These are not just words: A cross-national comparative study of the content of political apologies

Marieke Zoodsma (Lead / Corresponding author), Juliette Schaafsma, Thia Sagherian-Dickey, Jasper Friedrich

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

11 Citations (Scopus)
114 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Countries around the world increasingly try to redress past human rights violations by offering apologies. The debates surrounding many of these political apologies suggest they do not necessarily satisfy victims’ needs. Little is known, however, about the actual content of these apologies and the extent to which they include the elements that are often seen as essential to healing processes. In this exploratory study, we conducted a cross-national comparative analysis of the texts of political apologies (N = 203, offered by 50 countries) and coded whether they included a statement of sorry, apology, or regret (IFID), and an acknowledgement of wrongdoing, acceptance of responsibility, promise of non-repetition, promise of reparations, recognition of victim suffering, victim re-inclusion, victim praise, or a recognition of moral values/norms. We found that the majority of political apologies only include a selection of these elements, with some countries offering more comprehensive apologies than others. Most apologies, however, do contain an IFID, an acknowledgment of wrongdoing and a recognition of suffering, although there is variation in how this is expressed. This variation can be linked to the receiving group (i.e., within-country or not), the contentiousness of the apology in a country and – albeit weakly – the cultural context. Based on these findings, we suggest that when considering the impact of political apologies, it is crucial to consider quantity (how many apology components are included) as well as quality (how this is done).

Original languageEnglish
Article number15
Pages (from-to)1-13
Number of pages13
JournalInternational Review of Social Psychology
Volume34
Issue number1
Early online date8 Jul 2021
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2021

Keywords

  • Cross-national
  • Database
  • Political apologies
  • Text analysis
  • Victim needs

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Social Psychology

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