2023 Volume 71 Issue 2 Pages 89-99
The present study investigated the relation of the words and facial expressions in a wrongdoer's apology to effects of the apology on the recipient. After 200 junior high school students read a fictitious story about trouble with their best friend, they were given 1 of 6 types of apology, either in a sentence with a picture, or only in a sentence. The recipients' evaluations of the effectiveness of the apologies and the extent of their displeasure and forgiveness were measured. The words in the apologies and apologies with a picture of a guilty face were evaluated as the most effective, with participants reporting an easing of their unpleasant feelings. On the other hand, in the conditions in which the words in the apology sentence and the picture of the facial expression were inconsistent (e.g., apology words and a non-guilty face), the apology was not accepted and the participants' discomfort was not alleviated. These results suggest that junior high school students may use both apologetic words and facial expressions as cues. Furthermore, the findings suggest that junior high school students may be in a transitional period in which they are able to consider both the words of an apology and the apologetic person's facial expression.
