increased feelings of power/control, etc. This study says nothing about any "benefits" of refusing to apologize in a social context, i.e. whether it would improve ones standing among other people from a group psychology perspective, which a lot of comments seem to (understandably) default to discussing. The abstract specifically mentions these findings as being interesting within the context of "victim–offender reconciliation", i.e. understanding what keeps offenders from apologizing even if they are fully aware their actions were wrong. I think it's pretty safe to assume that the "benefits" in a social context would not outweigh the negative effects of being shunned by the group as an unreliable agent, but that's just my perspective (no apologies).

mistrial9 5y ago
aka abuser psychology can benefit the abuser .. check
photochemsyn 5y ago
One key element in the corporate world related to apology and real benefits of not apologizing is liability. Admissions of wrong-doing open corporations to large settlements so they tend to avoid such apologies. Apologizing over an accident where malicious intent was not involved is another matter. As a good example, subprime fraud settlements related to the 2008-2009 economic collapse were held up over corporate refusals to admit wrongdoing. Their motivation was clearly protecting their bottom line (avoiding larger settlements) and/or avoiding criminal prosecution. https://www.jonesday.com/en/insights/2013/11/admissions-of-wrongdoing-the-final-frontier https://www.jonesday.com/en/insights/2013/11/admissions-of-w... If there are real consequences to apologizing for ones actions, such as having to pay a settlement, lose a job, serve time in jail etc., then it's obvious some people will not want to apologize. In contrast, if it's something like apologizing for being late to a meeting, that's just simple politeness. However, if a person or corporation repeats a pattern of behavior like that without changing that behavior but apologizes all the time for it, that can get pretty annoying, apologies or not.
- wolverine876 5y ago
  The general counsel for a large health-care system told me that they strongly encourage their doctors to apologize. It turns out, not surprisingly, that it greatly reduces lawsuits.
kfarr 5y ago
Or maybe it’s that people with higher self esteem are less likely to apologize? Not sure how causality is proven here
- hnarn 5y ago
  I’m not sure what you’re referring to. The abstract I quoted says: > Results showed that the act of refusing to apologize resulted in greater self-esteem than not refusing to apologize. The causality is right there.
chiefalchemist 5y ago
> Note that the "psychological benefits" mentioned here are completely individual: greater self-esteem, increased feelings of power/control Yes, I read that as well. But the last time I check deriving benefit from the pain or at least discomfort of others is sociopath 101. It would be foolish to buy into this usefulness of this study without gaining an understanding of the long term effects. That is, one soda per week...not so bad. One or two per day and before you know it you're packing on pounds.
- hnarn 5y ago
  > the last time I check deriving benefit from the pain or at least discomfort of others is sociopath 101 I don’t know where you checked, but what you’re describing is sadism, which is not something inherently a part of antisocial personality disorder. Sociopaths do not enjoy the suffering of others, they simply do not care about it and therefore do not consider it in their actions.

by hnarn 5y ago

mistrial9 5y ago

aka abuser psychology can benefit the abuser .. check

photochemsyn 5y ago

One key element in the corporate world related to apology and real benefits of not apologizing is liability. Admissions of wrong-doing open corporations to large settlements so they tend to avoid such apologies. Apologizing over an accident where malicious intent was not involved is another matter. As a good example, subprime fraud settlements related to the 2008-2009 economic collapse were held up over corporate refusals to admit wrongdoing. Their motivation was clearly protecting their bottom line (avoiding larger settlements) and/or avoiding criminal prosecution. https://www.jonesday.com/en/insights/2013/11/admissions-of-wrongdoing-the-final-frontier https://www.jonesday.com/en/insights/2013/11/admissions-of-w... If there are real consequences to apologizing for ones actions, such as having to pay a settlement, lose a job, serve time in jail etc., then it's obvious some people will not want to apologize. In contrast, if it's something like apologizing for being late to a meeting, that's just simple politeness. However, if a person or corporation repeats a pattern of behavior like that without changing that behavior but apologizes all the time for it, that can get pretty annoying, apologies or not.

wolverine876 5y ago
The general counsel for a large health-care system told me that they strongly encourage their doctors to apologize. It turns out, not surprisingly, that it greatly reduces lawsuits.

kfarr 5y ago

Or maybe it’s that people with higher self esteem are less likely to apologize? Not sure how causality is proven here

hnarn 5y ago
I’m not sure what you’re referring to. The abstract I quoted says: > Results showed that the act of refusing to apologize resulted in greater self-esteem than not refusing to apologize. The causality is right there.

chiefalchemist 5y ago

> Note that the "psychological benefits" mentioned here are completely individual: greater self-esteem, increased feelings of power/control Yes, I read that as well. But the last time I check deriving benefit from the pain or at least discomfort of others is sociopath 101. It would be foolish to buy into this usefulness of this study without gaining an understanding of the long term effects. That is, one soda per week...not so bad. One or two per day and before you know it you're packing on pounds.

hnarn 5y ago
> the last time I check deriving benefit from the pain or at least discomfort of others is sociopath 101 I don’t know where you checked, but what you’re describing is sadism, which is not something inherently a part of antisocial personality disorder. Sociopaths do not enjoy the suffering of others, they simply do not care about it and therefore do not consider it in their actions.