Apology in Japanese gratitude situations: The negotiation of interlocutor role-relations

Abstract

A stepwise regression analysis of the use of apology expressions elicited in 2574 gratitude situations selected degree of ‘regret’ and ‘expectedness’ as significant predictors such that as expectedness decreased, regret increased, as did the use of apology expressions. These findings suggest that degree of regret is calculated relative to the expectedness of the act and that the use of apology expressions in gratitude situations (apology–gratitude expressions) marks an act as falling outside the boundaries of interlocutor role-relations. This interpretation, which views apology–gratitude expressions as a general strategy for negotiating interlocutor role-relations, challenges a more simplistic account of such expressions as mere markers of formal or “public” discourse (e.g., Ide, 1998). A second study of 333 Japanese 1st–9th grade students indicated that awareness of the use of apology–gratitude begins as early as 1st grade and approximates that of adults between 7th and 9th grade. The findings of this second study suggest that the negotiation of role-relations via the use of apology–gratitude expressions is acquired gradually as a part of the language socialization process.