| Apologies are interpersonal tools that individuals employ to repair damaged relationships. Management scholars have largely ignored the role that power and status play in the apology process. Across three studies I experimentally manipulate power and status and examine the apology process via a workplace scenario. In Study 1 I propose that power and status have different implications with respect to one's willingness to apologize. I orthogonally manipulate power and status and examine their effect on people's willingness to apologize. I find that status, but not power, impacts one's willingness to apologize. In Study 2 I posit and find that apologies improve victims' perceptions of power and status-holders' warmth, with no diminution of their dominance, thereby enhancing their influence. In Study 3 I demonstrate that instrumentality perceptions mediate the relationship between status and willingness to apologize. I discuss theoretical and practical implications for the power, status, and apology domains. |
