Apology and Restitution: Offender Accountability Responses Influence Victim Empathy and Forgiveness

Abstract

Two experiments ( N = 487) tested the effects of receiving an apology (absent, present) and restitution (absent, present) in imagery of a one-sided transgression and common property crime, a burglary scenario. Within a framework of accountability, apology and restitution represent relationally responsive responsibility-taking and repair efforts by a perpetrator. Experiments 1 and 2 found that a thorough apology and restitution each decreased unforgiveness while eliciting increased empathy and forgiveness from student and community samples, respectively. Experiment 2 found that a custody condition consistent with a perpetrator’s willing accountability for wrongdoing (i.e., spontaneous confession with surrender) decreased unforgiveness while increasing empathy and forgiveness in comparison to a custody condition in which the offender was being held accountable externally (involuntary apprehension) or a no-custody control condition. This experimental evidence points to offender accountability efforts through apology, restitution, and surrender as important for decreasing victims’ unforgiving motivations and promoting their empathy and forgiveness.

Apology and Restitution: The Psychophysiology of Forgiveness After Accountable Relational Repair Responses

“…An emerging literature provides evidence that victims are more forgiving if they receive an apology (see Fehr et al, 2010) or restitution (Carlisle et al, 2012;Witvliet et al, 2020) or both in combination (Kiefer et al, 2020). The present investigation extends this work by also examining emotional and embodied responses to apology and restitution, with implications for the growing literature on forgiveness and its physiological side effects as health pathways (Witvliet et al, in press) 1 .…”

“…As shown in Figure 1, participants were presented with a burglary scenario and four possible apology and restitution outcome scenarios (Apology-Only, Restitution-Only, Both, and Neither), which were adopted from Witvliet et al (2020) and are described in detail below. In this within-subjects design, each participant imagined all conditions, with orders systematically counterbalanced, within males and within females.…”

“…Prior research has found that apology and restitution can each foster forgiveness. In experiments using a burglary scenario with both students and a community sample, Witvliet et al (2020) found that experimental manipulations of apology and restitution independently prompted greater self-reported empathy and forgiveness while decreasing unforgiving motivations such as avoidance and revenge. Carlisle et al (2012) found self-reported and behavioral evidence that apology and restitution each prompted forgiveness-consistent responses for a lab study offense of unfair raffle ticket distribution.…”

Apology and Restitution in a Role-play Restorative Justice Experiment: Multiple Perspectives, Multiple Measures

“…Offers of restitution have also been found to be related to outcomes. For instance, Witvliet et al (2020) had student and community samples take the perspective of the victim in burglary scenarios that varied apology and restitution. Each resulted in more empathy and forgiveness and lower unforgiving motivations.…”

Caught between Two Cultures: Pragmatic Transfer in English-using Pakistanis Apology Responses

“…These are: accept (AC), acknowledge (AK), evade (EV) and reject (RJ) (Bachman & Guerrero, 2006). Experts in the field have mentioned that ARs have been demonstrated in a number of ways based on different main and extended strategies, among them mostly used strategy is absolution "That's alright" or "That's okay" was recommended reaction to regret, especially in United States and British exchanges Witvliet et al, 2020;Robinson, 2004).…”