Faith in the Just Behavior of the Government: Intergroup Apologies and Apology Elaboration
Author(s) / Creator(s)
Steele, Rachel R.
Blatz, Craig W.
Abstract / Description
After intergroup injustices, perpetrator groups may seek to restore intergroup relations by offering an apology. Through quantitative empirical tests some scholars have examined whether these apologies promote forgiveness and reconciliation. This work has found inconsistent relations between apology and forgiveness. We proposed and tested other variables as relevant outcomes of intergroup apology as well, namely perceived remorsefulness, faith in societal norms of justice, and trust. We also tested how the elaborateness of an apology changed its effectiveness. The study (N = 145) presented excerpts of President Clinton’s apology for the Tuskegee Syphilis Study to African-Americans, varying the apology elaborateness. We examined whether apologies of varying elaborateness affect forgiveness (to be consistent with past research), perceptions that the response was remorseful, beliefs that norms of just behavior would be upheld, and trust in the perpetrator group. All apologies, but particularly more elaborate apologies, resulted in higher perceptions of remorsefulness and justice norms, but not trust or forgiveness. The results imply that apologies may have many benefits with perceptions of remorsefulness and justice norms being amongst them.
Keyword(s)
apology elaboration intergroup apology intergroup relations justice norms perceived remorsefulness restorative justicePersistent Identifier
Date of first publication
2014-11-05
Journal title
Journal of Social and Political Psychology
Volume
2
Issue
1
Page numbers
268–288
Publisher
PsychOpen GOLD
Publication status
publishedVersion
Review status
peerReviewed
Is version of
Citation
Steele, R. R., & Blatz, C. W. (2014). Faith in the Just Behavior of the Government: Intergroup Apologies and Apology Elaboration. Journal of Social and Political Psychology, 2(1), 268–288. https://doi.org/10.5964/jspp.v2i1.404
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Author(s) / Creator(s)Steele, Rachel R.
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Author(s) / Creator(s)Blatz, Craig W.
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PsychArchives acquisition timestamp2018-11-26T12:45:27Z
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Made available on2018-11-26T12:45:27Z
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Date of first publication2014-11-05
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Abstract / DescriptionAfter intergroup injustices, perpetrator groups may seek to restore intergroup relations by offering an apology. Through quantitative empirical tests some scholars have examined whether these apologies promote forgiveness and reconciliation. This work has found inconsistent relations between apology and forgiveness. We proposed and tested other variables as relevant outcomes of intergroup apology as well, namely perceived remorsefulness, faith in societal norms of justice, and trust. We also tested how the elaborateness of an apology changed its effectiveness. The study (N = 145) presented excerpts of President Clinton’s apology for the Tuskegee Syphilis Study to African-Americans, varying the apology elaborateness. We examined whether apologies of varying elaborateness affect forgiveness (to be consistent with past research), perceptions that the response was remorseful, beliefs that norms of just behavior would be upheld, and trust in the perpetrator group. All apologies, but particularly more elaborate apologies, resulted in higher perceptions of remorsefulness and justice norms, but not trust or forgiveness. The results imply that apologies may have many benefits with perceptions of remorsefulness and justice norms being amongst them.en_US
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Publication statuspublishedVersion
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Review statuspeerReviewed
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CitationSteele, R. R., & Blatz, C. W. (2014). Faith in the Just Behavior of the Government: Intergroup Apologies and Apology Elaboration. Journal of Social and Political Psychology, 2(1), 268–288. https://doi.org/10.5964/jspp.v2i1.404en_US
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ISSN2195-3325
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Persistent Identifierhttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12034/1352
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Persistent Identifierhttps://doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.1794
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Language of contenteng
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PublisherPsychOpen GOLD
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Is version ofhttps://doi.org/10.5964/jspp.v2i1.404
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Keyword(s)apology elaborationen_US
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Keyword(s)intergroup apologyen_US
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Keyword(s)intergroup relationsen_US
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Keyword(s)justice normsen_US
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Keyword(s)perceived remorsefulnessen_US
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Keyword(s)restorative justiceen_US
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Dewey Decimal Classification number(s)150
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TitleFaith in the Just Behavior of the Government: Intergroup Apologies and Apology Elaborationen_US
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DRO typearticle
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Issue1
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Journal titleJournal of Social and Political Psychology
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Page numbers268–288
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Volume2
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Visible tag(s)Version of Record