Effects of combinations of an apology and different kinds of excuses (Experiment 1) and the effects of the timing of an apology (Experiment 2) were evaluated from the victim's viewpoint. A social predicament was visually introduced to female undergraduates (54 for Experiment 1 and 30 for Experiment 2) who were asked to project themselves upon the victim of the social predicament. An apology primarily mitigated the injured emotions of the imaginary victim. Providing cues for the causal perception of the offender's behavior, excuses affected the imaginary victim's emotions and evaluations of the offender's sociality. The combination of an apology and a "good" excuse was found to be most mitigative. When an apology alone was provided, its timing influenced the evaluation of the offender's sociality as well as the imaginary victim's emotions. These results suggested that apologies and excuses can give different effects on victim's reactions.
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