Impact of Past Guidance for Responsibility Recognition of Apology Expressions: Based on an Investigation of University Students

Abstract

This article explored characteristics of unreasonable and ideal guidance for acknowledging responsibilities, and examined the impact of unreasonable responsibility guidance in childhood on apology expressions. First, we distributed a qualitative questionnaire to 58 university students, and extracted 6 categories as experiences of unreasonable guidance for responsibility recognition, including “scolding based on misunderstanding and blind assumptions”. Eight categories were also extracted as experiences of ideal responsibility guidance, including “explanation of clear reasons.” Next, we constructed an “unreasonable responsibility guidance scale,” and distributed it to 112 university students, along with questions asking about the appropriateness of apology expressions of a case study. As a result of the t-test, people who had received unreasonable guidance showed positive evaluation on the apology expressions, such as “determination to commit suicide,” “declaration of leaving,” and “underestimation of responsibility”, and showed a negative evaluation on the apology expression, such as “explanation of the process of repentance”. A final discussion was made regarding the impact of unreasonable responsibility guidance on individual perspectives on apology.