“Sorry for what we did”: A Social Psychological Understanding of Political and Intergroup Apologies (Introduction to the Special Issue)

Abstract

Research on political apologies spans sociopolitical contexts and disciplines and methodological frameworks. In the rise of interest in political apologies, especially in light of 'the age of apologies', social psychologists strive to understand mechanisms of issuing, perception and evaluation of political apologies from many perspectives. This special issue aims to highlight the important role of social psychological theory in understanding political apologies and deepening knowledge in this field. The papers, which comprise the special issue, offer a detailed and comprehensive study of political apology, including both theoretical and methodological lens to enrich understanding of the topic. Concluding, all the papers of this special issue can be of interest in academics and researchers, as well as policy-makers and other stakeholders beyond academia.

Victim-focused political apology predicts political support via perceived sincerity, trust and positive emotional climate: The case of the 2018 bushfire in Attica

“…Policy-makers may benefit from such empirical evidence, on the grounds that transgressions occur worldwide increasing, in turn, the need for effective and convincing modes of political communication, restoration of trust and reassurance of reparative actions. It is worth acknowledging that we live 'in the age of apologies' (Gkinopoulos et al, 2022) and the need for robust experimental evidence of perceptions and evaluations of political apology forms in real-life transgressions is more urgent and informative than ever. Such evidence helps social psychologists and other political scientists understand underlying mechanisms that determine the effectiveness of one or another political apology form.…”

“…Attwood, 2008;Slocum et al, 2011) confirmed the higher perceived sincerity, trust and forgiveness of offenders in the self-other apology than in self-focus apology. However, emphasis was still given on the wording of apologies (Berndsen et al, 2015;Gkinopoulos et al, 2022), that is the way that political apologies are rhetorically framed and the word content of those apologies rather than the setting they took place or the interlocutors involved in them.…”

“…Berndsen et al, 2015;Philpot & Hornsey, 2008). This evidence, however, often lacks ecological validity as it either relies on theoretical assumptions that still need to be tested, or on simulation of forms of apologies in experimental settings with imaginative scenarios and convenience samples (see Gkinopoulos et al, 2022). As Berndsen et al (2015) suggest, in order to reach to robust conclusions regarding the effectiveness of victim-focused political apologies, dramatic examples of real-life transgressions need to be explored.…”

“…Data Availability: Data supporting this study are openly available from the Open Science Framework (OSF) (Gkinopoulos, 2022).…”

“…It is well acknowledged that attempts of re-establishing trust through recognizing truths and making moral amends are of utmost importance in an effort to ensure victims' dignity and recognition of their self-worth. However, a still empirical question remains as to whether political apologies have such a potential to achieve establishment of trust, support and recognition and, if they do so, what are the most effective apology forms for this purpose (Gkinopoulos et al, 2022). The focus of this article is on two key forms of political apology, a self-focused apology and a self-other focused apology (Berndsen et al, 2015;Slocum, 2006;Slocum et al, 2011).…”