The Impression-derogatory Effect Of Refusal To Accept An Apology

In our daily life,we acknowledge tacitly that victims should accept the apology,and this apology-forgiveness sequence has been internalized into a specific script When the apology-forgiveness sequence breaks,the external information impacts the cognitive framework we have formed,which further affects the individual’s impression of the target.The current study aims to examine the impression-derogatory effect of refusal to accept an apology.Specifically,we explore the effect of acceptance or refusal of an apology and offender’s offensive intentions on victim impressions and the underlying mechanismsStudy 1,containing two experiments,explores the impression-derogatory effect of refusal to accept an apology.We present participants with offensive vignettes that happen in the workplace(study la)and on campus(study lb),using trait impressions and trust evaluations as dependent variables to shed light on the effect of victim acceptance or refusal of an apology and offender’s offensive intentions on victim impressions.We find robust evidence of impression-derogatory effect of refusal to accept an apology.Specifically,victim impressions are derogated when the victim refuses to accept the apology compared to accepting the apology;victim impressions are better when the offender offends intentionally compared to unintentionally.When the victim refuses to accept an apology,victim impressions are derogated when the offender offends unintentionally compared to intentionallyUsing a two-player deception game paradigm,in Study 2 we further validate the effects of victim acceptance or refusal of an apology and offender’s offensive intentions on victim impressions,and investigate its effect on the perception towards the offender.Study 2 uses level of trust and overall impression as dual indicators of victim impressions and evaluator’s sense of forgiveness choice as an evaluation of perception towards the offender.The results of Study 2 show that victim impressions are derogated and the evaluators’ sense of forgiveness choice is higher when the victim refuses to accept the apology compared to accepting the apology;victim impressions are better and the evaluators’ sense of forgiveness choice is higher when the offender offends intentionally compared to unintentionally;When the victim refuses to accept an apology,victim impressions are derogated the evaluator’s sense of forgiveness choice is lower when the offender offends unintentionally compared to intentionallyStudy 3 is designed to investigate the meditating mechanism behind the impression-derogatory effect of refusal to accept an apology.We find that expectancy violation-perceived sincerity of the apology plays a chained mediating role between victim acceptance or refusal of apology and victim impression,where offender’s offensive intentions moderates this chained meditation model.When the offender offends unintentionally,the victim’s refusal to accept the apology induces evaluator’s expectancy violation,which causes higher perceived sincerity of the apology,ultimately leading to lower victim impressions.In summary,the current study explores and verifies the impression-derogatory effect of refusal to accept an apology comprehensively.We take a step further finding that victim acceptance or refusal of apology and offender’s offensive intentions affect victim impressions and expectancy violation-perceived sincerity of apology plays a chained mediating role in this relationship.