Apologies, Expectations, and Violations: An Analysis of Confirmed and Disconfirmed Expectations for Responses to Apologies

Abstract

After hurting someone, individuals will sometimes apologize. Research has not explored the degree to which individuals expect their apologies to be accepted and the reactions individuals have when apologies are not accepted. The researchers use Expectancy Violation Theory to understand the relationship between expectations, responses to apologies. The researchers gathered data on hurtful events using critical event questionnaires, and results indicated that while accepting an apology is positively evaluated by apologizers, this relationship is moderated by their expectations of acceptance prior to the actual response to the apology. Limitations and directions for future research are discussed.

Keywords:

• Apologies
• Expectancy Violation Theory
• Expectations
• Hurtful Events
• Interpersonal Communication

Acknowledgments

Portions of this article were previously presented as a part of a convention paper at the NCA convention in San Francisco, CA, in November, 2010.

Notes

When conducting tests of normality, the researchers found that apology expectation had a moderate leftward skew (G₁ = −.59), and apology acceptance had a high leftward skew (G₁ = −1.08). However, research indicates that apologies are often accepted, due to a confluence of situational and social factors (e.g., Risen & Gilovich, 2007; Robinson, 2004). The researchers conducted a standard error of skewness test as per Cramer (1997) for both apology expectation (Z_G1 = −3.73, p < .05) and apology acceptance (Z_G1 = −6.82, p < .05). If Z_G1 is less than −2, the population is likely to be leftward skewed. Subsequently, the skew is representative of the population, not sampling bias or outliers. To adjust for skewness, the researchers squared expectations, acceptance, and evaluation (DeCoster, 2001), and reran the analysis. The interaction term was still significant (β = .39, p < .05) and the relationship between acceptance and evaluation still became more positive as expectations increased. Because the transformation did not change the results, and linear relationships have clearer interpretations, the researchers chose to report the analyses without the transformation.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Benjamin W. Chiles

Benjamin W. Chiles is a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Division of the Humanities at the University of Minnesota Morris.

Michael E. Roloff

Michael E. Roloff is a Professor in the School of Communication at Northwestern University.