Title
Conservatives Are More Reluctant to Give and Receive Apologies Than Liberals
Date Issued
01 September 2017
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Hornsey M.J.
Schumann K.
Bain P.G.
Chen S.X.
Gómez Á.
González R.
Guan Y.
Kashima E.
Lebedeva N.
Wohl M.J.A.
Publisher(s)
SAGE Publications Inc.
Abstract
This article examines the proposition that conservatives will be less willing than liberals to apologize and less likely to forgive after receiving an apology. In Study 1, we found evidence for both relationships in a nine-nation survey. In Study 2, participants wrote an open-ended response to a victim of a hypothetical transgression they had committed. More conservative participants were less likely to include apologetic elements in their response. We also tested two underlying mechanisms for the associations: social dominance orientation (SDO) and entity beliefs about human nature. SDO emerged as a stronger and more consistent mediator than entity beliefs. Apologies are theorized to be a rhetorical vehicle for removing power inequities in relationships posttransgression. Consistent with this theorizing, it was those who are relatively high in commitment to equality (i.e., those high in liberal ideology and low in SDO) who are most likely to provide and reward apologies.
Start page
827
End page
835
Volume
8
Issue
7
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Ciencia política
Psicología (incluye terapias de aprendizaje, habla, visual y otras discapacidades físicas y mentales)
Subjects
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85033787026
Source
Social Psychological and Personality Science
ISSN of the container
19485506
Sponsor(s)
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: Data were collected using funds from an Australian Research Council grant awarded to Hornsey and Wohl. Translations were partly supported by funds from FONDECYT (1161371), the Centre for Social Conflict and Cohesion Studies (FONDAP 15130009), and the Center for Intercultural and Indigenous Research (FONDAP 15110006) awarded to González.
Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Científico y Tecnológico 1161371 FONDECYT
Fondo de Financiamiento de Centros de Investigación en Áreas Prioritarias 15130009 FONDAP
Sources of information:
Directorio de Producción Científica
Scopus